Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

[sharps45]

When I winterize my boat I do so by flushing it with antifreeze, then draining the engine. The flushing also fills the outdrive with antifreeze. Where I park my boat, in order to have it drain out the rear, I cannot fully put down my outdrive. If it's full of antifreeze, why should I have to put it down anyway?

Just pondering.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

The reason for lowering the outdrive is to keep water out of it which may enter thru the prop hub and freeze, expanding and splitting the bullet. If you have antifreeze in there that may be OK as long as it does not get diluted with rain water.

Other thing you can do is cover the unit with a large plastic bag to keep rain out and anti freeze in.

 

[Fun Times]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

It's also said to keep the stress of the rubber belows, And it's also said to keep the pressure off all the seals and "o" rings on the trim pump/rams system, Because in the up position the trim pump will hold the drive up with almost 3000 psi And in the down position the trim system pressure is only at right around 250 psi, And that is all you need to hold up that drive over time if every thing is in working order. Just go as low as you can safely get it and try to cover it up some how to keep water out of the prop area. Good luck with it.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Good point on the bellows.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Not to mention of the hydraulic rams being left exposed to the weather.

 

[lmannyr]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

I agree with all points made above.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

If it's full of antifreeze, why should I have to put it down anyway?

Just pondering.

Because your OUTDRIVE is NOT full of antifreeze. It runs right out the water intake ports. And the cavitiy where rain water can enter is the EXHAUST cavity, there is NEVER any antifreeze in there. That's why you lower the outdrive.

Personally, I liked to remove mine.

 

[mcleaves]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Since you are going to pull the drive in the spring anyhow to service the ujoints and inspect the gimbal bearing and bellows (right?!?!), why not pull it and store it inside in a corner of the basement? Capping the gimbal housing with a piece of plexiglass and a little weatherstripping takes all of a few minutes to fabricate.

If you don't have the room inside store it covered IN the boat.

For all the reasons mentioned you need to store it trimmed every so slightly down past level if possible. If you can't store it as low as you can and make sure you don't allow any water to collect in the bullet. presuming antifreeze is in there or will STAY in there is too risky IMO.

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

+ 1 on the above reasons for keeping drive down.
If you can't get it to tilt down all the way 'cause the skeg is hitting the ground , do you have the ability drive the trailer up on blocks or ramps?or jack it up.?
It should raise the boat up high enough to allow you to tilt down all the way needed.

You probably would have to block up the trailer jack too. Just a thought.

 

[sharps45]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

I've always kept the prop and drive tightly wrapped with a tarp to protect the prop and innards, so no water gets in that way. Maybe some 2x6s under the wheels to block it up a little higher would do.
As for the pullling of the drive every year- do people really do this? I did an informal survey around the neighborhood, and no one does this. I know the book says to, but no one does it. Most have had their boats for many years, and never done this.
Please don't bite my head off, but some explainations as to the why and why nots.
thanks

 

[mcleaves]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

I've always kept the prop and drive tightly wrapped with a tarp to protect the prop and innards, so no water gets in that way. Maybe some 2x6s under the wheels to block it up a little higher would do.
As for the pullling of the drive every year- do people really do this? I did an informal survey around the neighborhood, and no one does this. I know the book says to, but no one does it. Most have had their boats for many years, and never done this.
Please don't bite my head off, but some explainations as to the why and why nots.
thanks

1. Ujoints need to be lubed seasonally
2. Alignment should be checked
3. Gimbal bearing should be inspected
4. You can't do a thorough inspection of the bellows from the outside

None of these things are going to need annual attention as far as replacement. In other words you are not going to REPLACE your gimbal bearing or bellows every season. You will rarely need to adjust your alignment. But things decay and change over time Inspection will tell you when it's getting to be time. Trust me, once a bellows goes your short cutting a couple hours of labor annually is going to cost your about a grand when water gets in there and forces itself past the drive seals and requires an partial upper teardown.

I always get a kick out of people who say they never do something and are fine therefore it's not necessary. Seatbelts? Everyone is always fine until they are not. Same with boat boat maintenance. I know people who think it's a waste of time to run blowers.

If you are inspecting the most critical part of power transfer in your propulsion system I think it's a mistake. You'd be better off not changing spark plugs. If you eat ujoints, splines or drive seals it's gets pretty pricey.

Give me a choice between spending an hour changing plugs cap and rotor vs inspecting my drive train and it's a no brainer. Then manual doesn't print that info for no reason

M

 

[Grumman59]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

As for the pullling of the drive every year- do people really do this? I did an informal survey around the neighborhood, and no one does this.

For one thing, it can save you a lot of expense by catching problems before they cause others. Also, it's probably worth checking the alignment once in a while.

I wish I'd pulled mine off sooner but I didn't know it needed to be done and also didn't realize how quick and easy it is. Now I have to pay the price. If the original Mercury bellows hadn't lasted so long, I would have been forced to do it sooner. I guess I helped that because I always store the boat with the outdrive down.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Personally I think the factory published maintainence intervals cover worst scenereo conditions operating in the harshest environments by oblivious operators, also sorta like an aircraft, your not going to just walk away from a failure as if it were the family car so the emphasis on maintainence a little above and beyond is golden.

 

[KRH1326]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

I was told that , for old OMC's anyway, it's for the shape and configuration of the water pump in the leg.

If there is any tip up, as the pick up enters from the rear , not the bottom, that it will catch and hold water there till it freezes and does whatever harm may come.

I did not follow up on that info with a level and protractor but seems plausable.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Most have had their boats for many years, and never done this.
Please don't bite my head off, but some explainations as to the why and why nots.
thanks

If your boat has greasable u-joints, then YES you need to remove the drive every year and grease them. Now that said, many Alpha One Gen 2s and Bravos have had "permalube" u-joints for several years now.
I'd still like to see inside the bellows and be able to feel the operation of the gimbal bearing. And on a Bravo, there is no gasket to replace every time, it seals with o-rings that can be reused.
Simply put, removing an outdrive, even just to inspect things will save you big headaches and bigger $$$$$$ if you've got any issues.

But you can do whatever you want.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Thats good advise. The people that never remove their drives probably wouldn't know what to inspect anyhow, they'll just run till it breaks then the boat will sit and rot like many do.

 

[sharps45]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Most of us here in the mountain west will put 20-30 actual hours on our boats per year, as we have a 4 month boating season. That's probably why most I know have never taken the drive apart for inspection.
That said, I feel properly chastized, and will pull mine this next spring and check it out (or would it be best to take it to a boat mechanic and watch how he does it and have him show me what to look for?)
Thanks for all the constructive comments, though.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Pulling the drive is easy to very easy depending on what drive you have, if you've never done it now is the time.

 

[mcleaves]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

Pulling the drive is easy to very easy depending on what drive you have, if you've never done it now is the time.

Yup, next to changing the oil it's probably the simplest maintenance task on a boat since you cover a lot of things with a simple drive removal. Do it now an store it. That'll solve your problem with dropping it down. Plus you have time now. If you say you'll wait to the spring I can guarantee that enough gremlins will pop up that it won't bubble to the top of your list and then it'll be time to just get the damn thing wet. Anything you can do now during layup is better.

The manuals are all available here online. It really is simple. You need two guys just for the weight though. It's only about 70 lbs but it's awkward.

 

[mcleaves]

Re: Lowering the outdrive for the winter- Why?

One more reason to pull annually:

Help Sterndrive stuck on