Winterizing Tips Needed.

[Heyspike]

I have a 2006 Yamaha 225 4 stroke and a few questions:
1=Can I use the fogging oil mixed with gas to fog the engine OR should I use the spray fogging oil near the intake?
2- Flushing the fresh water (Sink/Washdown} I was thinking of using RV anti freeze and running both the sink and wash down until the RV fluid came out-Good?
3-Pull Batteries or Trickle charge them occasionally?
4-After I flush the motor with water, How do I get the water out of it? Or does it self drain or not worry about it?
Any other tips?
Thanks,
John

 

[seasick]

Follow the instructions on the fogging oil. I don't spray into intakes, I remove all the spark plugs and spray directly into the cylinders twice. Once in all cylns and then rotate the flywheel one full turn for 4 stroke then spray each cylinder again. Put plugs back in and tighten. Next season after getting things ready, if you will be installing new plugs, start on old ones, warm it up and then install new plugs. That makes sure that the new plugs don't get gunked up with the fogging oil.

Fresh water: Drain as much as you can. Then add RV antifreeze, a gallon or two depending on the length of your plumping and the number of fixtures. Then run the faucets starting with the one nearest to the tank until you see pink. Move down the line and repeat for each water fixture

For my gunnel fresh water wash down, I unscrew the fitting at the pump and stretch out the hose while holding the faucet on to drain it completely.
If you have a livewell and/or a salt water wash down, they have to be treated also.
Leave any sea-cocks open to allow any water to drain.

Motor will drain itself but it has to be stored tilted down so that rain water or whatever doesn't pool in the LU.

The important thing about batteries is that they be fully charged before winter layup. There is no need to remove them. If you won't need juice in off season, disconnect the ground connections at each battery. Make a note of how many cables attach to the battery grounds so that in the spring you don't miss anything. There should not be a need to trickle charge unless you leave them connected and something draws current. Discharged batteries can freeze and crack Some sources of current drain that you might overlook when the batteries are left connected and even with the battery switches off are bilge pump feeds, and stereo memory feed. Trickle chargers or shore power battery charges may draw a little current when connected but not powered up.

 

[Fishtales]

Agree on the fogging oil. You don't want it in the injectors. I'd start and run with the old plugs and the swap the new ones in. They are a bit pricey but I swap every year.

Agree on freshwater. You can run the pump on a return trip and get 95% of it out. On the sprayers, I take apart and put anti freeze down the pipe and also in the sprayer. Had one go one year (split case) so I use antifreeze as a safe guard. Those ends are expensive.

Agree on the motors. While doing this check and replace the zincs and if you have a thruster, do it too. The latter needs to be done every year.

Don't remove batteries in the NE either. You can charge in the fall, but you'll probably want to charge again in the spring. Some years I've only done spring. When you disconnect, use tiewraps to keep things together and either strategically place so you know where they go or label for the spring. I never trickle charge either.

Some other things: Used anti mold strips and damp rid in the cabin and helm and cockpit if covered. Remove the drain plug when out of the water and position boat with bow up so gravity drains any water in the hull out the drain hole.

Inspect the transom, the brass tubes, the bang plate, screws and plastic pieces. Use a good caulk and seat as required. I'd rather have a bead of caulk on the bang plate edge than water intrusion any time.

Recommend taking everything out of the boat and enclosure down. Layup is a great time to wash, polish the strataglass, inspect/replace snaps, go through/replace fishing and safety gear. ditch bags and get ready for spring, service reels and spool line, replace hooks and generally get everything ready to go back in in spring. If you do get critters you don't have cushions to get damaged. It is a bit of a PIA, but I find that I can open the boat, fully clean/wax in spring, wash out the bilge and get rid of any mildew (out the garboard plug as you positioned the boat right) and then put things back together (don't forget the plug). I at a minimum disconnect my VHF power and antenna. The seasonal pin wipe when you re-install usually ensures no signal issues. I take this home too. The electronics would come out if not hardmounted. I leave all this in.

 

[Heyspike]

Great thanks guys. I put a gallon on rv antifreeze in fresh water tank. Then ran it through sink and spray hose. I'll disconnect hose end and run some antifreeze down there.

Question on fogging: Do you use the fogging oil / gas mixture OR just pull plugs and spray cylinders OR both? I can disconnect fuel line easy and run it through that way.

John

 

[seasick]

I add stabilizer to the gas and run the motor (preferably;e the boat) to get that mixture mixed in and in all parts of the fuel system.

I then fog the cylinders thru the plug holes. I do this for motors that I can get the plugs out easily. For motors that are a royal pain to get the plugs out, I may fog the motor through the air intakes with the motor running. It depends on the motor model.

 

[Fishtales]

Best to add the stabilizer on your last run to get it to mix well and work through the system. I'd put directly into cylinders if you can.

 

[max366]

Yamaha now suggests a different approach that I have successfully used for the past few years. They use a portable tank with fogging oil, Ring-Free, and their fuel stabilizer and run the engine on this mix to get the fogging oil well-distributed. Here's an excerpt from the Yamaha winterization tips web page:
use a portable fuel tank with a small amount of fresh gas treated with Yamalube Ring Free, PLUS EFI Engine Storage Fogging Oil and Yamalube Fuel Stabilizer & Conditioner PLUS.

I varied the procedure somewhat by using non-ethanol gas in the portable tank and drained the VST before running the winter concoction, to get the ethanol out of the VST. The VST must be filled using the portable tank and primer bulb before starting the engine. Really makes it easy to get the engine pickled for the winter without worrying about what ethanol is doing to the inside of the VST. Also, they don't suggest pulling the plugs and spraying in fogging oil; the fogging oil in the mix takes care of getting the cylinder treated. Saves time!

 

[Fishtales]

I'm sure it works. Just chuckling a bit. Yamaha ring free, fogging oil and fuel stabilizer. Anything to sell more outlandishly expensive additives.

 

[seasick]

I'm sure it works. Just chuckling a bit. Yamaha ring free, fogging oil and fuel stabilizer. Anything to sell more outlandishly expensive additives.

My first thought also

 

[Fishtales]

Prob make as much jing off that stuff than the smaller outboard engines. A super strong recurring revenue stream....

 

[Heyspike]

Yamaha now suggests a different approach that I have successfully used for the past few years. They use a portable tank with fogging oil, Ring-Free, and their fuel stabilizer and run the engine on this mix to get the fogging oil well-distributed. Here's an excerpt from the Yamaha winterization tips web page:
use a portable fuel tank with a small amount of fresh gas treated with Yamalube Ring Free, PLUS EFI Engine Storage Fogging Oil and Yamalube Fuel Stabilizer & Conditioner PLUS.

I varied the procedure somewhat by using non-ethanol gas in the portable tank and drained the VST before running the winter concoction, to get the ethanol out of the VST. The VST must be filled using the portable tank and primer bulb before starting the engine. Really makes it easy to get the engine pickled for the winter without worrying about what ethanol is doing to the inside of the VST. Also, they don't suggest pulling the plugs and spraying in fogging oil; the fogging oil in the mix takes care of getting the cylinder treated. Saves time!

Max,
That's what I saw on you tube. That's the way I was leaning towards. Not too sure about the VST, no one mentioned that before.

 

[max366]

The only reason I drain the VST is be sure I'm getting the ethanol out of the VST before I feed the non-ethanol concoction into the motor. There's a rule of thumb in chemical engineering- to be sure a tank (the VST!) is flushed of one fluid with another fluid, it takes 10 volumes of the 2nd fluid. If I didn't drain the VST and just relied on the ethanol being displaced, that's quite a bit of the winter mixture, so by draining, the VST, I can be sure the nasty ethanol is gone. Simple to do partially open the brass drain screw at the bottom of the VST and let it drain for 5 min or so- tighten it back up, pump the primer bulb that's getting the winter mixture until the ball is hard and you're good to start it up.

 

[Finest Kind]

Just hit the "winterize" button on your display and the motors will self-fog and shut off when done.
...oh? you don't have E-TEC's?... sorry

 

[seasick]

Just hit the "winterize" button on your display and the motors will self-fog and shut off when done.
...oh? you don't have E-TEC's?... sorry

ha ha!

 

[Fishtales]

or leave a check on the dash for your dealer to do it and go hunting.

 

[Willy-C]

or leave a check on the dash for your dealer to do it and go hunting.

HaHa.......I cheated and backed it in its dry dock........and hunted
https://www.thehulltruth.com/13079780-post110.html

 

[Rustygaff]

I use a fake-a-lake plunger device to add antifreeze to my raw water washdown and livewell. Originally, I connected a hose to the plunger and the other end went into the AF jug and I would turn on the pump to draw up the fluid. I found that system did not work really well due to the difficulty in maintaining a vacuum seal. Plan B was that I had one of those cheap black submergible pumps with the garden hose fitting on the discharge kicking around. I would dump a couple of gallons of AF into a 5 gal. bucket and drop in the pump after connecting it to the fake-a-lake with a length of cheap washing machine supply hose that had a female fitting on each end. I would then make sure the seacock was open, turn on the boat pump and then quickly plug in the submergible forcing AF up through the thru-hull. Within seconds I would see AF in the livewell or the raw water opening. Unplug the sumergible and move on to the next system. Easy to do and works well.

Furthermore, I prefer not to run my F300 on muffs when fiddling with the motor while on the trailer. I use a 75 gallon stock tank from my local farm store. With a running garden hose in the tank when full one can run your motor all day if so desired. The reason I brought this up is that I use the submergible pump to empty the tank when done running the motor.

 

[Fishtales]

I write the check most years. Just easier.....