Table of Contents
Winterizing Your Outboard Motor Drain the crankcase oil (Four-stroke motors) Install a new oil filter (Four-stroke motors) Filling the crankcase with new oil (Four-stroke motors) Changing the lower unit gear oil. Stabilizing the fuel. Flushing the outboard with antifreeze. Fogging the cylinders.
Do you need to winterize an outboard motor?
Like inboards and sterndrives, outboard engines are also subject to potential damage from freezing and from being laid up in disuse for months at a time. So outboards demand winterizing too.
How do you winterize a boat engine?
Winterise engine Run the inboard engine and change oil and filter. Flush engine with fresh water, add bio-degradable antifreeze and start engine, keeping it on until antifreeze leaves the exhaust. Change transmission fluid. Flush outboard engine with fresh water, wash down with mild detergent.
Do you leave antifreeze in boat engine?
Note: Sam likes to leave the engine block flushed but empty for the winter. However, some marine engine manufacturers recommend filling the entire engine with RV antifreeze. Always follow your engine manufacturer’s advice.
Should I leave my outboard motor up or down?
You want to leave the engine in the totally trimmed down position. This will allow all of the water to leak out of the engine, midsection, and lower unit. Making sure that there is not any water in the Lower Unit that could rust gears or freeze and destroy the gear case by flushing the engine with fresh water.
What happens if boat is not winterized?
If You Don’t Winterize Your Boat, Here’s What Happens: Water freezes and expands and can damage anything it’s trapped inside. Water may seep into unprotected spaces to do this. Acidic and corrosive wastes, salt and corrosion buildup can damage delicate parts in engines. Fuels break down or grow dirty.
How cold does it have to be for a boat engine to freeze?
Unwinterized boat engines can freeze any time the air temperature is below 28°F (-2°C) – for an extended period. Freshwater cooled engines without proper coolant can freeze below 32°F (0°C). The good news is you can prevent freeze damage fairly easily.
What is the average cost to winterize a boat?
If you winterize your boat yourself, it will cost you about $250. This price includes the cost of winterizing the engine, the other systems of your boat, and cleaning it, stem to stern, inside and out. However, if you have the work done at a boatyard, expect to spend $500 up.
Why should a boats gas tank never be completely filled?
It’s important to never fill the tank of your boat beyond 90% full. This leaves room for gas to expand and avoids the potential for overflow. Ensure that all air vents and valves to the gas tank are open.
Is fogging a boat motor necessary?
Fogging a boat engine is not completely necessary but is highly recommended. Putting a stabilizer in your gasoline can help reduce the long-term storage issues but is not a guarantee. Essentially, fogging oil is an inexpensive way to better protect your boat engine while it’s left idle.
Should I winterize my boat myself?
For the handy, self-sufficient boat owner, taking care of winterizing yourself is a great way to save money. Ironically, DIY can potentially even save you some time. Winterizing a boat can be done in less than an hour in many cases, less time than you’d spend just driving the vessel to and from the marina or shop.
Can you use regular antifreeze to winterize boat?
Fill a five-gallon bucket with undiluted non-toxic antifreeze. Have additional antifreeze handy if you know your boat takes more than that or if you’ve never winterized before. You can use any leftovers in the boat’s plumbing systems.
Can I use RV antifreeze in my boat engine?
RV antifreeze and marine antifreeze are chemically the same. For most parts of winterizing your boat, RV antifreeze can absolutely do the job for a boat.
What position should outboard motors be stored?
The best way is to either leave the motor on the boat or on an engine stand in an upright position, not tilted. If neither of these are an option, try to make sure that the engine is in an upright, self-draining position. If you can’t do this, be sure that the cooling system is drained completely.
Can I leave my outboard in the water in the winter?
A boat can be left in the water during the winter or year-round if you take necessary precautions to tackle the challenges of a boat being in the waters for long periods. However, you need to keep in mind that there is always a risk correlated with storing the boat in the water than dry storing.
Is it OK to start a boat out of water?
Starting a boat without water is not recommended. Most outboard and inboard engines use impellers (rubber pumps) to run water to the boat’s cooling system. Without water to cool off and lubricate, the impeller will heat up super fast and possibly damage.
How long can a boat sit without being winterized?
The rule of thumb we use is 2-3 days of consectutive freezing temperatures, day and night, and you are in trouble unless you winterized. For example, the past 2 nights here have hit freezing though the daytime temp is 50+ degrees so no worries. Yes, the boat being in the water does help, a lot.
Can frozen water crack an engine block?
Water freezes at 32 degrees F, or 0 Celsius. Unlike most liquids, water expands when it freezes. Since an engine block is not flexible, the expansion can actually crack the cast iron or aluminum block of the engine, ruining the engine. The same principle is at work when water pipes freeze in the winter.
