I have 7 outboards which I run during the year, all are freshwater only motors of various ages.
I put them up for the winter in the garage on a stand. Even my 70hp Evinrude gets pulled and put away and the boats go into hibernation. Each motor gets lubed and stored till warm weather. I happened to have to move one of my smaller motors over the week end to get to something on the wall above it. For what ever reason I gave the rope a tug and it wouldn't move. Not even an inch. The motor was a rarely used 1995 Sears Gamefisher 15hp, the motor ran fine in mid Dec, I put it up after an annual compression test and a huge shot of 30w oil in each plug hole.
After draining the cylinders, and filling each one with PB Blaster for an hour, it broke free and turned fine. I then hooked up a tank and fired it up, all seems fine. I re oiled it and put it back on the stand.
Figuring I'd better check the others, and every one was the same way. Stuck, wouldn't budge.
Other than the 70hp, which came free the same way, they are all small twin cylinder motors, both OMC, Sears, and Mercury. My 25hp Johnson did the same thing, stuck solid, but only a few shots of PB Blaster got it turning over, all but one freed right up, but one 4hp is locked up tight. I don't get it? They all are in minty shape, none have very many hours and their in a warm garage. Nothing external is rusted. I pulled the 4hp apart and its rusted solid inside, everywhere but where the oil charge I shot into it in the fall laid at the bottom. When I winterize, I use fogging fluid from the marina, I crank the motor around a bit get the stuff all worked in and give it a final shot before reinstalling the plugs.
It didn't work this year? I've never had a problem before. This fall and winter though has been especially wet, and not so much cold, just rainy. The humidity is high and its always damp. I talked to my neighbor, he has three motors, all of his seized up too, none will budge, two are old air cooled motors, one a near new Mercury 15hp 4 stroke, all locked up tight, the Mercury was winterized at the dealer and never yet been on the water. He keeps his motor in a garage about 400' away from mine.
What on earth would cause a well lubed motor to corrode or rust up like that? The cylinder on the 4hp is pitted so bad its scaly looking. That motor was last run Thanksgiving weekend last fall. It was fogged and put up on the motor stand.
What on earth would cause this? I'm 50 miles from saltwater, there in no salt air effect here. Things in the garage like hand tools and other parts don't rust, so I don't understand why the inside of a good motor would.
If it were one motor, I'd say maybe it had a water intrusion problem but not all of them, and none have ever given any problems on the water. Besides, I'd expect a motor should be able to sit unused for a few months without having to be fogged every time, yet I take the extra precautions just to be safe and they all have an issue this year. Some were fogged with regular fogging oil in an aerosol can, others done with just 30w oil. It didn't seem to make a difference.
I've had old parts motors hanging outside behind the garage that have been there for 20 years and none are seized up from sitting, some even are missing cylinder heads and they don't lock up like this.
I put them up for the winter in the garage on a stand. Even my 70hp Evinrude gets pulled and put away and the boats go into hibernation. Each motor gets lubed and stored till warm weather. I happened to have to move one of my smaller motors over the week end to get to something on the wall above it. For what ever reason I gave the rope a tug and it wouldn't move. Not even an inch. The motor was a rarely used 1995 Sears Gamefisher 15hp, the motor ran fine in mid Dec, I put it up after an annual compression test and a huge shot of 30w oil in each plug hole.
After draining the cylinders, and filling each one with PB Blaster for an hour, it broke free and turned fine. I then hooked up a tank and fired it up, all seems fine. I re oiled it and put it back on the stand.
Figuring I'd better check the others, and every one was the same way. Stuck, wouldn't budge.
Other than the 70hp, which came free the same way, they are all small twin cylinder motors, both OMC, Sears, and Mercury. My 25hp Johnson did the same thing, stuck solid, but only a few shots of PB Blaster got it turning over, all but one freed right up, but one 4hp is locked up tight. I don't get it? They all are in minty shape, none have very many hours and their in a warm garage. Nothing external is rusted. I pulled the 4hp apart and its rusted solid inside, everywhere but where the oil charge I shot into it in the fall laid at the bottom. When I winterize, I use fogging fluid from the marina, I crank the motor around a bit get the stuff all worked in and give it a final shot before reinstalling the plugs.
It didn't work this year? I've never had a problem before. This fall and winter though has been especially wet, and not so much cold, just rainy. The humidity is high and its always damp. I talked to my neighbor, he has three motors, all of his seized up too, none will budge, two are old air cooled motors, one a near new Mercury 15hp 4 stroke, all locked up tight, the Mercury was winterized at the dealer and never yet been on the water. He keeps his motor in a garage about 400' away from mine.
What on earth would cause a well lubed motor to corrode or rust up like that? The cylinder on the 4hp is pitted so bad its scaly looking. That motor was last run Thanksgiving weekend last fall. It was fogged and put up on the motor stand.
What on earth would cause this? I'm 50 miles from saltwater, there in no salt air effect here. Things in the garage like hand tools and other parts don't rust, so I don't understand why the inside of a good motor would.
If it were one motor, I'd say maybe it had a water intrusion problem but not all of them, and none have ever given any problems on the water. Besides, I'd expect a motor should be able to sit unused for a few months without having to be fogged every time, yet I take the extra precautions just to be safe and they all have an issue this year. Some were fogged with regular fogging oil in an aerosol can, others done with just 30w oil. It didn't seem to make a difference.
I've had old parts motors hanging outside behind the garage that have been there for 20 years and none are seized up from sitting, some even are missing cylinder heads and they don't lock up like this.
