Winterization question

Cableguy Greg

I unwinterized the boat in the spring with the high hopes of using it this summer. Unfortunately that wasn’t in the cards. I just winterized the water system. The question is, should I change the engine and drive oil? The engine has been run for maybe 10 minutes since last fall, long enough to unwinterize it. I say no, but I am always big on preventative maintenance, so that could be a yes. 

Thoughts? 

Liberty44140

Sorry you didn’t get to use the boat Greg. I would not change it. If anything maybe change oil and not filter but after only 10 min I’d leave it for another year.

aero3113

I agree, leave it!

Think about how long your car oil stays in your car. 

3000 miles @ 60 mph = 50 hours = 3000 minutes 

And throughout that time, the oil is getting dirty….

aero3113

Also, I changed my oil in my slip this season. I drove the boat to the ramp, in the same marina. I still have to run and winterize. I’m not going to change my oil again till next fall after the boating season….

Liberty44140

Yea I’ve changed my oil in the fall, and then gone to an island 15 miles away (put in bay) and back the next weekend, then haul out and good until next fall. Always have a 4 mile run from slip to travel lift after fall oil change. Your still fresh!

Dream_Inn

I changed mine 9 days ago.  I have been changing it in late September the last couple years.  An hour or two on it before winter is fine.  I would not change yours, it is still fresh.

earl1z19

I would run the engine to get it up to temp just to burn any potential moisture out of the oil. All of the whole house generators run once a month for this purpose and they can go a few years without an oil change.

rasbury

I'd tend to agree with the majority- however- cheap piece of mind if you feel the need!

captkevin

Agree with others with not needing to change.

Cableguy Greg

Thank you everyone for all of your valuable input. I will run it to temperature before running the -100 through the block. It is unfortunate that we didn’t get to use her this season. Maybe our luck will change and we will get a slip next summer. 

Cableguy Greg

Finally got her winterized on Sunday before our cold snap here in the Midwest. Thanks again for everyone’s help.