Winterize four stroke outboard

[Salmon Stalker]

I have a 9.9 yamaha 4 stroke for my kicker. I'll be leaving it outside (under a cover) this winter and am concerned about the steps I need to take to make sure it's ready to go next spring. How do you guys winterize your 4 strokes? I'm most concern about whether or not I need to drain any water out of the engine or if it all pumps out after it gets shut down.

Any help is appreciated.

SS

[FastActionRodTip]

clean or replace fuel filter if equipped, run gas stabilzer through it, fog the engine, change the lower gear case oil and engine oil, grease the propeller shaft and wax the cowling, store it in the vertical position so all water drains from it...in the spring, fire it up to run the fogging oil out and change the spark plugs.

[No Bail]

I was also wondering about the same issue, but was thinking of running the engine every two weeks for a half hour. Will this take care of the winterize problems? The question is for a large Honda and a Yamaha T-8.

[FastActionRodTip]

yeah, frequent use should eliminate the need for winterization (fogging), which is defined as prolonged storage....usually a couple months or more...but you still need to perform all the other annual maintenance items such as change the fuel and oil filters as well as engine and gear oil, grease the prop shaft, zirks, etc

[jimsbuddy]

Hey fastaction.... what do you consider frequent use???? once a month... once a week....my main motor is a yamaha 4stroke outboard, so I think I probably fall in same catagory as above kicker questions... thx

[FastActionRodTip]

i think that if you fire it up every couple of weeks over the winter with some fuel stabilzer in it that would suffice, if sitting out for more than a month or more the preventative measure of fogging I believe is worthwhile for engine longevity.

[StickFish]

What do you all think of boats stored inside a dry garage?

[jimsbuddy]

thanks, I never heard of this fogging thing... is this some kind of heavy oil you mix in the fuel to coat the internals of the cylinders????

[FastActionRodTip]

fogging oil is an aerosol spray that coats and lubricates internal engine components and protects against corrosion. inside a garage is much better because lack of moisute but i'd still fog it if it wasn't going to be used for 2-3 months..it's so darn cheap and easy and if you're planning on keeping the motor then you should protect your investment. make sure to use gasoline stabilzer either way, old, gummy gas is no way to start the spring fishing season and can actually damage your engine

[StickFish]

Thanks on the garage bit - Ring Free and Stabil in the fuel - its been parked since they closed Chinook, but I'll be getting out after T-Day.

[FastActionRodTip]

one thing I neglected to mention....the aerosol fogging spray procedure I mentioned is from my experience with carbuorated motors..if you have a newer 2 or 4 stroke EFI or DI OB motor, you need to follow the winterization procedures in the manual or have an authorized service center perform it...My new DI ETEC fogs itself by following a simple procedure using the fast idle lever...very trick!