Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

[BlueAxela]

My first boat. Bought earlier this year and now that the fishing season is drawing to a close, its time to winterize her.

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to outboards but I do have a general understanding of how they work. I understand that for winterizing, I need to change the lower unit oil and fog the engine. Changing the lower unit oil should be easy, however I am a little nervous about fogging the engine. I've read the FAQs and various posts on winterization. I've emailed the previous owner and this is what he told me:

"There is a black sheild/plate that is facing the boat when you take off the crowling. Remove the the black shield. While engine is running with muffs, spray fogging oil into the two carbs until the engine smokes out and stalls. Then remove spark plugs and spray some fogging oil into the cylinders while cranking the engine."

He also said, don't bother disconnecting the fuel line and just put some fuel stabilizer in there.

Can anyone comment?

Thanks in Advance.

Rob.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

thats, about it, just store with the motor in the down position. put the spark plugs back in. moth balls help keep rodents out, and chewing up the wires, and upolstery,

 

[BlueAxela]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

So I got around to winterizing the motor this weekend...well at least half of it.

Changed the lower unit oil...it came out milky which means water is getting through the seals and into the lower unit. I talked to my neighbour and he says don't bother fixing it since it just means you have to keep changing the lower unit oil every year before winter...which you would do anyways even if water wasn't getting in.

Started fogging the engine...1500rpm...gas line connected with fuel stabilizer added to the fuel. Sprayed top carb for 10 seconds, then switched to 2nd for 10 seconds and kept repeating. Engine would not die...it would choke and I would see lots of smoke...after about 1 min I decided to stop the motor with smoke coming out. Talked to my neighbour and he said that if you see smoke come out the exhaust it means the fogging oil has made it through the engine. He says I should be okay and now all I have to do is to spray fogging oil into the cylinders and crank the engine.

What do you guys think?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

With the poor quality of today's fuel, I'm not a fan of leaving fuel in the carbs over the winter. Probably just over-cautious. You risk fuel evaporation in the carb bowls, leaving a white residue that can cause problems with the jets. On your year (non VRO) engine, I'd pull the fuel hose off, and run it above idle and fog till the engine quits (runs out of gas.) You know it's fogged and the bowls are empty. Sound like you have it fogged properly, so, if you don't want to start it up again, pull the bottom screw off each carb to drain them-it's messy, so have a rag ready. Also, I'd run the fuel tank as low as possible, even siphon it out and use it in the lawnmower....fresh gas in the spring.

 

[rndn]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

Changed the lower unit oil...it came out milky which means water is getting through the seals and into the lower unit. I talked to my neighbour and he says don't bother fixing it since it just means you have to keep changing the lower unit oil every year before winter...which you would do anyways even if water wasn't getting in.

What do you guys think?

Your neighbor is wrong about the lower unit. You need to find where the water is leaking in and fix it. Water does not provide the same lubricant as oil, right. If water is getting in then your oil is getting out. At the end of the year your oil in the lower unit could be 10% oil and 90% water. Does your neighbor sell outboards for a living and is trying to line up a new sale?

 

[rndn]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

I have been using fuel stabilizer for years and follow the advice of keeping the tank as full as possible and make sure you run the engine long enough to make sure the stabilizer has made it through your fuel delivery system. A drained tank will allow moisture to accumulate as it gets cold and then warm and if you have a metal tank it could lead to rust.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

While adding the fuel stabilizer when winterizing will not do any harm, It should have been added when the fuel is fresh. It is generally considered good practice to keep the tank as full as possible with stabilized fuel to help prevent condensation. In either situation, a water separating fuel filter is a must-have:

See the Oct 17, 2007 BoatUS article here: http://www.boatus.com/news/releases/2007/october/e10.asp

Over the winter water in your gearcase separates and goes to the bottom where it can freeze and damage the case.

It is good practice to grease the rams on the Tilt and Trim unit, then completely withdraw them to prevent corrosion.

There are some good links and a good thread on the subject in the Engine FAQ forum:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=158078

The BRP/Evinrude maintenance chart at the BRP website is a good checklist for your annual preventative maintenance:
http://www.evinrude.com/NR/rdonlyre...55-6BC1C69789FB/0/em_maintenance_schedule.pdf

Be sure to lubricate the steering arm (ram).

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

With the poor quality of today's fuel, I'm not a fan of leaving fuel in the carbs over the winter. Probably just over-cautious. You risk fuel evaporation in the carb bowls, leaving a white residue that can cause problems with the jets. On your year (non VRO) engine, I'd pull the fuel hose off, and run it above idle and fog till the engine quits (runs out of gas.) You know it's fogged and the bowls are empty. Sound like you have it fogged properly, so, if you don't want to start it up again, pull the bottom screw off each carb to drain them-it's messy, so have a rag ready. Also, I'd run the fuel tank as low as possible, even siphon it out and use it in the lawnmower....fresh gas in the spring.

What is it about today's fuel that is "poor quality" and what about it would make evaporation a bigger issue than it was in the past? Would not fuel stabilizer mitigate or eliminate some supposed inferior quality issues? These are serious questions because I really don't understand why this is a factor.

I know there's probably room for differences of opinions, but I don't think running dry on a multi-carb engine is recommended by anyone, certainly not the instructions that came with my Johnson V6. See FAQ in this section for great winterizing procedures and advice on whether to run dry.

I think there are those pro and con about running a single carb engine dry.

Draining the bowls might be a better way to go if an empty fuel system is desired, but I would think there would still be some residual fuel and that would evaporate and gum up tiny parts as well.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Winterizing a 1978-79 115HP Evinrude

We have cleaned many, many sets of carbs for customers when 1-2 year old engines would not run properly-at their expense. This is especially a problem with the lower hp engines, with very small jets. Yamaha and some Mercs. When today's fuel evaporates in those non-closed systems (carb systems) the myriad of modern day additives in the fuel don't evaporate, they remain in the carb bowls and the jets. This has been an increasing problem in the last 10 years, such that draining the bowls is just erring on the side of caution. Original winterizing documentation provided with engines may not be current manufacturing thinking on the problem. Mercury marine issued a tech bulletin in the last year, stating their concern about fuel quality, so you might want to get a copy from a Merc dealer. The bulletin had some interesting recommendations regarding winterizing if an engine was not run in 90 days. They also recommended their first preference at season end was for an empty fuel tank, if not possible, then a full tank was their second choice. I would read this as meaning that long-term fuel quality is more of an issue than condensation. This article stressed their concern for phase separation on alcohol-based fuels over long periods of storage. My preference is fresh gas in the spring for my engines, but this is the owner's option. Fortunately, the fuel injected engines don't suffer the evaporation problems, so the fuel evaporation issue is becoming less of an issue.