Winterizing the Outboard

[Les Murray]

I just put away my outboard for the winter. Did the fuel stabilizer and engine fogging thing but could not figure out how to get the antio-freeze into the engine? I have a Mercury 8HP long shaft. I put the antifreeze (the pink stuff) into a 5 gallon bucket at full strength. The water intake was too high to reach. Only the prop was submerged. Anyone have any clues or is this not something to worry about.The outboard will be kept in my unheated garage for the winter.Les MurrayH20 Limerick

 

[Stephen Ostrander]

check manual

My 8 hp Evinrude is self-draining. When you pull it out of the water, the raw-water system drains itself. Check your manual, but I think that the pink stuff is redundant in this case.

 

[Rick Webb]

Replace the Impeller

I have a 6HP which is the same engine except for the carburetor. If you replace the impeller now it will drain all of the water for sure and you won't have to do it in the spring. Regardless I do not think it will hold any water if it is stored upright. One of the nurses who works for my wife is married to the service manager for the local Mercury dealer and a yankee transplant from New York I will ask him what he thinks.

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

You should be ok -

in terms of freeze damage, but I would make sure that you have flushed all the salt out to avoid corrosive damage. I usually run my outboards in a trashcan full of water to cleanse them.Justin - O'day Owners' Web

 

[Pete]

outboards

most outboard engines are self draining (when upright) and do not need to anti freeze

 

[Paul Akers]

Needs Wash-out

As Justin mentioned, it should be run in fresh water before being out away. Salt crystals could form in the cooling water hoses and block the flow. Ensure whenever you start your outboard, that it 'spits' out cooling water else, you cold cause damage to your engine. Sometimes, all it takes to remedy the problem is to run a piece of wire up into the exit tube to loosen the crystals. Be sure that the engine is shut off.