Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

[coachs]

This the first time I've ever winterize an I/O and when I fogged my engine, I poured about 1/2 a quart of oil into the carb before it stalled. This seemed like alot to me and I was wanting to know if I over did it. <br />Thanks, Mark

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

if the motor struggled to keep running and then finally stalled,then you did it correctly.Sometimes it takes longer to stall some engines which means putting more oil into the motor.Marvel mystery oil in my opinion is a better choice than motor oil for fogging.Charlie

 

[coachs]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Thanks for the reply. Why do you think the Marvel is better? Just wondering. I will need a lot of advise and I always like others opinions.<br />Thanks again, Mark

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Marvel is a not as heavy but sticks and lubes fantasticly without drying .Has better antirust qualities and 99% of the marinas by me use it.With oil being cheap in comparison ,if it were a better choice it would surely be commonly used and it is not.Charlie

 

[coachs]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Thanks again and I will certainly use Marvel next year. I was worried that putting so much oil in the carb would give me start up problems next spring. I have only had outboard motors before and I always put a little bit of oil in the spark plug in the winter time.<br />There is a lot more involved in I/O.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

An i/o is a whole world different.In case you did not know,there is also a fogging oil spray that foams up and expands during its use.It is especially good for spraying in the sparkplug holes .I usually spray the fogging oil in the carb as it runs and after about 1/2 the can is gone i take the Marvel in the other hand and and put them in together.This usually will stall the motor.Charlie

 

[trog100]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

errr.. i thought the idea was to first turn the gas off in the line while the engine was idling.. then during the short time period (say two or three minutes) while the engine is still running on float chamber fuel and at the same time emptying it.. u kinda sprayed a light mist of oil into the carb.. the idea being to give the valves and upper cylinder walls a nice coating of oil.. ????<br /><br />u guys sound like u are just pouring a load in (as much as is needed) until the engine finally hyrdalocks and comes to a stop.. nah.. u cant really be doing that can u... he he he<br /><br />bit puzzled.. trog100

 

[cmyers_uk]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Trog,<br /><br />On my VP 4.3 the manual says get 1/2 pint of fogging oil start the engine and run it at say 1500rpm and pour in 2/3rds of the solution you get clouds of smoke, reduce revs to idle whilst coughing and pour in the remainder. The engine will choke and die not hydrolock. I dont turn the gas off or drain the chamber never had any problems with this method.

 

[coachs]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Ok, now I'm getting worried that I messed up. A website suggested here about Merc engines had instructions on how to winterize. It stated that you take off the flame arrestor and pour either fogging oil OR motor oil down the carb slowly until it stalled out. I did this using fresh motor oil. Is this going to cause a problem?

 

[Don S]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

You don't just DUMP a bunch of oil down the carb, that will hydrolock the engine.<br />Just use a squirt bottle of some type and with the engine running at 12 to 1500 rpm start squriting the fogging oil into the carb slow enough that the engine will try to burn the oil. It can't burn it all and will start running rough because the plugs are now oil fouled and there is a lot of smoke. That also means the cylinder walls and everything else are also covered in fogging oil. Then with the throttle back to idle, allow the engine to die will still squirting oil in. If it doesn't, just shut off the engine.<br />The reason fogging oil is used over motor oil is it's ability to stay on the engine parts for long periods of non use. Motor oil just runs off and leaves very little protection.<br />It's not rocket science, you just need to understand WHY you are doing something in order to do it properly.

 

[trog100]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

yes as don says the ideas is to understand why u are doing something.. i only made my comment cos someone who didnt understand "why" they were doing something as opposed simply to "how to" do something might well have thought the idea was just to bung as much oil into the carb as was needed to "stall" the engine.. doing this at anything over idle speed could quite well cause damage due to hydrolocking the engine..<br /><br />oil might well not make your engine go rusty and mostly be good for it.. but its just as capable of hyrdolocking it as water is.. in fact any liquid bunged in there in excess quantities is.. with a diesel it dosnt take very much liquid at all to do damage due to the virtually none exsistant combustion chamber space.. one simple rule to know is that air compresses liquid dosnt.. <br /><br />a 7 litre engine obviously needs more oil to do the job than a 3 litre one does.. but all it needs is enough to coat cylinder and valve surfaces not tons of the stuff..<br /><br />slow.. spray.. squirt.. squirt.. dont just "pour".. especially if u are running your engine at 1500 rpm or over in an attempt to keep it going during this "abuse".. the idea is to save your engine not wreck the bloody thing.. he he he<br /><br />course that makes me think.. as i have a tendancy to.. how would one winterize a bloody diesel engine.. he he he <br /><br />trog100

 

[schud]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

OK, at the risk of sounding stupid, what's "hydrolocking?"

 

[outboardguy]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

As trog just said "air compresses and liquid does not". So Hydrolocking is when the cylinder gets liquid in it on the intake stroke and then when it tries to go up on the compression stroke the piston stops before it can reach top dead center ,because of the hydrolock.The damage occurs because the other cylinders are still trying to go and with one locked up the force of the crank will bend a rod if not more damage.

 

[coachs]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

So back to my orginal question, I SLOWLY poured motor oil into the carb while it was at idle speed and it took about 1/2 quart of oil before it stalled. Do you guys think this will be a problem? I know from now on I will use fogging oil but I thinking is there a problem now and is there anything I can do to fix it if there is.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

If you want to be sure there is not a problem you can pull the plugs and crank the motor a bit.Only do this if the o/d is removed or you will ruin the impeller.Sounds to me like you fogged it correctly though.Charlie

 

[Don S]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

You could pull the plugs and crank it over and see how much oil comes out, but if it just slowly died and didn't have a sudden stop like a hydrolock, then you should be ok.<br />No reason to pull the drive to crank the engine over, there is no way you are going to ruin an impeller in a few seconds of cranking the engine.

 

[coachs]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Thanks you guys. I feel better. I'm sure it did not hydrolock as it died a very slow death. I will pull the plugs and crank it. I guess if there is a problem, it won't crank at all?

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

The way you know if there is a problem is if you dont pull the plugs and it dont crank at all.This is what happens if it happens to someone unknowingly.Since you have an idea that something may not be right you get to pull the plugs first and avoid any further damage.Charlie

 

[coachs]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

Just a quick message. I pulled the plugs, cranked the engine a few times and everything was fine. Thanks crazy charlie and don s, now I can find something else to worry about all winter.

 

[Richard Petersen]

Re: Fogging 4.3 Mercuser

I have found a " stickeir oil. Regular 2 stroke chain oil. No way it evaporates or runs off due to condensation forming in the cylinders all the cold winter in Canada. It is the constant heat and cooling of the air that causes water droplets on the metal and then might work it's way into the oil pan. There are people who simply run the fuel system dry, change the seperator, drain the water- pump anti-freeze into the highest hose points till each direction comes out yellow, and has a great running engine each season. Right or wrong , it works for them.