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Posts: 62
Location: Madison, WI | Due to the extended season we had this year, I've decided to just keep the boat in the garage this winter, as opposed to taking it somewhere for storage. Is winterization really necessary? Or, would adding a fuel stabilizer be enough? |
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Posts: 1828
| All I do is make sure all the water is out of the lower unit, cooling loop, livewell lines (fill & drain lines), and hull, then add fuel stabilizer to the gas tank and fabric softener sheets in the storage compartments. So far, so good. Sits in my unheated garage. |
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Posts: 32883
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=10... |
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Posts: 921
| I will say this. I never ever winterized my boat for the first 12 years. Then even though it was stored in a garage, it got below freezing and there was water in the lower unit that froze. My brother called me and said, "your motor is leaking oil in my garage!"
A couple hundred dollars later at the dealer fixing whatever broke, I now drain the lower unit oil every fall before storage.
Midge |
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Posts: 194
Location: Lake Elmo, MN | Although I don't believe it's as critical as say winterizing a stern drive, regular winterization can indeed prolong your motor's life.......just like regular mainteance can help your car's engine.
The winterization is also a great time to do misc things like proactively change your impeller (every second or third year). That way, you never get an "oooops" while 30 miles out on Lake of the Woods or Rainy. Spending the money to watch out for a big investment like an outboard is money well spent.
There are guys out there that will winterize your outboard for cheap. My guy charges $90 to winterize (fluids, fog, lube etc) my Merc ProXS.
Edited by PSAGuy 1/13/2016 12:59 PM
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Posts: 240
Location: Oconomowc, WI | One thing to keep in mind with fuel stabilizer is that you should put it in before your last trip out so that it gets worked through the whole fuel system...just adding it to the tank after the boat is parked is not nearly as effective. |
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Posts: 18
Location: Central Wisconsin | x2 of the draining of the lower unit, live wells.... You can add the new lower unit oil right away if you wish, so that it is not forgotten the next season. The purpose is to get out any water that may have worked its way in there. If there is water in there, obviously it will freeze, expanding and cracking open the lower unit. |
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Posts: 1202
Location: Money, PA | All I run are 4 stroke engines anymore (preferably Hondas). I do not "winterize" like most would think with the whole fogging deal and all. I change my oil regularly throughout the season, these 4 strokes are like car motors....do you winterize you cars? The ONLY necessary thing I feel to do is to schedule your yearly lower end unit change to be right before winter checking for water in the oil before freeze up. There are preventative measures I take throughout the season which takes care of the motors year round like, running a quality stabilizer in your fuel all the time or run only ethanol free fuel in your engines, drain the lower end of water after each use, change oil regularly and finally change my lower end gear oil in the fall. I want my boat to be ready all year long because our season never closes....as long as there is soft water, I fish.
Lastly, I take care of my batteries with an onboard charger that has a tender system which keeps the batteries topped off during extreme cold weather....I keep the charger on only during the wintertime.
Edited by ShutUpNFish 1/14/2016 7:22 AM
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