Hey guys, I recently bought a fun little Sea Ray 180 with the i/o Merc
130 - I only put about 5 hours on it so far. I've got a question about
winterizing. Would you suppose it would be better to take it to the
Merc dealer and have them stabilize the fuel, fog the engine, drain the
block, etc... or could I just pull it out of the garage every two
weeks, crank it up and let it run for 5 or 10 minutes out of the water?

And if it's better to run it every other week or so, what's the best
method to keeping the engine cooled? Direct connection, or the ear
muffs? I have the earmuffs. I put them on turned on the hose and ran
it yesterday for about 10 minutes. Seemed to run fine, but the temp
guage would sit at around 180 degrees.

I'm not scared to do it myself, but I just trying to find good advice
on the best way to run it out of the water, if I can and if it won't
damage the boat. I mean, will the water damage the motor if the engine
isn't on? Am I asking too many questions in one post?

Thanks for all of your help in advance!!

Water cracks the engine block if it is sitting inside once the temperature
drop below zero.

If you scroll in the same usenet group you will find another post with
winterization tips, please follow it., its simple process you can do it by
yourself.


"ran007" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hey guys, I recently bought a fun little Sea Ray 180 with the i/o Merc
130 - I only put about 5 hours on it so far. I've got a question about
winterizing. Would you suppose it would be better to take it to the
Merc dealer and have them stabilize the fuel, fog the engine, drain the
block, etc... or could I just pull it out of the garage every two
weeks, crank it up and let it run for 5 or 10 minutes out of the water?

And if it's better to run it every other week or so, what's the best
method to keeping the engine cooled? Direct connection, or the ear
muffs? I have the earmuffs. I put them on turned on the hose and ran
it yesterday for about 10 minutes. Seemed to run fine, but the temp
guage would sit at around 180 degrees.

I'm not scared to do it myself, but I just trying to find good advice
on the best way to run it out of the water, if I can and if it won't
damage the boat. I mean, will the water damage the motor if the engine
isn't on? Am I asking too many questions in one post?

Thanks for all of your help in advance!!

ran007 wrote:
Hey guys, I recently bought a fun little Sea Ray 180 with the i/o Merc
130 - I only put about 5 hours on it so far. I've got a question about
winterizing. Would you suppose it would be better to take it to the
Merc dealer and have them stabilize the fuel, fog the engine, drain the
block, etc... or could I just pull it out of the garage every two
weeks, crank it up and let it run for 5 or 10 minutes out of the water?

And if it's better to run it every other week or so, what's the best
method to keeping the engine cooled? Direct connection, or the ear
muffs? I have the earmuffs. I put them on turned on the hose and ran
it yesterday for about 10 minutes. Seemed to run fine, but the temp
guage would sit at around 180 degrees.

I'm not scared to do it myself, but I just trying to find good advice
on the best way to run it out of the water, if I can and if it won't
damage the boat. I mean, will the water damage the motor if the engine
isn't on? Am I asking too many questions in one post?

Thanks for all of your help in advance!!


Where do you live? have to assume it freezes in your area if you're
laying the boat up.
I winterize my outboard and take it into the basement where it winters
at a constant 60 deg F.

It doesn't freeze down here - I'm not really worried about that. It
just seems that a boat engine can live the same life as a car engine if
you run it, instead of letting it sit up. My intent is to pull it out
every couple of weeks and run it. My question is, is it better than
winterizing it?

"Awsome" wrote in message
...
Water cracks the engine block if it is sitting inside once the temperature
drop below zero.

For the past 5 years, I've simply drained the engine (by putting it in the
running position), and stored it in the garage. The engine block has not
cracked, and temps in the garage get down to 0 or 10 F.

Are you suggesting that winterization is better than running it
frequently out of the water?

I would just winterize it myself.

Fuel stabilizer can be bought at any home depot or boat store.
Put that in no matter what. Gas doesnt stay fresh just because you
start the engine for every so often. Good to move it around a bit but
it doesnt solve the problem.

When winterizing you should change the oil and fuel filter. Oil
can be acidic and damage the engine. Drain and replace.
As for the draining the block... If it gets cold enough it can
crack the block. I have had a few friends that did their own work
incorrectly and forgot to go the block too. Byebye engine.

You can do the job right yourself and save some money while doing it.
Its not all that hard to do, just take some time. Look over this
newsgroup to get a nice complete checklist of what to do when
winterizing it.

Tom

On 14 Nov 2005 06:24:34 -0800, "ran007" wrote:

It doesn't freeze down here - I'm not really worried about that. It
just seems that a boat engine can live the same life as a car engine if
you run it, instead of letting it sit up. My intent is to pull it out
every couple of weeks and run it. My question is, is it better than
winterizing it?

If it doesn't freeze wherever you are, why aren't you going boating
periodically throughout the winter? If you do, then winter is the same
as summer, no?

Dave Hall

Sounds appealing - when winterizing, will fogging the engine be
necessary? Last thing I want is a stuck carburator...

ran007 wrote:
Sounds appealing - when winterizing, will fogging the engine be
necessary? Last thing I want is a stuck carburator...

Fogging does nothing for the carb.