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So what steps do ya'll take to winterize an outboard? I've got a bigger motor, and several smaller ones - and don't want old man winter to ruin them.
Have heard about spraying "fogging oil" - but not much else. Sadly - they won't all be able to overwinter in a warm cozy garage, but I'm intending to at least keep them under wraps! Guess and oil change in spring is better than fall? (or early winter - just looked outside again!)
Tia.
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Yote biggest problem I ever had was water got into the gear oil in the foot and I didn't notice and the frost broke the housing wide open. I bought a similar motor and changed out the housing but it never did work quite right after that. It was cold enough Saturday night that if you had water in you oil it may be too late. If fish line gets wrapped around the prop it tends to take the seal out of the prop shaft and causes a leak that can put water into your foot. So if that has happened to you you might want to take a look by pulling the plug in bottom. Water should be more dense than oil so if it has had time to separate the water should come out first. Good luck. J
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Perfect - thanks Curt. Was afraid you'd send me to a sticky I shoulda already noticed! [blush] Helpful link. Yup - know it's not a 'new' topic dealing with 'old' motors!
SeaFoam: Thanks for the tip on that - I don't know for sure - but I think it really cleaned up an old motor I picked up. Had been running real rough - start up and go, then putter off to a slow crawl. But the last number of trips it'd really picked up and was running strong.
Maybe I just finally got the gal/oil mix right!
Told Coot about it, guess he hasn't tried it.
So does fogging spray clean an engine, or just coat-sooth-relieve ?
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Fogging does not clean the engine, what it does is coats the surface of the cyl bore and piston rings to help prevent rust from forming during long period of it not being used. Personally, I don't worry about it but I have done it in the past and it sure will not hunt anything. More important is to store your foot in the down position and like was mentioned, check the foot to see if water got into it during the year. I don't usually worry about it, if it was good the year before but it will not hurt to drain it and refill it, just to be on the safe side. My main concern is to store my battery with the wires disconnected, so there is less chance of the battery being drained during the winter. I also put a battery charger on my batteries at least once or twice during the winter.
Hope that helps. I have been using Sea foam for a lot of years but this coming year, I'm going to change over to Stabile(?) because of the cost of SeaFoam. At $9 a bottle, when it's not on sale, that is just too much to use on a regular basis, I will continue to use it at the end of the year when I take the boat out for the last couple of times. It will be interesting
to see what the long term effects will be if any[:/].
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I would bet sea foam gets more expensive as the fuel costs go out of sight this spring. I just started using it and am a lot frustrated at the price. That's just too much money.
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Keep an eye on the Oreilly/Checkeras they usually offer a 2 for 1 sale on Sea Foam during the Spring/Summer.
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I just seen SeaFoam on sale again at Checker (O'Riley). Buy two bottles and get one free.
Ahhh, now that I think about it, I think it is just the fuel additive. Not the fogger.
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Hey Ralph, did you see this sale recently for the Sea Foam?
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Yes, just withing the last few days. It was recent enough that they may still be on sale.
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