esoxaddict - 11/20/2015 7:47 PM

Had a bit of a panic attack this morning when I checked the weather. Lows down to 9 tomorrow night, 3-5" of snow...

"CRAP!! I have to winterize the boat! How the %^*& do I do that?!"

Sooo. Thanks to the valuable insights of the folks here, I think I did everything right. I think? So tell me if I missed anything or of I should have done anything differently...

1. Spent $150 at the boat supply store. Gear oil, Engine oil, Drain Plug gaskets, muffs, oil filter, can of Sea Foam...

2. Dumped can of sea foam in the tank. (Tank was nearly full)

3. Hooked up muffs, turned on hose. Water all over the garage. It does not slope towards the drain like I thought. Water is under tool cabinets, shelves, etc. I need a beer.

3. Started motor. Nothing from pee hole. Stopped motor. Now what? Turned hose a bit higher. Garage flooded. Started motor. Pee hole working. Got smart, put 5 gal bucket under pee hole. Kind of like whizzing on a forest fire with water coming from everywhere else, but better than nothing. Ran for 10 min.

4. Squeegeed and mopped flooded garage. Floor drain does NOT work. There goes another 20 minutes. I need another beer.

4. Found drain pan. Another 15 minutes gone. Pulled top plug from lower unit. Tight! Attempted to pull bottom plug. Would not budge. Tried one of those right-angle screwdrivers. *SNAP* Screwdriver now broken. Clamped vice grips on regular screwdriver. Broke that one too. Luckily for me, I use Craftsman tools and have learned to keep a spare. #2 finally got the job done. 20 minutes to drain gear oil. I need another beer.

5. Following instructions from here and Ebay and the owners manual, I tried filing the lower unit from the bottom hole like everyone says you should. 90W gear oil is not very viscous at 40 degrees. Sat on the floor, squishing that %*(% bottle for all I was worth, still couldn't get anything to come out of the top hole. Replaced top plug, and then the bottom plug to make sure what I already put in there didn't wind up in the drain pan.

6. IDEA! Check capacity. 26.5 oz. Bottle is 32 oz. That means I need to have (math in head, brain smoking) 5.5 oz left in the bottle when I am done. Okay... Crap. 10 oz left. Maybe I can put the stuff in the top hole like you do on a car. Yes, it IS possible. #*^@ cold. But it takes a good half an hour, because you can only put a little bit in there at a time. And every time you pull the tip out to check it, the stuff barfs out of the hole along with a bunch of air bubbles. Gear lube smells like %&$*. I remember why I quit working on cars. I need another beer....

7. After 30 min of spilling the stuff all over and having the crap halfway up to my elbows, I finally got to the magic 5 oz left in the bottle mark. Good enough. Cleaned up mess.

8. Now... Engine oil. Gotta be just like a car, right? Drain plug, gasket, oil filter, easy peasy... Well... The plug on a Yamaha is recessed inside this rubber boot like thing on the back of the motor. You can't see the plug. You can't tell what size it is because you can't see it. Going back to my days as a car guy, my brain starts working... Hmmm. Yamaha. Gotta be metric. 10mm? Nope. 13 mm? Nope. 14mm??? Ah ha!! Simple. Got in there with a swivel ratchet and a short extension, broke the plug loose. "This should be easy!" turn, turn, turn...

9. Wait. I should change the filter first. Removed cowl cover. Ahh, there it is. Easy. "GGNNHGH!!" NOT easy. Spend 10 minutes trying to remove filter. Actually rolling the boat in the process. Crap. Another 10 minutes finding oil filter wrench. Thank God I have a few of these still laying around. Nope. All the wrong size. I need another beer.

10. IDEA! Call wife. Beg her to stop at auto parts store on way home for small filter wrench. Explain that new motor costs $15,000 and that 9 degrees will ensure that $15,000 will go to boat in the spring instead of stuff she wants to buy. Wife agrees. Small victory. Wife says "have you been drinking??" Nope. Not me.

9. Then I got an idea. If I take a long funnel, and tuck it under this little rubber deal, I can drain the stuff through the funnel into the drain pan and not spill a drop. BRILLIANT!! So I'm turning the plug with one hand, holding the funnel with the other. turn turn turn, turn... Holy crap, how long is this stupid plug? Got it. *BLARRRGH!!!!!!* This is NOT like changing the oil on a car. I worked in an oil change shop for 4 years as a kid. I thought I knew what to expect. Nope. Even a large funnel cannot accommodate the volume of oil that spills out of a Yamaha in a matter of 5 seconds. I used to be able to do this stuff without even getting my hands dirty! Now I've got a 5' diameter oil slick in my garage! Made worse by the fact that we JUST paid the Amigos a LOT of money to scrub, soak, power wash, and mop the floor. ****. Samantha's gonna #*#* when she sees this! I need a beer. Knocked over beer #6 wiping up big ass mess.

10. Wife shows up. Sees giant oil slick. Surprisingly calm. Spent 15 minutes on hands and knees wiping up oil. Entire lower unit and prop dripping the whole time. Another 10 minutes to scrub floor with laundry detergent and rags. Use new filter wrench to remove filter. Clean up mess. Finished what was left of beer #6. Install new filter, fill oil. Good. Lower unit is done. Stabil is done. Oil Change is done. Mess is done.

11. Fog? Not fog? Owners manual says fog. Everyone else says not to. Wife comes out and says "Honey, don't forget we're supposed to have snow tonight. We might need the snow blower!"

12. Crap. Snow blower! Push boat to back of garage, move car and truck into garage. Unearth snow blower... Tires flat. Crap. Fill tires. Fill with gas. Snow blower runs! Thank God for electric start! Move wifes car into garage. Snowing now.. I need a beer....

So, long story short... Ran Sta-bil through the motor, changed the lower unit, changed the oil and filter, and plugged her in. Did not fog. Wife angry that I spend the whole day working on the boat leaving dishes, etc all over.

Is the boat going to be okay? ;)