Quick winterization Q

[Starcraft1709owner]

I will be winterizing my Force 120 (1997) for the first time tomorrow. It's far from the first time I have winterized a motor. I typically put fresh, treated (StarTron) gas in the tank, run the engine enough to circulate the treated fuel, then pull the fuel hose from the motor to let it run the carbs dry. I fog the cylinders by removing spark plugs, spraying the oil, then pulling the motor over a few times manually to circulate it. Then I change the lower unit oil, grease fittings, throttle mechanisms, etc, and thats it.

My neighbor is a boat mechanic. He runs the muffs on all boats - I/O and outboard - with a hose connected to a funnel, where he pours marine antifreeze through. It gets sucked up into cooling system and fills the system with antifreeze.

The boat will be stored indoors in my garage. The coldest this garage gets is about 30 degrees during the coldest nights.

I have never done this step before and I can't find any threads where others perform this.

First, is this a necessary step? Second, is there a better way than running antifreeze through the muffs, which requires two people?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Quick winterization Q

Outboards are self draining when stored vertically. The small amount of water that MAY be left in passages has plenty of room to expand when frozen and will do no harm. If you run the engine on muffs until it is hot, the small amount of water that does not drain will boil off from engine residual heat. No antifreeze is ever necessary.

In fact, To winterize my outboards, I park the boat, set the engine to vertical, and cover the boat. Really time consuming--LOL. When the season begins again, I uncover the boat, fill the tank, launch it and start the engine. Oh, yeah, I will change lower unit oil and replace the water pump impeller if it needs it.

 

[oxmax360]

Re: Quick winterization Q

I do the same as what Frank said, done it just like that for years, except I do let the carbs run dry.