remone l/u for winter storage?

[sea wolf]

i have a 1987 3.0 omc cobra. it is leaking gear oil & i don't know why, nor will i have the time to tear it down this season. i am considering removing the drive & storing it in my basement for the winter. what precautions do i have to take when storing my boat outside with the drive removed? should i also remove the bellows? also, i have not ran this boat at all this season. should i rewinterize the engine? the engine has not been started since the fall of'03, when i winterized it. should i run the engine at least once to get some oil moving, or will it be ok? i will have to refill the drive if i start it. i plan on tearing the drive down, & resealing everything as a winter project. thanx fo you're help.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: remone l/u for winter storage?

If you can get it to start, you should rewinterize the motor. You should also get rid of the gas and make sure to run the fuel system dry. If you don't have varnish already, you will by next season, even with restabilizing the old gas. Since it's been sitting so long, you should pull the coil wire and crank it until you get oil pressure before you let it run. That should happen within a minute or two of cranking. If you changed the oil for your last winterizing, you shouldn't have to change it now. If you didn't, don't bother. The contaminants have settled to sludge and you'll only contaminate fresh oil. The motor will have to be run hard for quite awhile to mix the sludge back into the oil. You don't have to do anything special to store the boat when the outdrive is removed. But don't let the drive sit on concrete. It'll corrode faster. Don't change the gearlube, just fill it with fresh after you're done with it. "Winterizing" is done to get you thru several months of downtime. If you start talking years, then you have to do things a bit differently. That'd be "mothballing". Have a good winter and get that sucker out next year and enjoy it. The hardest thing on a boat is letting it sit. Well actually, driving it over a pile of rocks is much harder on it, but you get the idea.

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: remone l/u for winter storage?

I have stored my boat for 2 seasons with no problems.No need for you to do it again provided you winterized it correctly .What I did after fogging and replacing water with antifreeze,is store it with a fresh oil change but 1 quart low.After the first season of storage passed ,with the o/d removed,I sprayed more fogging oil into the carb and put 1/4 quart of oil in each valve cover and then cranked the motor a few times to distribute everything.I also added stabizer to the fuel again.This is the best first hand advice I can give you.AS LONG AS YOU WINTERIZED IT CORRECTLY,there is no need to get it running and re-winterize it again.Save your effort to get your o/d in shape for next season.Charlie