Thread: Winterizing

Some outboards have water cooled alternators and such. Simply letting them drain don't necessarily get it all out. Cranking it out of the water will help blow out a little more. If you take a 5 gallon bucket and mount a regular outside water spigot in the bottom of the bucket you can hook a small piece of water hose to the spigot and the other end to a set of water ears and put them on the motor. Mix up about 2 gallons of anti-freeze water mixture in the bucket and crank the motor. When it starts peeing the anti-freeze mixture turn the motor off and it's winterized. Very simple very cheap. Can do it every time you go out in the winter when you get home and never have a problem. Must hold the bucket higher than the water pick up area and turn on spigot.

I always let my motor rest in the lowest position to drain every time I go. I do crank it briefly in the winter to let it spit out what's left to prevent freezing. Works so far for a 1987 Yamaha. I use my boat fairly regular so I don't worry to much.