Winterizing??????????

[SEMOmike]

Guys,

With the temps dipping and my boat sitting outside under cover and awning, I am wondering if I should winterize my 150 optimax. The question really is do I have to? As soon as duck season is over (Jan. 6th) I will be fishing for crappie on Reelfoot, or sauger walleyes on the river. Not really sure how much winterizing costs, however don't want to just throw away the money, but I also don't want to do any harm to my motor!

Thanks,

Mike

[Gator Bait]

You can do it yourself...I55 south about 520 miles. Get off and put boat in water...fish!

[skeetbum]

Double the amount of Sta-bil in your fuel, and take the transom saver out and throw it in the boat so that you can put the motor straight up and down. This keeps rainwater from gathering in that section of the lower unit and freezing, cracking the lower housing or damaging seals. Whenever I haven't been out in 2 or 3 weeks I catch a warm day that the hose isn't frozen and hook the ear muffs up and let it run until Mama screams loud, or somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes. I generally use my boat often enough to not need winterizing. A shop would also change the lower unit oil, or grease actually, and check the seals for fishing line and weeping grease. This is providing your boat is stored outside or in an unheated area. This is also a good time to clean inside the cowling and remove any oily residue that may have accumulated. I'm no mechanic, but these ares some of what I've been told by different mechanics over the years, and I'm sure there's something I've left out. Always check with a pro, helps save money in the long run.

[jaxsprat]

Well you should of put a gas stabilizer in gas before the last time U ran motor and then yes there is 2 things I would do to prevent freeze damage One I would drain, & change lower unit oil to make sure there is no water in unit(a lot of folks forget to replace fill screw gasket after filling with new oil, letting water leak in, and two make sure all cooling water is drained out of lower unit by lowering motor down all the way and giving it 2-4 minutes to drain and then with motor shut off bump the starter u should see another 1/4 cup of water drain out-this water was being held captive in the water pump it will freeze and could mess up the water pump &/or gasket. If we are fishing river or lake in freezing weather we do this drain ritual before we trailer the boat home so we don't have a frozen water pump by the time we get home after 2 hours on road at say 28-30 degrees. Being a optimax you cannot spray fog into engine through air intake cause u will mess up fuel injection system.

[Bronson]

Good points by both guys. I use my boat throughout the year but winterize and give it a tune up every year. Water pump should be replaced every other year (according to every mechanic I've taken it too) Regular maintenance will pay for itself in the long run and could pevent a big repair job down the road.

I make it a habit to lower my motor to drain any extra water. I even do it in the summer so I will keep it a habit. We get enough hard freezes in Kentucky that I know if I dont', there's a good chance I'm going to have problems. I always use a fuel additive and have started using Marine Stabil instead of the regular Stabil because of ethanol that's been added to the gas.

[SLAB MASTER]

You have definitely gotten some good sound advise. The only thing I do extra is I carry a jug of RV antifreeze and a Syringe with me. After draining the motor I fill the syringe with antifreeze and injdect it thru the weep hole until it runs out of the lower unit.

Guys,

With the temps dipping and my boat sitting outside under cover and awning, I am wondering if I should winterize my 150 optimax. The question really is do I have to? As soon as duck season is over (Jan. 6th) I will be fishing for crappie on Reelfoot, or sauger walleyes on the river. Not really sure how much winterizing costs, however don't want to just throw away the money, but I also don't want to do any harm to my motor!

Thanks,

Mike

[kingkrappie]

Osofishy does it pretty cheap, blows out your lines and all, where you duck huntin?

[brushnjigs]

All of the above mentioned but with one extra cheap item. "Change the thermostat". This is more critical in cold water than warm water. If the thermostat cant shut completely or stick open,, thats a hot piston against a cold cylinder wall and can happen in a blink of an eye. This is called cold seize and will throw the rod thru the block. Always let the motor warm "fully" up before take off (180 degrees). In cold water idle a short distance AFTER warm up before taking off. Mercury factory says most of the problems with engines are due to "not full warm up operating temperatures" before running, in all seasons. Different parts/different metals and they all expand at different temperatures.
Also cool them back down for at least 45 second idle before shutting them off.

[Scrapper]

Check out this thread at iboats.com.

Winterizing