Chop~Chop":253q5qb2 said:
how does one winterize the water pick-up pumps for the raw water wash down and also the one for the electric porcelain head?
Oh I almost forgot; there's been lots of uncertainty about storage considerations due to use of E10 fuel up here. Should I leave tank full and heavily stabilize or drain/burn as much as possible? What should be used for stabilizer; startron and/or stabil?
In the meantime, please let me know some of your tricks on winterizing the motor.
To be honest, I've never 'winterized' my raw water washdown. All I've ever done is to remove the hose, open the seacock, and cycle the pump once or twice (while she is on land) to make sure there is little or no trapped water.
Our winters aren't quite as severe as yours, so you might want to run a little pink antifreeze through yours just to be sure.
Cannot comment on the porcelain head as I don't have one. I just pick up my porta-potti and carry it home.
Winter storage of E10 laced fuel...
Many people will tell you to store it full, and just as many will tell you to store it near-empty.
I don't know the real answer, but this is what I plan to do...
I filled up my main fuel tank several weeks ago, and knowing that it was probably my last fill-up for the season, I treated the fuel with StaBil, Startron, and Ringfree. I've already run about 45 gallons of fuel through the motor so I know the system is well treated.
However much fuel is left in the tank when I put her away in about a month will stay for the winter, though I don't think there will be a lot of fuel left when I do. What is in there is well treated and I don't anticipate any issues.
I've never winterized a 4-stroke motor, but I'm guessing it's not too different than winterizing a 2-stroke. Here is how I do my 225 OX66...
While the boat is still in her slip, I remove the cowling, expose the air intake, and then start the motor and allow it to come up to operating temperature.
When the motor is warm, idle the motor up to about 1000 rpm and begin shooting fogging oil into each of the air intake throats evenly. In my case, the motor will smoke, run rough, but it'll keep on chugging as I spray the fogging oil into her. If your motor happens to stall while fogging, don't worry, you're done.
Once I get 1/2 to 3/4 of a can of fogging oil in her, and if she is still running, I shut the motor down and let her sit for a bit. Once she is reasonably cool, I'll remove each spark plug and give each plug hole a shot of fogging oil (it doesn't take much), and re-install the plugs.
Put the motor cover back on, raise the motor out of the water, flush with fresh water for 30 minutes, and you're ready to haul her out of the water.
Before I haul, I generally empty 4 gallons of pink antifreeze into the bilge and cycle each of the bilge pumps to flush the pumps and lines with antifreeze.
Once on land, I remove my garboard drain to drain any residual antifreeze. I then put the garboard drain in a ziplock bag and attach it to the helm wheel with a zip-tie and a big red sign that says
PLUG IS OUT!.
Once on land (blocked, or on a trailer), lower the motor to drain any residual water and
leave it in the down position for the winter.
Outboard motors are self draining and do not require antifreeze, but you do need to store them in the down position so they can drain properly.
Remove your prop, clean the shaft, and re-grease using a quality waterproof lube. If you are not concerned about winter theft, re-install the prop and you're good to go. If theft is a concern, take the prop home and re-install it in the spring.
Finally, you need to drain and replace the lower unit lube.
Buy yourself a container of Yamaha lower unit lube and the hand pump that goes with it.
Place a container below the motor foot and remove the lower drain plug... notice nothing coming out?
Locate the upper drain plug and remove it and the gear oil will begin to flow.
Time to take notice of the oil... How does it look? Is it dark and clean looking, or does it look like a chocolate milkshake?
If it looks like a milkshake, that shows the presence of water in the lube and it's time to see your mechanic to have the seals replaced and the foot pressure tested.
BTW - You probably don't want to do this job on a really cold day. 80wt gear oil doesn't flow real well in cold weather. :shock:
Once the gear lube has drained, take your container of lube with pump inserted, and screw the discharge of the pump into the
lower drain hole.
Pump gear lube into the foot until lube comes out of the
top hole.
Replace the plug into the top hole, remove the pump hose from the bottom hole (the lube will not come out with the top plug in place), re-install the bottom plug (hopefully you put new gaskets on both plugs), wipe up any spills and you are done!
Simple, huh? :wink:
