Parts Shop

winterizing

 

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When the temperature falls below freezing, if there is water inside your engine or gearcase, the result can be a cracked block or housing and a repair bill that runs into the thousands. It is easy enough to prevent this unhappy circumstance by putting your boat's engine to bed properly at the end of the boating season.

Rust never sleeps

Allowing corrosion to flourish during the off-season is less dramatic but equally destructive. Corrosion can establish a foothold on idle components, so liberal use of corrosion inhibitors — both internal and external — is a second guiding principle for winterizing.

Prepare a checklist

As with laying-up your boat for the season, it is essential not to miss a step. If your owner's manual includes winterizing instructions, that is the procedure you should follow. In the absence of manufacturer's instructions, here are two generic checklists for engine winterizing, one for outboards and one for inboards. Some steps on these lists may not apply to your particular engine.

The only items you will need, other than your engine's normal lubricants are:

• An aerosol can of fogging oil,

• A fuel stabilizer (gasoline engines) or a fuel biocide (diesel engines),

• For inboards, a gallon or two of non-toxic propylene glycol antifreeze.