Winterizing Boats

[Dumroese]

I was curious how many people do thier own winterizing compared to those that have it done at a marina. I do mine myself just to save the money.

Also if anyone had any tips and suggestion on things that some people may overlook.

[ESOX]

I do my own winterizing, but its usually not till sometime in December, I run till the boat needs Skates!
my checklist is:
1) Add Stabil to fuel tank, THEN fill it to assure it mixes well.
2) Fog engine per manufacturers reccomendations.
3) Make certain all livewells, pumps and hoses are empty.
4) Remove all batteries and electronics, store them in the basement, charge batteries at least once a month.
5) Tilt the motor all the way down and be certain all the water has drained.
6) Drain and refill lower unit.
7) Grease all zerks on boat and trailer.
8) Put trailer up on blocks.
9) Get out the ice fishing gear!

[catfishhoge]

Right on the money Esox, I do the same maintenance on mine. Also use it to ice up. Hope it is late as possible. It is a sad day when I have to put my boats up for the season. Follow his list and you can't go wrong Dumroese!

[ESOX]

I forgot one very important item, check the fire extinguisher, have it serviced as needed!

[FischInMich]

Man do I miss an outboard!!! Real pain in the *ss to have to drain the block on an I/O when you come in.....that is with plans of fishing into late November!

Everything else sounds about the same though.

[Rich M]

I always do my own outboard. A couple things I do that wern't mentioned is remove the prop and grease the shaft and grease all the steering and throttle linkages.

Also when using fuel stabilizer you should run the engine for at least 5 minutes to make sure it gets in the lines and carb bowl. I also found a product called 2+4 Fuel Conditioner made by OMC that IMO is far superior to Stabil. It seems to not only prevent gumming and varnish but also dissolves any that may already be there from infrequent use etc. I've noticed such an improvement that I use it continously year round as well as for storage. I also use it in my power ice auger, snowmobile, lawnmower etc.

One last thing that isn't related to winterizing - I leave the old spark plugs in until spring. Then I use engine decarbonizer when I bring the boat out of storage. After running the fogging oil and decarbonizer out of the motor I then change the plugs. This way the plugs don't get fouled right off the bat as they would if they were changed in the fall.

[crittergetter]

I did freeze my engine last year, and it cost me $2000 used, to repair (got everything though, from prop to ignition switch) I followed the list, but how do you DE-WINTER an engine? Where do you get this decarb? This is my first I/O and don't want to learn the hard way anymore. My most curious area, is refilling the engine? do I just take off the theromstat and fill with water till the anti freeze is gone? Or can I just hook up the rabbit ears let it flush for a bit and then start the motor?

[Jason Adam]

Holy Carp, this is digging up an old thread. Put the muffs on hear and fire her up. Let it run for a good long while(I run mine a half hour of so). Make sure the muffs have enough water flow AND THAT THEY DONT FALL OFF. I prefer the Muffs that have water from both sides(Theyre about $25 as opposed to $5). Make sure you put it in gear(i.e. spin the props) in forward and reverse. THIS IS DANGEROUS!!!, but if not, you could be like me with a worn out shift cable(that was fine when I winterized in fall, on a 3 year old boat), and not know till you're launched and not going into gear. BE CAREFULL SPINNING THE PROPS OUT OF THE WATER!!!! And dont rev the engine with the props in gear, just shift in and out of forward and reverse to make sure you linkage is working. You can rev her a little bit in Neutral.