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Winterizing

maxtor

Contributing Member
"In the manual, it says that Q

"In the manual, it says that QuickSilver is recommended and the manufacture DISCOURAGES the use of multi-viscosity oils, such as 20W-40 or 20W-50.

However, in trying to avoid buying my oil at the Marine shop because of extremely high prices, I found QuickSilver 4 Cycle Marine Engine Oil at my local Canadian Tire Store, but it is 25W-40 and that's all they have. Does this force me to go buy it at the Marine Shop or is this 25W-40 actually okay to use? This will be during the winterizing of the boat by the way. 120HP Mercruiser is what I'm working on.

Also, would a 350g can of Engine Fogger be enough for a motor this size?

Thanks guys!!"
 
"I don't know how old our

"I don't know how old our motor is but I thought Merc was still shipping their motors with 25W40 oil. Every motor manufacturer I know of uses multi-viscosity oil in their motors. Indmar ships with Pennzoil and their motors go into MasterCraft, Malibu, Supra/Moomba and other brands of boats, with a 3 year warranty. I worked for a Mastercraft/Regal dealer with some other minor lines and Regal shipped with Merc and V-P motors, all using multi-vis oil.

You aren't likely to have any problems with fresh oil in a motor that's out of warranty. It's broken in and unless you're flogging it to death, it shouldn't be an issue.

You shouldn't even need that much fogging oil. Run it to normal operating temperature, remove the flame arrestor and rev it to about 1000 RPM. Spray it into the carb and when it's smoking heavily, let the RPM go to idle and kill it with the oil. If you want to check one or more of the plugs for the oil, go ahead. If none of the plugs have much on them, you can give each cylinder a shot, then crank it over with no plugs in place. Put the plugs back in, do the rest of the winterization (if you use RV anti-freeze, do that before fogging), clean it up, anti-corrosion, bag the plugs that will need to go back in before running it, etc. Change the spark plugs after running it the first time in spring. That way, you don't ruin a new set by getting them all gunked up with fogging oil."
 
"Hey Jim,

What do yo


"Hey Jim,

What do you mean about using RV Anti-freeze? Is this something I should consider and if so, how is this done? IS that where the manual talks about disconnecting the fuel line and running this through it? Also, what do you mean by "bag the plugs that will need to go back in before running it" ?? About the oil issue, the motor is a 1985 120HP.

Appreciate your replies and help!!!"
 
"If this is your first boat an

"If this is your first boat and/or the first time you will be winterizing one, see if you can get a list of what the local dealers do when they winterize. I don't know where you live/boat/store the boat but I'm in Wisconsin and it's definitely necessary to winterize here.

I don't think using RV anti-freeze is mandatory but it does help to preserve the raw water impeller and if it's done right, replaces any water in the motor with the alcohol solution. This is not in the fuel system, it's the cooling system. Post the passage from the manual about the fuel line, if you can.

Fuel stabilizer needs to be added to the gas, run it up to normal operating temperature and then change the oil and filter. Run it again and get the fresh oil into the motor, then either shut it down and drain it or replace the water with RV anti-freeze. I prefer draining the motor before adding the RV stuff but I worked for a couple of dealers and had access to equipment boaters usually don't, like a big tub filled with RV juice. I would run the motor on the antifreeze with no water and there was no way if could have frozen. We also used a refractometer to find the bursting point of the fluid. Fogging oil should be sprayed into the carb at the end of the running cycle until a lot of smoke comes out of the exhaust (that's why they call it "fogging oil"). You'll use at least 4 ounces of this.

If you drain it, pull the plug(s)from the block, exhaust manifold, oil cooler or any others and make sure the water gushes out, not just a trickle. If it trickles out, stick a wire into the hole and clear it out, then run it again to make sure there isn't a bunch of debris in the way. Pull the lower ends of all water hoses off and make sure they drain. Crank the motor over and make sure any water can leave the pumps and the water jacket.

Any plugs from the motor, exhaust manifolds, the hull plug or oil cooler should be placed in a Zip-Lock bag and hung from the throttle or steering wheel. That way, there's little chance that someone will start the boat or launch it with no plugs.

In spring after reinstalling the plugs for the motor and all of the hoses, run the motor the first time and clear out the rest of the fogging oil, change the spark plugs and do your normal tune-up or other maintenance."
 
"Awsome, helpful info there Ji

"Awsome, helpful info there Jim. I live in SouthWestern Ontario (Canada) and yes, winterizing is a MUST here. The part in the manual that discusses running something through the fuel line must be instead of using fogging oil because it says to use a fuel/rust prevention oil mixture. I'm going to buy the Fogging Oil and go that route. Sounds better.
Yes, this will be the first time I winterize a boat, as this is my first boat and first year owning it. I'd prefer to learn this all and do it myself.
I've already added STA-BIL to the fuel as per the instructions on the bottle. As far as using RV Anti-freeze, I'd like to do that but not sure how I would rig it up to run the motor in this stuff. Are there ways of just pouring it in, say, a hose or something?

Once again, thanks for the very informative reply!"
 
"One way is to get a plastic 5

"One way is to get a plastic 5 gallon bucket and install a hose fitting, like the male end of a hose. If you run the boat with a muff, you can use that and a hose between the bucket and the muff, with a small valve (a Y valve, or two-way works well for this, too),so you can shut it off when you want. The Y valve lets you go from regular water to RV juice quickly but when it's really cold, the thermostat will frequently not open so water stays in the block. That's the reason I like to drain the motor before drawing the anti-freeze into it. The chance of having enough water in the motor to burst it is decreased.

If you have a group of friends who also have boats, I would seriously think about doing your winterizations as a group, including trying to get a group price for the materials. If there are enough of you, you could get a 55 gal trough (Rubbermaid makes them but you may have other brands available to you), made of plastic. It won't mar the boats and you don't havae to worry about rust. I used a bilge pump to get the anti-freeze started into the motor but if the trough is deep enough and you can put the outdrive right into the liquid, you can just run the motor on it and wait till the thermostat opens, which will show up as a drastic change in temperature. You'll be able to see the liquid coming out of the exhaust and watch the temperature gauge while someone else sprays the fogging oil in. If the motor runs on only anti-freeze for the last time of the year, there's not much chance of it freezing unless something really bad/weird happens.

You can get RV anti-freeze with different freeze temperatures, too. Get the lowest one available to you, maybe 100°F (-73°C). You can figure on using about 4-5 gal/motor and if you get a 55 gal drum, it's not a bad price for each boat. IIRC, the trough cost about $55 when I bought it and you'll need a muff (if you don't already have one), some hoses, maybe a bilge pump and someone's battery to run the pump, otherwise, set up a harness that lets you clip it to the battery of the boat being winterized. Some oil absorbant material, often called "oil booms" really help to keep the anti-freeze clean in the trough. Drain them and dispose of properly.

Let me know if you have any other questions."
 
West Marine (and other pla

West Marine (and other places) sell a plastic container with a valve at the bottm for adding anti-freeze. Makes life much simpler.

Jeff
 
"Why would that make it easier

"Why would that make it easier Fastjeff?? Because of the downforce, with the valve being at the bottom of the container??

So, I would open the drains and drain out all the water first right? Then, I'd have to get the anti-freeze flowing through the muffs (which I already have) Would this be done with the motor running or would I have to get the anti-freeze flowing first?"
 
"I have used the plastic jug s

"I have used the plastic jug setup- it's like a semi-flexible 3 gallon water container with a valve but IIRC, doesn't have a Y valve, just a Y fitting which makes it possile to suck in air instead of anti-freeze. The orifices are pretty small and while gravity does work on this, once the motor starts, the impeller should draw more liquid. The problem is that the impeller won't do this if it's on its last legs.

For a group, the trough is the better option because it lets you run the motor on anti-freeze, not just try to get it in using gravity. It shows how well the impeller is working and if it needs replacing, too."
 
"Okay, seems I have another qu

"Okay, seems I have another question, and this one almost seems like a dumb question but, is there a trick to draining the oil out of these things so that you don't end up with oil all over the bottom of the boat??
"
 
"Lee, Marine engines have spec

"Lee, Marine engines have special dipstick tubes that allow a pump to screw on to them. You warm the oil, shut off the motor, pull the dipstick and attach the pump the the dipstick and suck out the oil.

I normally drain my oil into the bilge, collect it as it runs out the drain hole and clean up the bilge wiht a rag and degreaser. I never had much patience to use the pump."
 
"Lee, In answer to your origin

"Lee, In answer to your original question. MerCruiser 25W-40 oil is not the same as an automotive oil of the same viscosity range. MerCruiser does not recommend automotive-type multiviscosity oils. It does, however, recommend straight viscosity motor oil (ie SAE-30), or it's 25W-40 oil."
 
"[url=""]LOL@Chris[/url]

"LOL@Chris

It's funny you mention about letting the oil drain into the bilge, then clean it cause that's what I had to do. I tried rigging up a container to catch the oil as it drained but missed the container and it all rain into the bilge....haha

Oh well, got the job done now on to the next part. And about the oil, thanks for the explanation. It was Mercruiser 25W-40 that I ended up using.

Thanks again everybody!!!"
 
"Back for one more. Just to m

"Back for one more. Just to make sure I'm perfectly clear and have the right ones. On a 120HP Mercruiser, what do the drain plugs look like, how many would there be and approximately where would they be located?? The manual doesn't really show where they would be or how many."
 
Help with winterizing.. I have

Help with winterizing.. I have mercruiser 888 ford 5.0L V8 I have a 55 gallon drum cut in half under the stern filled with 5 gallons of antifreeze on the rest is water.. I run it until the antifreeze starts to come out.. my question is will this work ok so I go out and start about every week or two...
 
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