How do you leave your boat?

[JigginPoleJoe]

If you have an oil injected motor you will have nothing but oil in the carbs if you run the fuel out....

The oil pump keeps pumping when the carbs start starving.

I park mine with the motor down and leave it strapped, but it is an aluminum boat. If you leave heavy tension on straps on a fiberglass boat for extended periods, you will eventually start getting spiderwebbing stress cracks in your gelcoat around the tiedowns. It may take several years but the likelyhood of it happening is pretty high. Been there and done that as well.

Even 4 strokers need drained.
Pure gasoline has a lot of oil in it, when the lighter stuff evaporates it leaves behind the heavy stuff.
That's why carbs get gummed up.

[JigginPoleJoe]

Ummm, you can't run the fuel out of the carburators. There will always be some left in the fuel bowl. Leaving it sit for extended periods and the gas will evaporate leaving residue, commonly referred to as varnish. Oil is a different issue.

Umm... Yes you can...
There is a difference in leaving 100% of the fuel in the bowl and leaving 5%.

Just keep on being hard headed. Small engine and outboard mechanics need job security...
With ignorance there will never be a shortage of work!

[Hanr3]

Yes they do, and your advice keeps them in business.
HowStuffWorks "How does a carburetor work?"
­T­he goal of a carburetor is to mix just the right amount of gasoline with air so that the engine runs properly. If there is not enough fuel mixed with the air, the engine "runs lean" and either will not run or potentially damages the engine.

and leaving that 5% will evaporate much faster than a full carb.

Hard headed maybe, gear head yes.

[NIMROD]

How do you leave your boat? Hopefully not head first.

[sportsman223]

Tied down and motor on saver ready to go.

[Wind Knot]

Umm... Yes you can...
There is a difference in leaving 100% of the fuel in the bowl and leaving 5%.

Just keep on being hard headed. Small engine and outboard mechanics need job security...
With ignorance there will never be a shortage of work!

He is saying that the oil pump will continue to pump oil, even when the carbs are out of fuel, filling the bottom of the bowl with straight two stroke oil. This makes sense with vacuum driven oil injection and it would seem reasonable to assume that it also happens with mechanical oil injection. The reason behind it being that if the motor is turning over, oil needs to get to the cylinders. These systems usually run independently of each other. It's also one more reason that many oil injected motors are the devil.

[Quackrstackr]

He is saying that the oil pump will continue to pump oil, even when the carbs are out of fuel, filling the bottom of the bowl with straight two stroke oil. This makes sense with vacuum driven oil injection and it would seem reasonable to assume that it also happens with mechanical oil injection. The reason behind it being that if the motor is turning over, oil needs to get to the cylinders. These systems usually run independently of each other. It's also one more reason that many oil injected motors are the devil.

Ding! Winner.

I do love being able to dump a gallon and a half of oil in the oil tank every so often and not having to mess with getting the correct ratio nowdays on partial fillups, though.

It's no easy task to get to, let alone drain bowls on many of today's outboards.

My boat usually only sits idle a couple of months at a time. I always use marine Stabil in every tank and also run a can of Seafoam through it a couple of times a year as well. My current motor is on it's 5th season, sits outside under a cover 24/7/365, never been drained and runs like a top. It did foul the plugs last year after it's sit and wouldn't start but after pulling the plugs and cleaning them off... fired right up. That was probably more my fault when I first turned it over as it has always been extremely cold collared and I threw too much fuel to it straight out of the gate on a cold morning.

[montagc]

Do OI outboards pump oil to the carb float bowl? That seems unlikely. OI systems on ATVs tend to inject into the venturi. If that is the case on OBs, then the engine would still be lubed even if starved of fuel.

[Quackrstackr]

The cylinder on the bottom of the manifold would be extremely well lubed. lol

Leaving a carb or cylinder full of 2 cycle oil would be worse than leaving a bit of gas in it.

[montagc]

The engine wouldn't continue to pump oil after it stopped spinning. Even after the fuel was gone, the oil would just continue to circulate and blow out the exhaust until the engine stopped....