Preservation of the boat motor for the winter by own hands

Often it's almost impossible to reach distant places of hunting or fishing if you do not have a good boat with a powerful motor. But in our regions the season is short, the cold comes. And if everything is clear with the boat itself, then what to do with its engine? Leave it in a cold hangar is not at all reasonable! Anyway, if you do not want to lose it working! That is why today we will talk about how the boat engine is kept for the winter.

Why do you need to do this?

Even cars are not strongly recommended to be thrown out for the winter, as the consequences of such mismanagement can be very unpleasant. And the boat engines, which in recent years are not much inferior in complexity to the automobile, so it is not necessary to leave anything. In any case, all experienced fishermen and hunters agree on this. Let's say that the conservation of the Yamaha boat engine for the winter (or any other imported model) can increase the resource of the engine by at least 20%, and save a lot of your money, which, otherwise, went for repairs.

It's all about banal corrosion and condensation. Few of the fans of hunting and fishing can afford to build a warm hangar, specially designed for storing the boat, and therefore leave it in the usual boat shed, or in the garage. If the winter is issued "non-standard", with temperature changes, a decent amount of condensation can accumulate in the motor. Moisture, hitting the vital parts of the engine, will inevitably do such things that will require expensive and complex repairs.

Simply put, you need to bring the motor to a certain state. So the conservation of the boat engine for the winter is exactly what is needed. Of course, to ensure the safety of the engine will have to make some effort, because you will need to carry out its maintenance, which is distinguished by some subtleties.

Features of market conditions

It's no secret that our fishermen often use relatively cheap two-stroke engines. They are easy to operate, and a small power makes them very popular, in terms of the amount of tax paid. The leaders of this industry are rightfully considered the brands Mercury, Johnson, Suzuki, Honda.

However, over the past three years, due to an incredible increase in the price of "pureblood" Japanese products, the market naturally won numerous Chinese companies. The cost of these motors is much lower, but care for them should be much better, however paradoxical it may seem.

Means used for conservation

What are the means of conserving the boat engine for the winter? Of course, "conservation" can be understood as the fusion of fuel and oil, as well as the removal of those rubber parts that can crack and crack, but you can do it more simply by using preservatives specially developed for this purpose. They greatly facilitate the work and improve its results.

What does the conservation of the boat motor look like in practice for the winter? For this, there is no need to disassemble the engine on the cogs and wipe each of its parts with some kind of "drug". Just preservatives are released in the form of sprays. They are conveniently injected into the carburetor and other elements. Let's find out how in practice the two-stroke outboard engine is maintained for the winter.

Process description

Take as an example the standard Mercury 3.3, the design of which is the most typical and typical for most boat motors. Preservative should be injected through the diffuser of the carburetor, from where it gradually flows into the crankcase. True, this requires a little disassemble the engine. To do this, you need to start the engine after adding preservative to it, and then, without waiting for a stop, remove the carburetor and re-inject the spray there.

Important! Removing the fuel hoses for a more "precise" injection of the spray into the combustion chamber is not the best advice, since in this case you will directly violate the basic rules of fire safety. Therefore, we will not give such recommendations.

After this, you need to feed the mixture into the motor cylinders themselves, so that in the long winter they do not cause corrosion and do not cause the piston group to stick . It is not difficult to do this. First unscrew the cylinder head. After that, unscrew the candle, using for this standard tools. Having removed it, it is necessary to submit a preservative spray directly to the upper part of the cylinder cavity, after fixing the piston at the top "dead" point.

Although we describe the model Mercury, but the conservation of the Yamaha boat engine for the winter does not differ from this process.

End of operation

Having done this, several times pull the handle of the starter. This is done for the sake of the goal that the turned pistons evenly distribute the preservative on the walls of the cylinder. This is especially important if you are conserving a four-cycle boat engine for the winter. Its design is more complicated, and therefore much more "capricious" with respect to possible problems that have arisen due to improper storage of the mechanism.

After that, twist the candle to its rightful place, and "to the stop" it does not need to be twisted, and then put on the cap. In principle, the internal conservation of the engine is completed. But do not forget that the conservation of the outboard engine for the winter provides for not only processing its "entrails."

What to do with the body kit?

Very many owners of motor boats for some reason forget about the fastening of the motor. As a rule, it is made far from the best metal, and therefore quite quickly begins to rust when stored in inadequate conditions. To prevent this from happening, all the details must be removed, greased, and then stored. But you can do easier, saving your time and energy, and take advantage of the same preservative.

For this, special mixtures of the type "6 in 1" are used. If all the motor surfaces are treated with this composition, the metal parts will be reliably protected from corrosion, and the paintwork will not fade and warp from the negative environmental factors. If you operate your boat in sea conditions, then such protection to the engine is simply vital, because, otherwise, the salt water will quickly begin to destroy all the most important elements of the boat engine. What else can be done to ensure that the conservation of the boat engine for the winter (it is preferred by all experienced sailors to do it by its own hands) was successful?

Where to apply a preservative?

If you use a preservative spray, then you will not have any problems with applying it, as it should simply be sprayed over the most vulnerable and remote parts of the boat engine. It is very important to apply a preservative to the carburetor itself, to all fasteners that are most prone to corrosion. Do not forget about other metal elements, especially the body of the motor itself.

Separately, especially thick layer, cover the cylinder block. In modern engines, in which this part can be manufactured not from the highest quality iron, it also has an increased tendency to corrosion.

However, do not think solely about protecting only metal parts. If you arm yourself with a brush and carefully apply a layer of preservative to the insulation of the wires, rubber and plastic parts, this simple operation will save your resource considerably. Again, this is most relevant to those engines that are operated in marine conditions, constantly exposed to the corrosive effects of sea water.

Other recommendations

Once again we remind the "sailors" of the aggressive effect of salt on all the mechanisms that fall into it. After returning from any sea walk, and not just before conservation, it is highly recommended to rinse all available engine parts with clean fresh water. Especially this applies to those cases where the conservation of stationary boat motors is required for the winter. Before putting the engine on winter storage, this process should be approached with utmost responsibility.

How to store a canned engine in the winter?

In general, the conservation process on this can be considered fully completed. It remains only to completely assemble the engine. After this, it is time to prepare the room in which it will be stored throughout the winter period. We draw your attention to the fact that the ideal position for the boat motor is vertical. Keep it, putting it on its side, is not recommended.

If you do not have a separate room or garage, you can get out of the situation by packing the engine in a bag of dense polyethylene and just putting it in the closet. It is recommended to avoid sudden temperature changes during storage. In cases where the vagaries of the weather or the heating system have let you down, it is recommended to repeat the procedure once again, using a spray to preserve the boat engine for the winter. So you prevent the negative effects of condensation. And it will appear in any case with temperature drops.

If you do not have the ability to store the motor in an upright position, then its position on the side is allowed, but in this case it should be placed on the side of the tiller. From time to time it still should be put "on the priest."

In what cases can I do without conservation?

In the event that you have a dry and warm room, then the conservation of the boat engine for the winter (Mercury or another model - does not matter) you will not need. You can leave the engine in the same position as it is. Of course, before this, we strongly recommend that you clean it properly and wash it, wipe it dry and, if necessary, protect the exposed surfaces using a preservative spray.

In addition, it is better to remove the motor from the boat, even if you have a whole heated hangar at your disposal, and put it in some dry place, pre-packed in a durable plastic bag.

In the same cases, when you have a warm room, but the humidity in it is increased, conservation of the 4-stroke boat engine for the winter (or two-stroke) is still vital. The fact is that in warm conditions the corrosion processes will go several times faster, and therefore in the spring you can expect an extremely unpleasant surprise.

About replacement of oil in a reducer

By the way, when discussing conservation issues, we somehow completely forgot about the problem of oil change in the gearbox. When to drain old and fill new: at the beginning or at the end of the season? The answer is unambiguous - at the end. Why is it so? It's simple. In the old grease accumulates a huge volume of various oxidizing substances. In principle, every modern motorist knows about this, since only such a lazy person does not know about such "valuable" properties of the present semisynthetic lubricants.

Simply put, the older the oil in the engine, the more likely its internal parts will be covered by a layer of corrosion. For the fight with a similar effect, there are different alkaline additives, but in the old lubricant there is practically none. Visually determine the degree of suitability of the oil for the boat engine to its further operation you can not. The conclusion here is simple - the replacement of lubricants must necessarily take place in the autumn, before the start of measures for the conservation of the engine for the winter period.

If your model of the engine is designed to provide an oil filter, then, of course, it is also replaced with a new one. Of course, here we are talking only about four-stroke models of boat engines, which have two or more cylinders.

How to carry out the re-opening of the boat motor after winter storage?

But why do we all talk only about conservation? After all, it can push someone to the idea that in the spring the engine can simply fill in gasoline and oil, and even swim for fishing! Alas, not everything is so simple. And if you follow the path of least resistance, and do not retrain the engine, the consequences can be extremely serious, even to the point of complete failure.

Of course, we're exaggerating a little, but there's still something to be done. Moreover, it is not necessary to do something particularly difficult. If the motor was stored in a warm room, being installed vertically or in the "reclining" position, it is only necessary to fill the fuel and the engine can be safely started.

While in the first minutes the preservative will not burn out, strong and black smoke will emerge from the exhaust. To be frightened it is not necessary. It will disappear very quickly, immediately after the complete burn-out of the preservative. After that, the engine can be operated in the normal mode, no features of its use at the same time does not appear. This is how the boat engine is kept for the winter. "Tohatsu" or other manufacturer - does not matter much, but there are still some non-critical features.

Other types of motors, varieties

So, all the above recommendations are valid, for the most part, for two-stroke medium-sized motors, which are actively used by most hunters and fishermen in this country. But for all other engines that can be found on the market, these rules are justified. Some special and important nuances are better to find out directly from the manufacturer's representatives, since such information can only be from them. The general principle of any conservation is the use of a special mixture, best in the form of a spray.

This composition should be distributed as uniformly as possible on all internal surfaces of the motor, and also, if possible, protect the external "body kit" of the motor from corrosion. Especially important are all these remarks in relation to motors that are operated in sea conditions. Salty sea water so quickly corrodes many parts of modern technology, that for a couple of seasons, if you do not properly conserve your boat engine, you can safely throw it away.

So you have learned how to save the boat engine for the winter. "Suzuki" or other manufacturer - there are no special differences in the process. It is important only to remember that you need to perform all operations carefully, without getting lazy.