Motor Oil | Outboard Motor Oil - Part 31

Winterizing an Inboard/Outboard Motor

Unless you live in Miami, you need to winterize your inboard/outboard motor. It’s already December, so chances are if you haven’t already scheduled an appointment at the marina, you’ll need to do the job yourself. Removing the water from the engine is a fairly simple task that you should be able to complete on your own.

Start by lowering the engine into the down position and then allow the water in the unit to drain away. Next, remove the drain plugs so the water can drain into the bilge. Newer drain plugs are made of plastic and can easily be turned by hand. Once the draining is complete, reattach the plugs, and then drain the bilge. While you’re winterizing your machine, make sure that you are stocked up on boat motor oil for next season.

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Transporting an Outboard Motor

Today we’re going to touch on proper transportation. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised by the number of boat owners who cause damage to their outboard motors by not transporting them correctly. Driving with the outboard motor loaded to the transom is fine, but if the outboard is in the “up” position with an unsupported lower unit, every bump in the road is concentrated on the bolts of the fiberglass transom.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “I always transport my motorboat the way you described. If I don’t, the motor will scrape the lake bottom when landing.” True, a tilt may be necessary, but there is no good reason to not right the motor once the boat has been loaded onto the trailer. Once the boat has been loaded, the motor lowered, and the hull cleaned, take the opportunity to check to see if the motor needs to be topped off with the best outboard motor oil.

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Top Five Fishing Cities: New Orleans


I’ve only visited New Orleans once and it was as a volunteer to re-build homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Fishing wasn’t a top priority at that time. Though the city still hasn’t fully recovered, I’ve heard from friends in the area that the fishing has improved significantly.

Just like Field & Stream, my friends recommended City Park and Bayou Segnette. The Bayou is ideal for largemouth fish. The city and surrounding area are checkered with marshes, canals, and ponds begging to be explored. Next time I get an opportunity to go down there, I’ll bring my boat and some extra Amalie oil.

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Winterizing Yamaha Jet Boat, Part II

Picking up where we left off yesterday… attach the flush hose to the antifreeze container and flush the engine using the same techniques used with the water hose. Once that’s completed, spray fogging oil into the engine carburetor while the engine is running. After a little while, spray enough so the engine stops running. Repeat the cycle with the other engine.

Allow the engines to cool down and then remove the spark plugs. Spray fogging oil into the plugs, and then insert the desiccant plugs. Drain out any remaining water and pump antifreeze throughout via the bilge pump. Use ArmorAll or another cleaner to wipe down cushions and other surfaces, and then cover the boat with a breathable yet weather-resistant tarp. Over the winter you can place an order for Yamalube so you’ll be ready to go once warm weather rolls around.

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Winterizing Yamaha Jet Boat, Part I

Knowing how to winterize watercraft is part of being a responsible boat owner. Today and tomorrow we’re going to focus on how to winterize a Yamaha jet boat. To complete the winterization process, you will need: stabilizer fuel treatment, fogging oil, water hose, flush hose, antifreeze, desiccant plugs, and ArmorAll.

Add fuel stabilizer to the fuel tank of the jet boat prior to its last run of the season. After the outing is over, add another bottle of fuel stabilizer and fill the tank with fuel. Using the water hose, flush the engine for about 30 minutes. Make sure the engine is running when you flush the system, so as not to damage any cylinders. We’ll pick up here tomorrow. You can use the time between posts to make sure you have all the necessary materials, including plenty of Yamaha outboard oil.

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Blending Synthetic and Regular Oil

I’ll admit that I used to be part of the crowd that believed that synthetic and regular oil could not be mixed. I falsely believed that mixing the two would cause congealing, foaming, and leaks. All of that turned out to be false.

In fact, some major manufacturers produce blended oils known as semi-synthetics. These combination oils work because synthetic oil is based off of regular crude oil and then hydrocracked to eliminate impurities. If you already have synthetic oil outboard motor and regular motor oil on hand, then you can mix your own semi-synthetic. Just be sure to read up on proper procedures before attempting the combination.

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Friendly Family Competition

My brothers and I grew up boating on the Chesapeake Bay. Though most of us live in urban areas now, we still go home for all the major holidays. Our dad still owns a small fleet of boats that he needs help winterizing each year.

To make it less of a chore, my brothers and I have made winterizing the boats into a competition. The first brother to finish winterizing their boat properly wins. Dad, of course, gets to be the judge. He is a particular stickler for making sure that we haven’t shortchanged any areas that need outboard oil.

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The Mistakes of “Gold Rush”

The Discovery Channel has some fairly interesting reality television programming, including the series “Gold Rush” (previously known as “Gold Rush: Alaska”). I was watching one of the early episodes from season two and was simply appalled by what I saw. The crew did not winterize their big equipment at the end of last season, meaning when they arrived back at their claim, much of their heavy machinery was heavily rusted.

Naturally, there was concern as to weather the machinery would start at all. By some miracle it did, but I would never advise letting any piece of machinery simply rust away during the winter months – especially not in a climate like that of Alaska! Take this as a warning to winterize all boats now before the worst of winter sets in. Don’t forget to stock up on outboard motor oil while you’re at it.

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Choosing Marine Diesel Engine Oil

Special marine grade oil is needed for diesel marine engines, as they typically carry high loads for extended periods of time. The National Marine Manufacturers Association tests diesel engine oils and gives recommendations based on those tests. The oils tested may be entirely synthetic or partially synthetic.

NMMA-certified oils include: oil TC-W3 amalie, FC-W and FC-W (CAT). TC-W3 is used with two-stroke engines, FC-W with four-stroke engines, and FC-W(CAT) with four-stroke engines that have exhaust treatment catalyst systems. When selecting diesel oil, be sure to consider added characteristics

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Oil Storage Drums

If you’re like me, then you try to save money by ordering your outboard motor oil in bulk. While this is a great money saver, you need to be careful with how you store oil. Drums can be made of several materials, including polyethylene and steel. You need to check with the manufacturer to make sure that the container you use for storage is appropriate for the oil it contains.

An incorrect storage drum can cause damage to the oil itself. The wrong storage drum can also become corroded and leak oil everywhere, thus hurting the environment and your wallet. The moral of this story is, give your mercury oil 55 gallon drum guy a call when you place your order to make sure everything is kosher.

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Biofuels Debate Rages On

Coming to market soon is a 15 percent blend of ethanol fuel mix. The new blend has outboard marine engine producers up in arms. An engineer from Mercury Marine Corp. was scheduled to testify before a congressional committee last week regarding the damage the new biofuel blend has on outboard engines.

In one of the Department of Energy approved tests, a 200-horsepower outboard engine’s bearings on a piston disintegrated after 300 hours of operation. Meanwhile, the outboard engine using mercury engine oil and fuel mixture did not experience any damage. Supporters of the new blend counter that the tests are statistically irrelevant because so few engines were used. Supporters also claim that the engines tested were not calibrated properly for the new 15 percent ethanol blend.

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Cleaning Mercury Marine Carburetor, Part III

In continuing from yesterday… Now that the carburetor is completely clean it’s time to reinstall all the parts that were removed. Start with the jets, then the fuel bowls and carburetor, and then tighten the screws. Check to make sure everything is secure and that none of the parts got dinged during cleaning.

Your carburetor should now function perfectly. Hopefully, while working on the carburetor you took a few minutes to check out other parts of your boat. Checking the level of Mercury 2 stroke premium outboard motor oil, for instance, is an important part of boat upkeep.

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