Winterizing the new Outboard
18 November 2017
Hukilau was taken out of the water sometime in the last week of October, and I brought the engine home the next week.
It is heavy...
Not so heavy that it can't be lifted, just noticeably heavier than its predecessor. Anyway, I planned to winterize this new engine the same way I used to winterize the 2 stroke: let it run in fresh water for 10 minutes or so, then disconnect the fuel line and let the carb run dry (with the fuel containing stabilizer). I had discussed this with the mechanic who set up the new outboard when I first picked it up, and he thought that was great. Because I bought the engine so near the end of the season, the mechanic said that it would be a waste to do a full oil change and seasonal set up in the spring. With this winterizing scheme, it should be ready to go next spring, as-is.
So I bought the outboard home, and tried to use the sawhorse/jig set up that I had made for the Nissan two stroke about 15 years ago. This jig has always held the engine upright while I ran it in fresh water. But the Tohatsu was clearly too heavy; it looked like the mounting "plate" would snap right off. Ugh. So I lay the outboard down on the patio, and skulked off to think.
Do I strengthen the existing jig? Do I make a whole new jig? Do I pay the dealer to winterize the engine for me? Or, do I just I buy an outboard cart? A quick bit of internet research shows I can buy a cart from Garelick (through Amazon) for $90, no shipping charges, and it will be here in a couple of days. Sold.
The cart comes on Tuesday, and I put it together that night. It takes only about 20 minutes, and I mount the engine to it out on the patio. It's too late to winterize the engine that night, so I decide to put the combo in the storage shed until the weekend. While I am rolling the cart with the engine to the shed, I can't believe how easy it is to move this beast around. Wow. What a great purchase. I could have made a new jig, but it would have been this immobile thing, like its predecessor. With this cart, I can easily move the engine from storage to the car or wherever. My back is loving this.
Today, I pulled the cart/engine out to the patio and winterized it by letting it run in fresh water (a new trash can from Hines helped a lot) for about 10 minutes. I disconnected the fuel line and let the carb run dry, then wheeled it into the shed for the winter. Done.