Considering winterizing my boat with few extra qts of oil in each motor ...

[yam240sx]

My boat usually sits in its grave for about 7 months outdoors covered and during mid winter months gets exposed to low temps and weather .. my theory is to completely coat the engine during this sitting time to avoid rust ect and add extra protection ... Im sure the 4 qts alone should be enough to coat the crank shaft and bearings but could help with rising level all the way up to connecting rods all the way just below bottom of the cylinder heads ... of course it would be drained and refilled to proper level before starting the following year ... thoughts or is this extreme and not necessary ??

 

[TimW451]

That’s what fogging oil is for. Pull your plugs and spray into the combustion chamber, or via the air box (I prefer the former) and it will coat the chamber, pistons and cylinders.

 

[yam240sx]

yes i do both ways .

 

[ZGhost]

I would just keep the recommended oil level in there and turn the engine over once a month. Keeps everything well lunricated in there. You can increase frequency if you wish. You can do it with or without spark plugs in there.

 

[Jores]

Yes what Tim said- don't overfill the motors that sounds like disaster waiting- pull all the plugs and spray generously with fogging oil and while the plugs are still out crank the motors (with the lanyard pulled) and a towel laying loosely over the spark plug holes. use a tiny bit of anti-seize on the plug threads when re-installing the plugs- tighten by feel, not torque settings and youl be ready to go next season.

 

[yam240sx]

Yes what Tim said- don't overfill the motors that sounds like disaster waiting- pull all the plugs and spray generously with fogging oil and while the plugs are still out crank the motors (with the lanyard pulled) and a towel laying loosely over the spark plug holes. use a tiny bit of anti-seize on the plug threads when re-installing the plugs- tighten by feel, not torque settings and youl be ready to go next season.

This exactly has been my protocol for last 4 years .. except manual says 18ft lbs for plugs

 

[Jores]

The torque should be less because of the anti-seize - 18 ft lbs might be over tightening and cause problems getting the plugs out later

 

[2kwik4u]

@yam240sx Where are you located geographically, and where do you store the boat?

In general, 7mo of an engine sitting in a moderately dry and salt free space is not overly hard on it. Assuming you have somewhat acceptable moisture control, and you're away from salt air/vapor even fogging is overkill for storage. You need moist air movement to generate rust and corrosion. The block/heads are aluminum, as are the pistons. The only thing you are preventing from oxidizing is the cylinder wall lining, and possibly the valve seats and valves. The crankshaft, cams, bearings, and remainder of the driveline are in a relatively well sealed enclosure surrounded by lubricating oil. There is going to be little to no moisture in there, and sitting for 7mo isn't going to hurt them. The enemy, again, is moisture, temperature swings, and air movement. Most likely you don't have a lot of that happening so I wouldn't worry about it.

Long term storage on the coast in New England would warrant fogging at most. With an oil and plug change in the spring. Somewhere like Montana or Minnesota where it gets cold, stays cold, and there isn't salt around, I would just clear the engine of water and let it sit.

While I'm aware the "I've always done it this way" isn't a great argument, I have stored a number of engines for multiple years in garages and barns under tarps with ports taped up with no ill effects. Keep it away from corrosive things like salt, and keep it as dry as you can, and you'll be just fine storing it for multiple years. No need to get crazy with overfilling, heavy fogging, or other oddball procedures.

 

[Jores]

Actually I've only fogged my motor one time- at the end of my first boating season with my new Yamaha- I wanted to get some anti-seize on the plug threads so I decided to fog the motor at that time- I'm not sure I'd spray fogging oil into the motor through the air cleaner. I do run some anti-freeze into the motors though- the kind you can get at west marine which is made for engines and non toxic for marine use. Probably overkill but so easy to do and not very expensive.

 

[RobbieO]

That’s what fogging oil is for. Pull your plugs and spray into the combustion chamber, or via the air box (I prefer the former) and it will coat the chamber, pistons and cylinders.

I have been tossing the fogging oil concept around for a few months. I am OCD on preventative maintenance, and I already have the fogging oil. The dealer says there is no reason to do it in my area. It doesn't snow here, temperature rarely gets below 30 degrees, and I store my boat indoors, covered. Should I just do it anyways? I'm thinking of adding a port to the air box post filter to make it easier.

 

[Dennis P]

When the spark plug seats I give it a quarter turn , doing this for the past 5 years. No fogging or anti seize, 4 gallons of -100 F Burst protection through each engine, and fuel stabilizer for winterization. Boat sits from October 1 through end June , change out the plugs, change oil and off to the river where I wet slip from end June through end September. Runs like a champ. The winters here in Quebec get down to -30 F, I sleep well with my anti freeze in the block, it also has anti corrosion properties.

 

[HangOutdoors]

When the spark plug seats I give it a quarter turn , doing this for the past 5 years. No fogging or anti seize, 4 gallons of -100 F Burst protection through each engine, and fuel stabilizer for winterization. Boat sits from October 1 through end June , change out the plugs, change oil and off to the river where I wet slip from end June through end September. Runs like a champ. The winters here in Quebec get down to -30 F, I sleep well with my anti freeze in the block, it also has anti corrosion properties.

How do you run it through the engine? What is the exact process?

 

[Dennis P]

Good day,
I run the engine on the hose to warm the engine to open the thermostat, hose off run for another 15 seconds to rid some of the water, engine off. Then I use this submersible pump, put it in a bucket, connect the flush hose to a short hose to the pump, prime the pump, start the engine, pump on, pour in the antifreeze as needed until the 4 gallons are pumped through the engine, pump off, engine off. There you have it.

 

[Dennis P]

Good day,
I run the engine on the hose to warm the engine to open the thermostat, hose off run for another 15 seconds to rid some of he water, engine off. Then I use this submersible pump, put it in a bucket, connect the flush hose to a short hose to the pump, prime the pump, start the engine, pump on, pour in the antifreeze as needed until the 4 gallons are pumped through the engine, pump off, engine off. There you have it.

Originally I tried the CAMCO gravity feed, that was too slow and the over heat light came on, so I use the transparent hose that came with the kit to connect to the pump and the engine flush hose .

 

[HangOutdoors]

I just bought a submersible pump for the pool to empty some water out. It should work well in this application. I was thinking about Anti Freeze last year. Good Information.

 

[Dennis P]

I just bought a submersible pump for the pool to empty some water out. It should work well in this application. I was thinking about Anti Freeze last year. Good Information.

I use the non toxic -100F Burst Protection, I could not get the CAMCO Winter Ban -100F this year so I purchased the -100F StarBrite

 

[Tgen2013]

The torque should be less because of the anti-seize - 18 ft lbs might be over tightening and cause problems getting the plugs out later

Wrong,...............................18 lbs is perfect for any aluminum head on any type of motor. Car , boat, motorbike,..etc.

Do not put anti seize on the threads because it will give you increased net torque.
I have 12 seasons of plug changes to back this up using 18 ft lbs on FRT1100 engines.

 

[Tgen2013]

Wrong,...............................18 lbs is perfect for any aluminum head on any type of motor. Car , boat, motorbike,..etc.

Do not put anti seize on the threads because it will give you increased net torque.
I have 12 seasons of plug changes to back this up using 18 ft lbs on FRT1100 engines.

I

 

[Jores]

You use anti-seize because of the dissimilar metals- aluminum heads / spark plugs - they won't get stuck, but to each his own

 

[2kwik4u]

Wrong,...............................18 lbs is perfect for any aluminum head on any type of motor. Car , boat, motorbike,..etc.

Do not put anti seize on the threads because it will give you increased net torque.
I have 12 seasons of plug changes to back this up using 18 ft lbs on FRT1100 engines.

This is a little over the top with the initial approach here, but the "increased net torque" is definitely the wrong set of words. I see what you're getting at, but just to be clear, I've elaborated below.

Lubricating the threads leads to increased clamp load as compared to non lubricated threads in a bolted connection. So, putting anti-seize on the threads (which is not a bad idea considering the dissimilar metals in a marine environment) will lead you to slightly overtighten them. Possibly on the order of 50% or so. This will have such a small effect on overall clamp load (because we are so far below the capacity of the threads) that it really doesn't matter. Here's a really good page to talk about lubrication effects on torque values when targeting a particular clamp load.

For reference the NGK LFR6A's are a 14mm thread. Typically 14mm threads have a torque spec in the 118ft-lb range (converted from 160Nm), so even if you de-rate by 50% for being a stainless fastener in aluminum, you still aren't going to even come close to peak torque loads (and subsequent thread stripping) in the head at 18ft-lbs with lubrication. This site has a great number of resources on threaded connections if anyone wants to dive deeper.

Moral of the story here; Use a torque wrench not a "turn of the nut" method on spark plugs. This will ensure you have enough clamp load to resist the forces at play. Then use anti-seize (or don't) if you want to, the impact to the assembly from lubrication is minimal at best.

Also, lighten up a little eh?