48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

[Catfishmonkey]

Went to the local West Marine to pick up some fogging oil for winterization and one of the guys working there insisted that I should get antifreeze. I was under the impression that the 1987 Evinrude Special 48hp was self draining, but the guy made at least a decent argument, that "you can never get all the water out of there"...and said I should get antifreeze and run it through the lines to protect the water line, etc... Nonetheless, I have a feeling he is wrong about putting antifreeze in there. Any thoughts?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

Horsehockey - Outboards are self draining. After you run the motor on the flusher, with stabilizer in the fuel and fog her out, you need to make sure the motor is verticle, and let her drain. Now spin the starter or pull the starter cord about 1/2 turn to help the waterpump drain. Change the gear oil, and hit the grease fittings, and you are done.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

No anti-freeze required for any outboard. The Worst Marine guy is clueless.

 

[Catfishmonkey]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

That's what I figured...the guy certainly was clueless.

A buddy of mine told me he likes to run the carbs dry (take the fuel line out, etc...), but that always seemed to me a bit hard to coordinate with fogging the thing. I am putting the blue fuel stabilizer in there anyhow. I figure it might be better to leave the carbs full than do a half-*** job emptying them. What are your thoughts on that?

 

[bigrockets]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

Run it dry. The fuel left in the fuel bowls will evaporate causing gum or get stale in spite of the blue crap (or as I call it Magic Blue Jet Clogger). Draining the fuel bowls also takes the load off the float needle which is neoprene and will eventually distort to the shape of the needle seat. When the bowl is empty the float drops down and the needle seat is not in contact with the valve seat.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

It is not a good idea to run motors with multiple carbs dry. One carb will run out of fuel first, and the cylinders will not have any lubrication after that.

just follow the steps I have outlined, and you will be fine.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

Disagree ^^^ . I ran my Johnson 140 dry every time it was used for over twenty years and 800 hours. Never had to rebuild carbs and never had a single mechanical problem with it and it had four carbs. There is sufficient residual oil in the motor to prevent damage.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

Probably more to the point is that you won't run them "dry"....there will still be some fuel left when the motor has quit.
I drain the float bowls on most of my OMCs and the Nissan and there is always ~ 1/4 float bowl even after the motors stop.I have never seen anyone who has posted in here that "this disaster happened to me"...so it probably doesn't make any difference which approach you take.

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

That west marine guy sounds like a radio shack salesperson, trying to up his commission.

To the winterizing procedures already mentioned I'd also raise and lower the engine several times to get as much water out of the lower unit as possible. Also, IF you can't store it with the engine down it won't hurt to put a little "slosh" of automotive antifreeze in the prop hub area and then cover the lower unit with plastic or a small tarp - that way you're keeping as much water as possible from getting in, and any water that does find it's way in won't freeze.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

treat the fuel, fog the engine, never run a multiple carbed engine dry. some people are just luckier than others. store motor with tilt all the way down.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

TD, hate to disagree, but luck has nothing to do with it. I've been running 2 to 6 cyl motors dry of fuel for 35 years w/o a single failure. Luck doesn't last that long! BTW, the 140 was run dry over 100 times since new. It was an '85, which I sold in 2004, still running great.

 

[rolmops]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

I never run my outboards dry.Instead,disconnect and drain the fuel lines.then drain the carburetor bowls, remove the spark plugs and open the barrels of the carbs all the way and run the starter while spraying deep creep straight down the carb throat.Then I spray some deep creep into every plug hole ,close everything up and possibly take the boat out once more so I will have to do it all over again

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 48 Evinrude Special - Antifreeze?

It is unnecessary to use any antifreeze on an outboard, even in the gearcase exhaust cavity. Also, do not wrap the gearcase or powerhead in plastic. Plastic will always trap moisture and cause corrosion. A canvass tarp is fine, or a plastic tarp with ventilation is fine as well.