Motor storage
 

As I, sadly, start the process of putting things away for the winter I’m curious as to what others do around oil and filters. Do people change them just before storage so everything is ready to go in the spring, or wait until spring to change oil and filters? I tend to change in the fall and am curious what others do. I do this with outboards, lawn mowers, weed wacker, pressure washer - pretty much any non two stroke I have that doesn’t get used year round.

Yes you have it right. Change it in the fall so it is stored with fresh clean oil.

Dirty oil is acidic. Not good for engine parts.

I just ordered a cap, rotor and wires and then read somewhere that it’s better to fog the engine with old plugs and replace them in the spring. If I’m going to be doing everything else does it really matter?

The theory there is the fogging oil will cover the plugs big issue, nope. But I would put the new plugs in in the spring just so they clean on start up

.... what end of season!
 

With an outboard motor, you can be boat'n right up till the day before ice-in, like on January 5, 2019.

And, if you really want to push it, you can drive your boat like an ice breaker and slowly cruise that final boat day to the take-out ramp, cutting through the ice, one inch thick, with no worries. (Probably not too smart for pontoon boats?)

Starting about October 10, keep the outboard vertical with the lower end under the lake water.

Outboard motors rule the water world ...... arrgghh!!!

As a mechanic for over 50 years, it's personal preference. I winterize and clean my boat in the fall but I don't change the engine oil and filter until the spring.
Some people like to do everything in the fall so that they can just drop it in the water when the season starts. I prefer to check it all over in the spring before it goes in the water.
It's really not something to lose sleep over.
It's like which way do you hang your toilet paper, rolled up or rolled down? :emb:

Over the top like it should be!

Man ol' man, am I doing everything wrong! I have a lawnmower, bought in 1994, still same spark plug, never changed oil, always leave gas without sta-bil, never have had an issue with this machine and it mulches the leaves just fine also. Lawn tractor has had oil changes and filter, still has original gas filter and plug, new battery after 9 years. Leave gas w/o sta-bil, starts and runs just fine in the spring.
Maybe I need to change my ways, however as said in my professional life, I don't change unless things are not going as planned and expected.

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I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic

The season is too short to have spring time issues.

I do anything and all I can during the off season to protect my time on the water.

Dropping off a boat for a spring time repair, along with everyone else, may cost a month!

I bought a new lawn mower last year and it never needs an oil change. It has no oil drain. If I wanted to change it I would have to tip it upside down to get the oil out of it. Let's see if it lasts as long as my other one did, 12 years. :rolleye1:
As far as fuel goes, it won't go bad in 6 months but I've seen situations where something happens and the boat misses a season in the water. In that instance you would want Stabilizer in the fuel if it sat for a year and a half.

Two way pump to drain oil
 

I have a small car that is based on a go-cart chassis. It does have a drain plug, but it is far easier to pump out the oil. Pump has a tune to go in the engine, and one to a waste jug. Pumps on both stokes. No mess, easy to do. Ditto with the lawnmower.

Dave

I have a push mower and I thought it odd that it didn’t have a drain plug on the side of the engine like every other small engine I’ve had. Then I found the plug under the deck hidden by some caked on grass.

The mower I bought had a tag right on it, "oil never needs changing, just add when needed". There is no oil drain on it. Yes, I could pump it out if I felt the need.

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1500+ hrs
 

On my '88 454 MAG. Ron, my mechanic always change the oil in the spring. Fog the cylinders in the fall. Engine never had a problem other than the usual electrical or fuel hiccups. Only thing I do differently is a treatment of MMO in the gas at least once every season. (Marvel Mystery Oil).