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Winterizing

agitator

Contributing Member
"Got my F26 running great! Jus

"Got my F26 running great! Just in time to pull it out and winterize it. I do not want to go through all the fuel system issues again so.. what do you guys suggest for winterizing: Full fuel tanks w Stabil or empty, how best to make sure all the water is drained from the engine/tranny, spray the cylinders / cam down with anything?"
 
"Billy,

I would leave the t


"Billy,

I would leave the tanks full and use enough stabil ( marine formular ) the blue one not the red one. Run a hose from your raw water hose ( before the pump ) and place in a 5 gallon bucket of water with the hose running, to ensure you flush out any salt reidue, and to ensure that the stabil gets through your fuel system/seperators/filters and last but not least your carb, Bring the motor up to temp so you can change the oilwhile it is warm ( refill and change oil filter),
after the oil is changed, add 2or 3 gallons or so of RV antifreeze to the 5 gallon bucket and start motor and run until you can clearly see the antifreeze coming out your exhaust ( this lets you know that the block/manifolds/risers ), all have the antifreeze in them, next, before the bucket of RV antifreeze is empty spray the carburator down with engine fogger until the motor stalls, of course you want the motor to be idling, this will ensure proper lubrication in the carb/valves and rings for the winter.

cover the carb with a cotton rag and a small piece of plastic and put the arrestor back on and you should be good. ( same proceedure for FWC) except you might want to flush out the heat exchanger/check zinc and refill with the proper antifreeze.

Kerry
AKA fortuna"
 
"I'd use the marine Stabil

"I'd use the marine Stabil or similar alcohol-free product. I'm not sure I'd go through the motions of draining all of the fuel but, the less you have to stabilize, the better....also means you'll have more room for a higher ratio of new-to-old with your first fill-up next season.

As far as making sure the engine's drained, I pull every plug possible (block, exhaust, etc.) and blow some compressed air through. I have a boat that sucks up a lot of sand and had a block crack last winter. Despite having been "drained", sand that settled at the bottom of the block retained water. There was, litterally, a sand icicle coming out of a freeze plug hole. So, this year, I created an adaptor that screws into the plug holes in the block and attaches to a shop vac. I gave the sand some time to dry out after the initial block-drain and then sucked it out (the dry/loose stuff at least).

Some people choose to poor RV coolant into the engine while others choose to run it through via the raw water pick-up hose. Then there are those who choose to trust in their ability to completely drain an engine and put no coolant in at all.

If you add the coolant via a running engine, the tail end of that process is a good time to shut it down via fogging the carb.

I have no tranny so I can't speak to that.

Hope some of this is a help."
 
Been full filling the tanks an

Been full filling the tanks and treating them with Star Tron fuel conditioner. No problems two years running.

Jeff
 
"Thanks guys... One question l

"Thanks guys... One question left, what do you 'fog' the carb with? Is there a special chemical or do you use WD40? Anybody pull the plugs and spray the cylinders with anything?"
 
"[i], what do you 'fog&#39

", what do you 'fog' the carb with? Is there a special chemical or do you use WD40? Anybody pull the plugs and spray the cylinders with anything?

Using an old shampoo bottle, I squirt ATF in 'til she smokes, then I shut the engine down.

For rust prevention, I spray the warm engine (everywhere) with CRC then I wrap the engine in a plastic bag.

,Noel."
 
"Billy - if you're looking

"Billy - if you're looking for the easiest route, STA-BIL makes a fogging spray (as do other brands). I usually fire up the engine, turn off the fuel line and load up the carb with the spray until it cuts out (via whichever comes first....running out of fuel or flooding from the spray).

Pulling the plugs and pouring Marvel Mystery Oil, etc. directly into the cylinder is good for smaller or 2-stroke engines but maybe overkill for the boat....especially if you use the spray as described above."
 
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