Winterize evinrude 50

[Rob406]

I need to get all the water out of my 1996 evinrude 50 outboard. Do all i need to do is leave it tilted down?

Once it drains….does it need to stay down or can i tilt back up? If i leave it down, it will soon be buried in snow.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Leave it down.

 

[Rob406]

Leave it down.

I can do that. Will it be an issue that the lower unit will end up being buried in snow? We get a lot of above and below freezing days throughout the winter here in southern Maine.

 

[airshot]

Drain and refill lower gear case to be sure there is no water in there !! Lube wont freeze but if the motor is left tilted up, water can lay in that exhaust port behind the prop and cause damage when it freezes. After letting my motor down to drain, I turn it over ( no start) a few times to be sure no water is trapped.

 

[Rob406]

Drain and refill lower gear case to be sure there is no water in there !! Lube wont freeze but if the motor is left tilted up, water can lay in that exhaust port behind the prop and cause damage when it freezes. After letting my motor down to drain, I turn it over ( no start) a few times to be sure no water is trapped.

Thanks. So if i understand correctly, as long as motor is left tilted down, even if in snow, water (or melting snow) cannot find its way to somewhere that it can freeze and cause damage. Correct?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Correct.

 

[Crosbyman]

if you have a small drain hole on the side of the GC make certain it is open...run a pipe cleaner or piece of small wire to poke out any crud and let the water drain out.

 

[rolmops]

Why not take it off the boat and store it in your garage for the winter? Those engines are not very heavy. Do change or at least check the lower unit oil for water because if it freezes inside your lower unit it will crack your lower unit

 

[saltchuckmatt]

I live in Seattle and after lowering it and draining it I lift it up. Like crosby says make sure the drain hole is open so it doesn't hold water. You can ask other boaters in your area but I wouldn't want my motor wrapped in snow. Also you can make or buy a motor cover and rest easy.

Make sure you fog it though.

Cheers

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, Chuck, snow is a lot easier on the gearcase than regular use, no?Gearcases plow or get dragged through water filled with sand, rocks, silt and salt. What is the terrible issue with snow?

Some guys put plastic bags over their gearcases. Makes me laugh, as the plastic often trap moisture and corrode the gearcase worse than the water (salt or not).

 

[racerone]

I have taken apart motors that were laying outside.----Exposed to rain / wind / snow for years.-------Unless water pours directly into the carburetors , I found little damage to bearings.

 

[redneck joe]

Duct tape over exhaust to keep mice out.

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, I'll bite, what can the mice destroy, going in thru the prop? Also, with the nasty gas and oil there, why would they want to go there?

You don't expect them to go thru the exhaust system, into the cylinder, thru the port to the crankcase, thru the reed valves and out the carb, and then eat the wiring, do you?

 

[racerone]

When exhaust ports are open they will crawl right into a cylinder and make a comfy home.-----Then when nature calls they do their business near there.----Disaster in the making !! ---And I doubt they would go through a reed valve

 

[airshot]

Pepermint oil on a few cotton balls will chase them away.. My grandson works with animal behavior and when he was going to school we did numerous tests for his research. We left pans of chicken feed in our barn and yes the mice had a feast.. We started placing perpermint oil cotton balls around the pan and no more mice !! Early on the cotton balls were spread out and the mice worked around them, but once they were within a few feet, the mice dissapeared, none of the feed was touched for weeks !! Chickens are long gone and so is the feed, but on ocassion, I do see signs of a mouse, a couple pepermint oil soaked cotton balls and they are gone. One of his tests was to have mice in a cage with a cotton ball at one end, the mice all gathered as far away as the cage allowed....for what ever reason they hate pepermint !!

 

[Crosbyman]

and for your plasctic garbage cans which squirrels love to chew ????

I read Vick's Vaporub smeared on the edges will turn them away.

 

[Chris1956]

So gasoline, fogging oil and 2 cycle oil doesn't bother 'em, but peppermint oil does? I didn't know that.

I would expect all multi-cylinder motors would have an exhaust port open over the winter, and my neighborhood is crawling with mice, however, I never even had one in the boat, much less up the exhaust.

There are also plenty of ways for them to get in the boat, as I have lots of air blowing under the winter cover. I just want to keep the snow and rain out, and if any gets in, have it dry out promptly.

I guess my mice are the dumb ones...

 

[Crosbyman]

when you fog just position the 2 cyl half way in their travel and exhaust ports will be inaccessible to mice

 

[redneck joe]

Didnt know duct tape would cause an uproar. Fifty cents worth of tape just is a precaution. Mine sits in barn, on a farm. Things build things in cubbies and holes. Mice can collapse rib cage to a quarter inch gap.

I'll leave yall to discuss duct tape with agression.

 

[airshot]

and for your plasctic garbage cans which squirrels love to chew ????

I read Vick's Vaporub smeared on the edges will turn them away.

That Vicks has a mint smell and a strong one, so I can see how that would work !! We didn' t test squirrels, only mice, luckily I don't have squirrels !!