7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

[ondarvr]

Re: 7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

Here in the NW the humidity is around 90% most of the time and my motors sit for long periods of time, sometimes many years and haven't done this. They've sat on boats outside, in the unheated shop, or in the open bays in the barn. The only motor that has done this sat indoors in a heated area at my parents house for about 7 years, this house is on salt water. On this motor I put oil in the cylinders and turned the flywheel, it broke free and has run for 15 years after that (9.9 Evinrude).

 

[JimS123]

Re: 7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

Jim, We never fogged motors back in the 60s and 70s. Fogging oil had not been invented, or at least wasn't advertized widely. the same can be said about fuel stabiizer. Never had an issues. I use fogging oil and fuel stabilizer now, but only because it is real easy to use and pretty cheap. I still don't know if it is warrented. The boats only sit idle from Nov to about April.

In the 1950's we put an oz. of Triton Red (oil) in each cylinder of our 1955 Merc to "winterize" it. I don't know if the book said to do it or not, but that's what Grandpa said to do!

My new 1968 Evinrude's owner's manual recommended fogging, and OMC sold the product. Later motors I bought new included a 1970 Rude and 1976 and 1978 Johnsons. They all were fogged.

Truthfully, I can't remember when I started stabilizing. I would guess it was in the early 1980's. I do remeber using it in my Johnnys, which I traded in 1984.

Dad and Grandpa always drained our portable 6 gallon tanks into the car in the Fall. They all burned oil anyway, so you couldn't tell the difference...LOL. However, I DO know that back in the 1950's we all knew that the gas wouldn't be up to par in the Spring.

 

[lakeplacidtroller12345]

Re: 7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

No one mentioned the rod bearings i have a six hp that ceased I bought it that way when I found out the bearings were nla and couldnt find any nos I parted it out...It could be the bearings my two cents

 

[road kill]

Re: 7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

Just a follow up on an older post since I haven't been here in a while.
The shed is 50 years old, no leaks, wood floor over a gravel base. No batteries in the building, no water, no appliances, just a half dozen florescent lights. There is two windows, and an eve vent. The walls are insulated but the roof is not. Its never been a problem before.
The area was farm land for a hundred years before they built these houses in the 50's.

Since my last post, I bought a new Tohatsu Four stroke motor, it sat for a month unused while I was in FL, when I came back it was stuck, but worked free and seems fine. In that same time, a Sears 15hp I've had for years froze up, I had oiled the cylinders heavily before leaving but it still stuck. The one 4hp is still stuck, a partial tear down shows severe rust on all steel parts, the crank was rusted to the bearings, the rings rusted up and stuck in the cylinder walls. I have an older 50h Mercury that sat outside all this time that was fine, yet a parts motor that sat inside, on the other side of the wall is stuck now, I soaked the cylinders in oil before putting it there. I also found that my 135hp Evinrude, which was on a stand just inside the door was stuck, both lower cylinders stuck in the block, and the top bearing in the lower unit rusted solid. It ran fine two weeks before I left.
I'm getting big time humidity in the garage for some reason, so much so the roof drips now. There's no water anywhere near here, and even with a fan in the window drawing air through the building the light fixtures are dripping with condensation. Tools in the tool box never rust, things like the bench vise, metal shelving, and even exposed nail heads on the walls don't rust at all, just motors. What gets me is that its only the outboards that have problem, I keep my farm tractor, four garden tractors, a roto tiller, and various other yard equipment in there and it never has any issues. I even pulled out a chainsaw that I haven't used in decades that was sitting right next to the Tohatsu motor and it started right up.

 

[JimS123]

Re: 7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

I was following this thread before. Never heard of someone with such bad luck as yours. Grandpa's Wizard sat for 20 years before I started her up again and she fired up the 3rd pull.

The one thing you just said sounds suspect....wood floor over gravel. Never dealt with that before. Always garage or basement kept over concrete. Don't know if that's the difference.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: 7 motors all 'stuck' after short time sitting?

Because of the short intervals involved, my bet would be on an electrical source somewhere in the area, causing galvanic corrosion. Something outside of the normal realm of things is causing it. Bottom line, DON'T store your motors in that garage until you figure it out!