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Posts: 463
| I'm about ready to put the boat in the barn, and have never really done much to winterize the motors, but am wondering what I should be doing to keep them running good for the spring. I live in Illinois and will be fishing again in late February or Early March at the latest, so the boat will only be sitting idle for a few months. What do you guys do or have done in the past to help me out? I appreciate any feedback your willing to give. |
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Posts: 2097
| If its an optimax. Run quickstore through the motor. Pull plug and squirt 1oz oil into it. Rotate the flywheel. Change lower unit oil and change the round gaskets. I leave my boat full for the winter others store an empty tank. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | If it's only going to be a short time, you can "get by" without a lot of things. But freezing happens overnight. If it's not heated, make sure your batteries are removed or on a constant charger and that you boat and motor (lower unit included) are drained of water. If it'll be in heated storage, all the better.
But simple fogging is easy and Stabil are cheap insurance and no reason to not do them. Why take the chance? Take like two minutes to fog an engine. |
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Posts: 2097
| If its an optimax do not use fogging oil. |
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Posts: 3500
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
So long as the batteries are at full charge, they will be fine to leave in the boat. A good practice, though, is to unhook the leads from the boat to minimize battery drainage, but leave your charger hooked up to it. Then, every month or so, plug the charger in to quickly top off the batteries. They will be ready to go in the spring.
Fogging is a good idea as it helps keep the cylinders coated. A good stabilizer through the fuel system is very helpful in keeping the fuel system from potentially gumming up.
At a minimum, check the lower unit fluid. Usually it is good practice to change it once a year (in the fall) to ensure no contaminants are in the fluid, and checking as indicators to any bigger problems, like a bad seal.
From there, you should be good to go.
One big thing, though... After starting the motor for the first time in the spring, be sure to have a second set of plugs ready to go in. There is always the potential of having a plug get fouled due to the amount of fogging oil in the cylinder. I know some of the newer motors have a different set of plugs which can be costly as compared to the typical 2-stroke $3.00 plug, but it never hurts to have a spare ready if you choose not to switch out your plugs.
Steve |
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Posts: 139
| YOu can leave your batteries in the boat as long as they are fully charged. In cold weather batteries discharge very slow. They discharge faster in warmer weather. I have left mine in the boat, charged and never had an issue.. That is as long as the water levels are where they should be. What you may want to do however is unhook or put a master switch in place that cuts off the batteries to anything that is connected. Many items have a parasitic drain. I just flip my master switch and charge the batteries.
I also don't fill my tank. Its a waste of good gas. Gas degrades over time. I run mine down and use Seafoam or startron to stabilize. I don't fog either. I change the lower unit oil, charge the batteries, clean everything up.. (ie water, dirt, etc..) and put it to bed. |
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Posts: 463
| Thanks for the tips guys. |
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