E3 spark Plugs offers tips to winterize your boat so you can hit the water hard come springtime.
If you’re a hard-core duck hunter, you can skip this E3 Spark Plugs blog post seeing how you’re probably in your boat with a site line on a feathered target right now. Otherwise, your boat is likely out of the water and out of mind. Come springtime, you might wish we weren’t right about that “out of mind” part. Lucky for you, we’ve got some great tips for winterizing your boat and motor so you can hit the water hard first thing this spring.
- If you’ve used your boat in the salt water, flush out your engine with fresh water. Salt water and salt deposits can block strainers and pipes, and can cause corrosion and rust inside your engine. A thorough flush will prevent costly damages. Spray down your trailer after each salt water excursion too. This can add a full 10 years to its life.
- Change the oil before you store your engine for the winter. Fresh oil eliminates problems associated contamination by moisture and engine deposits and can cause spark plug fouling.
- Make sure you change the oil in your engine’s lower unit too. Synthetic oil is recommended because it’s much more tolerant of moisture.
- Empty that gas tank. Today’s ethanol-enhanced fuel blends absorb water and lead to what is called “phase separation,” which means that the ethanol/water mixture drops out of the gasoline and settles in the bottom of your tank – the very spot from which your engine draws fuel. Needless to say, this can wreak havoc on an engine. To avoid problems, disconnect the fuel line from the motor and allow it to run itself out of fuel. Add a stabilizer to stabilize any small amount of fuel remaining in the tank, tighten down the fuel cap and refuel in the spring. While you’re at it, replace your fuel filter.
- Once your engine runs dry, remove your spark plugs and fog the pistons and cylinder walls with fogging oil. You can pick up a can from any marine supplier. Also, spray the engine down with an anti-corrosive spray. Make sure you coat the electrical connections, as they’re most prone to rust.
- Remove the battery, charge it up and store it inside for the winter, along with all electronic gadgets such as your GPS unit. These are easy targets for thieves.
- Get yourself a new set of E3 boat spark plugs. Says one reviewer on a recent forum: “I have a friend that just replaced his plugs in his ’93 Ocean Runner 200 with new E3 spark plugs. I went out with him for a ride… I swear the motor sounded better than ever & gained about 250 rpm. WOT, it’s running 5900. It does not smoke as much as before and after trolling for two hours we removed a couple of plugs and there was NO sign of fouling. Here’s the big one: It gained 4.5 mph.”
See you on the water next spring!
