Why do I need to winterize my motor????????????????This question I am answering for reasons of my own but I would like to share in what I believe is the bit of maintenance one can do for their motors to keep them running smoothly and for many years.
Today’s outboards or marine engines for that matter are subjected to stresses that a “car†engine would never survive. A well maintained outboard can and will run for up to 1000 hrs of use before anything major is needed. Optimum time to rebuild is after 800 hrs usually so one can see that a purchase of an outboard though expensive can be cost effective if spread out over the live of the engine. That is one reason for buying the BEST available oil and REGULAR maintenance.
So what is this gem of advice, WINTERIZE THE MOTOR PROPERLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I park it in a heated garage. This is the worst possible scenario for extended periods of non-use.
Why?? Physics and thermal dynamics two words that translate into “CORROSIONâ€. And left untreated a stored motor will corrode all winter in a warm garage. Moisture and warmth plus oxygen with moisture in it more than outside and dissimilar metals, makes this a perfect environment for corrosion and left untreated will reduce the live of the motor by 20%.
How does PROPER winterizing help my engine???????
Lets look at 2 stroke motors first
Winterizing or preparing for storage means putting a layer of protection in the areas that need it most. Those are they small gaps between each pin in a bearing, the cylinder wall and the rings and any surface exposed to the atmosphere.
When an engine is run it produces heat and when it cools it produces moisture that remains trapped in all the small areas of the motor (bearing surfaces.)
In a 2-stroke carb motor the oil is carried into the engine with the gas. This does two things, the gas washes away the oil from the cylinder and bearings and the oil tries to remain to protect the motor. (lubrication) A very thin layer of oil does this. All oil has viscosity, which is the oils resistance to pouring or flowing.
Run an engine and shut it off and within a few hours the necessary environment for corrosion is being created. All you have to do is look at your bathroom mirror to see what happens when warm moist air contacts a cool surface.(condensation)
The remaining oil because of its viscosity does not remain on the cylinder walls but puddles in various parts of the engine(lots of smoke on start-up) so we have after a few days an unprotected engine. The oil you buy will give you good protection(low viscosity) or just adequate depending on the quality of the additives, which are there to prevent this from happening.
So we have an environment that promotes corrosion and how to protect that is to get a layer of something to stick to those surfaces and that product is storage oil. It’s designed to stick to the surfaces and provide protection from the atmosphere. It also displaces moisture and prevents it from developing after the motor is shut down.
A properly “fogged’ engine is done through the intake and is done while the engine is running. Putting it in a horizontal cylinder through the spark plug hole only does ¼ of the job. And most likely will cause hard starting in the spring if the plugs are not changed. Now I know most of the manuals instruct the tech or owner to do this but it is in conjunction with the “foggingâ€. After the engine is fogged the sparkplugs are changed. This will aid in spring start-up.
Now 4 stroke engines.
The major difference between a 2 and 4 stroke engine besides 2 strokes is the oil in the crankcase and the size of the carburetors jets. A 4 stroke fuel charge does not have oil in it and is lighter than a 2 stroke charge so they have smaller jets.
The oil in the crankcase is very corrosive as the process of combustion produces acids that can and will build-up in the engine oil and corrode the bearings. In a plain bearing motor this can lead to catastrophic failures of the bearings and premature loss of oil pressure. Lose of oil pressure leads to poor lubrication, which is all, that stands between the engine turning over and seizing. So getting the oil out at the recommended intervals is vital to a well running engine and to keep it running longer. Leaving it in the crankcase for the winter is just plain foolish.
The winterizing of a 4 stroke motor will include fogging from the intake through the carbs as well as changing the oil and filter.
Now Direct Injection motors and fuel injected
These are not much different than a carb motor in that the fogging is done through the intake not via the injectors (some makes allow for a small amount of oil to be added to the gas to better protect the engine) The injectors are made to flow fuel only and SOME can be damaged by oil in the gas or a storage oil put in the gas. Check with the manufacturer.
Now, lets talk about the fuel.
ALWAYS STABILIZE THJE FUEL.
Gas is manufactured for cars not outboards so the outboard industry is always playing catch-up with the fuel manufacturers because when tey change the formulation(additives) of gas they don’t take into account any industry but the automotive.
An open container for regular fuel, can and will lose up to 2 points from its octane reading per week if left unstabilized. The gas you purchase in the fall in more volatile for start-up reasons than fuel bought in the summer. So filling your tank in the fall and leaving it all winter is not a good idea. Get the tank as empty as possible and put the RIGHT amount of stabilizer in it(read carefully directions on container for use too much is not good)
Another point about fuel concerns the use of ethanol in the fuel. In the past few years the government has eliminated the use of MTBE, additive used top maintain octane. This has been found to be very bad for our environment and is showing up in drinking water (thank those Californians for this). It is not a good chemical to inject. So the industry has put all its eggs in the ethanol/methanol basket.
Ethanol being a very clean burning fuel has a very corrosive property to it as well as eliminating lubrication for surfaces. So leaving untreated gas in the fuel system is only looking for trouble as the fuel left untreated will corrode the carbs, injectors, and deform gaskets as well as degrading fuel lines. It actually makes the fuel line soft and small pieces break off and can plug filters or jets.
Let’s take a look at phase separation; what is it and how to avoid it.
Phase separation happens when old unstabilized fuel mixes with MTBE mixes with fuel that has ethanol in it. It usually takes a couple of years to affect a 2 stroke but will affect a 4stroke quicker.(smaller jets)
What is it???
It’s the separation of additives from the fuel. The additives precipitate out of the fuel and leave a brownish deposit on everything in the fuel system. MTBE fuel and ethanol fuel don’t mix that well if one has started to deteriorate. This is not a new phenomenon but is getting more attention with the change in fuel formulation. In older 2 strokes I have seen it affect jetting and then lean out the engine till it blows(seizes). In to-days 4 strokes I have seen it affect the idling characteristics after one season. The smaller the outboards, read jet size, the quicker it affects it.
This can also have a dramatic affect on DI motors as they are injecting small amounts of fuel and oil. Any restriction(reduction in fuel flow to that cylinder) can seize the motor or lead to a loss of performance.
So now we can see the IMPORTANCE OF PROPER WINTERIZATION and that the warm garage will give your motor a warm fuzzy feeling inside(corrosion) instead and that is not a good thing.
I have a tank that I mix up to stabilize the fuel system then I run the motor and fog the engine.
Then I change the gear oil because it also produces condensation in the gearcase from normal running and the gear oil can get corrosive as well.
The motor is greased, fuel filters are changed and the motor gets a good looking over and battery is removed or fully charged then just disconnected.
The best place for it to sit is outside or garage or area that is not warm, but cold. The cold air carries less moisture and there will be less temperature change outside than in.
In closing let me say that if the winterizing is vital to a long running engine and after taking apart the many motor I have repaired it is evident by looking in the cylinder and seeing the ring impressions on the cylinder wall where that piston sat all winter tells me that this is not a good sign. That impression viewed through a microscope is actually a hill of corrosion and will prematurely wear out the rings.
So have it done by a shop and ask how they do it or do it yourself and do it properly and you should have years of good performance.
I can’t wait to see the amount of 4 stroke engines that will have problems in the future from poor winterization, but then again I love to see a motor blow-up.
In the words of Shania Twain ………….KAAACHING
See you on the water before it freezes and don’t forget to winterize those livewells.
Water pressure gauges and speedos need to have the lines blown out or the water can freeze in them and ruin the gauge. I forgot to do my speedo last year and sitting on the trailer my boat is doing 40 mph but it’s a Gambler so it always looks fast.
Michael Lynch-Staunton aka mikemicropterus
ML-S Small Engine 613-284-2761
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