Winterized My First Marine Motor: Comment on Sparkplugs

Hi,

pretty happy with myself I winterized my first outboard. It was a lot easier then I thought it would be.

While I was fogging the cylinders I thought I would take a picture of each spark plug and ask for some feedback if they look correct.

There didn't seem to be any burning on them just some oil on the plugs.

I know it's tough but any comments on the plugs?

Thanks

No problems there ... if electrode looked good, I might even run them again!

Thanks,

I forgot to ask in a marine motor do you use Anti-Seize on the threads of the spark plugs?

acolic said:

I forgot to ask in a marine motor do you use Anti-Seize on the threads of the spark plugs?

Click to expand...

I never have, with aluminum-headed OBs in saltwater use, running a dozen or more motors, some V6s (w/ my bros and I) along with taking care of a fleet of small boats for our boat club, so add in another dozen small HP motors.

All plugs are changed every season. We NEVER had a stuck plug, but always torque them back in place. To me many over-torque them. Anti-seize can fudge torque values, plus you don't want it on the electrodes ... so I don't bother with it.

We also use dielectric grease on the boots and plug connections. Buy the di-grease at an auto parts store, not a marine store where they will charge you 3X the price for 1/2 as much :shock: ! But the package will have a pretty picture of a boat on it - yippee!

I use anti seize on the plugs because marine is a harsh environment where you can get a lot of condensation with the air and water temperature differences. If you don't keep the boat in the water like I do, it's probably not as big of a deal. The main reason to use anti seize is if the plug is different material than the engine block (steel vs aluminum). The different metals can lead to problems if the plugs are left in too long. This is true for car engines as well. I've never actually winterize and outboard in 27 years of boating and haven't had any problems, but I usually run into Nov and then start up in Mar so the off season isn't that long. If there's any chance the boat will sit for more than a year without running it, then winterizing is a good idea.

I was just doing a little reading into winterization and I knew someone here would be doing it right about now too. So my question is what did you included in your process?


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Hi,

All I did was:

• 
  Added stabilizer to the fuel tank for long term storage.
  Started my outboard and let it warm up for about 15 minutes.
  Turned it off and took the top cover off and exposed the carburetors.
  Turned it back on and started spraying fogging oil into the carburetors.
  Unplugged the gas line from the motor and ran it until it died.
  Took out each spark plug and sprayed fogging oil into the cylinder.
  Replaced the lower body oil

I should have taken the propeller off and greased the end but I ran out of time. Something I will do in the spring.