On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 09:25:40 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

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.

===

Those are all good maintenance practices but really don't have
anything to do with winter. Hank's point, which I agreed with, is
that outboards don't require any special precautions for freezing
weather.