Didn't change the oil on my 4 stroke...

[Cyberfish]

I was told I should change the oil on a four stroke before storing it for the winter. I was planning on doing it, but after hearing of a possible snowstorm today, I was in a hurry to get it put away, and didn't get it done. will it be ok to wait til spring?

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simul iustus et peccator

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[Try Too Fish]

Cyberfish
used oil has acids that degrade engine parts,that why the recommendation.
If the oil had hardly no hours on it, maybe. but i would try to change it!

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Try Too Fish
Forced Too Work!!:)

[Steve Bakken]

cyberfish,

There's worse things to do to a motor. Just change it first thing in the spring before you start it up.

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Steve @ Bakken's Boat Shop www.bakkensboatshop.com

[wall eyell be]

Ya there's worse things to do with your outboard . . . Like have it come loose from the transom as you're cruising across the lake.

[Fishinglund]

I had my 4-Stroke winterized by a local dealer, but they didn't say anything about fogging the cylinders. I read my manual and it says to add stablizer to the fuel system and run for about 15 minutes, change oil, change lower unit fluid, grease all fittings, and remove spark plugs and put a little oil in each hole and turn it over a few times and then reinstall plugs.

My motor is electronically fuel injected...is that why they don't recommend fogging the cylinders?

I took the cowling off and it doesn't look like there is anyplace to spray fog into the cylinders like there is on a 2-Stroke.

Please forgive my stupid question, but this is the first 4-Stroke I have owned.

Thanks,

Fishinglund

[walleyehawk]

If your dealer winterized your boat, they probably did it for you. It's a basic part of winterizing.

The Mercury manual does not call it fogging the cylinders, it tells you to inject a small amount of engine oil inside each cylinder. Most people use fogging oil for this. You take the spark plugs off and spray the fogging oil in the spark plug hole. You then manually rotate the flywheel to distribute the oil in the cylinder. You then put the a small amount of clean oil on the plug threads and reinstall the spark plugs. This protects the cylinders during the winter.

I think you did the right thing taking it to the dealer to do. I am not very mechanical myself and this year I waited until the last minute to do the winterizing, so there was no time to get it into the dealer. However, by doing it myself (with the help of friends the first time) I learned what is what in my motor and in the event of a failure on the water, I at least know a few things to check.

[Guest]

Fishinlund,
From what I understand, you don't fog fuel injected engines, the same as the carb models. For FI you take the spark plug out, spray fogging oil into the cylinders and put the spark plug back in. This treats the cylinder walls to prevent moisture build up, treats the piston rings, etc...

On my carb motor I fog directly into the 4 carbs at once until the motor dies. Then take the spark plugs out and fog the cylinders.

[Surface Tension]

Fishinglund 4 strokes have oil in the crank so your alright with going through the cylinder but its best to use a spray that will atomize a fogging agent in the cylinder so it gets all the surfaces of the cylinder walls as opposed to a few drops and turning the engine .

[walleyehawk]

I was in the same situation where I had half a day to get the boat ready. The big thing for me was to get the cylinders fogged, stabilzer in the gas tank, batteries removed, hatches cleaned out and dry. That and getting the gas run out of the motor, which take 15 minutes on those four strokes. To me, the fogging cylinders was most critical. Hope you were able to do that.

I imagine you could change the oil and filter still if you had a fairly warm spell so the oil ran better. If you change the oil, you can also change the gear oil lubricant.

Hope this helps Michael. You are talking about the Honda motor you got, right?