DAMN! End of boating season is almost here. Will winterize engine this
weekend but keep the boat in the water another 4 weeks or so. Seems
like we just got here. Was a great summer at the Jersey shore and
everyone was just happy to be there after the ****ING we got from
Sandy.

Happy boating everyone!

Watch too early for winterizing.
I'll wait until late October or early November just in case a nice mild day blows up from down south.
We've just gone from a crappy damp windy two week period but expect this week to be sunny and mild.
Trouble is, the tide cycle is against me for launching and retrieving at most ramps.
Guess I'll go to a lake today or tomorrow.

D'oh..should be *way*

On 9/16/2013 9:36 PM, bob wrote:
DAMN! End of boating season is almost here. Will winterize engine this
weekend but keep the boat in the water another 4 weeks or so. Seems
like we just got here. Was a great summer at the Jersey shore and
everyone was just happy to be there after the ****ING we got from
Sandy.

Happy boating everyone!


Wow, still 90 plus degrees here in Florida! :-)
Mikek

On 9/17/2013 7:58 AM, True North wrote:
Watch too early for winterizing.
I'll wait until late October or early November just in case a nice mild day blows up from down south.
We've just gone from a crappy damp windy two week period but expect this week to be sunny and mild.
Trouble is, the tide cycle is against me for launching and retrieving at most ramps.
Guess I'll go to a lake today or tomorrow.


What's to winterize Donnie? Put the leg down and throw a tarp over the
boat. You're done.

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:11:20 -0400, Hank©
wrote:

On 9/17/2013 7:58 AM, True North wrote:
Watch too early for winterizing.
I'll wait until late October or early November just in case a nice mild day blows up from down south.
We've just gone from a crappy damp windy two week period but expect this week to be sunny and mild.
Trouble is, the tide cycle is against me for launching and retrieving at most ramps.
Guess I'll go to a lake today or tomorrow.


What's to winterize Donnie? Put the leg down and throw a tarp over the
boat. You're done.

===

That's the nice thing about outboards.

Is this more of your legendary wit and humour, Hankie?
I thought you were some kind of boats handyman.
As per my Mercury manual, I change the engine oil, the engine filter, the gearcase oil and I lubricate all zerks and any pivoting part.
I also make sure the gas is topped up and the proper amount of stabilizer included while running the engine for 5 minutes before the oil changes.
I'll leave the water separator filter in place until next spring/summer when I burn off the old gas.
There may be an additional step or two that I'll discover in my manual.
Last step is putting the trailer up on blocks and assembling the Navigloo shelter I purchased from Costco.

On 9/17/2013 9:00 AM, True North wrote:
Is this more of your legendary wit and humour, Hankie?
I thought you were some kind of boats handyman.
As per my Mercury manual, I change the engine oil, the engine filter, the gearcase oil and I lubricate all zerks and any pivoting part.
I also make sure the gas is topped up and the proper amount of stabilizer included while running the engine for 5 minutes before the oil changes.
I'll leave the water separator filter in place until next spring/summer when I burn off the old gas.
There may be an additional step or two that I'll discover in my manual.
Last step is putting the trailer up on blocks and assembling the Navigloo shelter I purchased from Costco.

By next year the gas in your tank will be 2 years old. The oil is still
new and you haven't moved things enough to expell the grease.

On 9/17/13 8:58 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:11:20 -0400, Hank©
wrote:

On 9/17/2013 7:58 AM, True North wrote:
Watch too early for winterizing.
I'll wait until late October or early November just in case a nice mild day blows up from down south.
We've just gone from a crappy damp windy two week period but expect this week to be sunny and mild.
Trouble is, the tide cycle is against me for launching and retrieving at most ramps.
Guess I'll go to a lake today or tomorrow.


What's to winterize Donnie? Put the leg down and throw a tarp over the
boat. You're done.

===

That's the nice thing about outboards.


Really? That's the kind of foolish advice that results in heavy duty
repair bills. It's too bad that "Hank" seems incapable of responding
reasonably to *any* kind of post, and seems unable to resist blowing
snot even on boating posts.

Winterizing an outboard that you plan to keep for a long time requires
more than keeping the lower unit down and tossing a tarp over the boat.

At the very minimum, you should:

Wash the engine's exterior to remove any salt, stains, whatever, and
retouch paint.

Run fuel stabilizer into the fuel tank and run the engine at idle for 10
or 15 minutes to push the stabilizer into the engine.

Spray fogging oil into the air intake if you can until the engine smokes
at idle.

Remove the spark plugs and spray fogging oil into the cylinders and then
if you can turn the start key with the dead man's switch removed.

Replace the engine oil, oil filter, and lower unit gear oil.

Grease the fittings, if any.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:11:20 -0400, Hank©
wrote:

On 9/17/2013 7:58 AM, True North wrote:
Watch too early for winterizing.
I'll wait until late October or early November just in case a nice
mild day blows up from down south.
We've just gone from a crappy damp windy two week period but expect
this week to be sunny and mild.
Trouble is, the tide cycle is against me for launching and
retrieving at most ramps.
Guess I'll go to a lake today or tomorrow.


What's to winterize Donnie? Put the leg down and throw a tarp over
the
boat. You're done.

===

That's the nice thing about outboards.

-----------------------

Cover the prop area with a tarp also to prevent rain and snow from
entering the exhaust channels and freezing.
Don't ask how I learned this.