Disconnecting Fuel Line

[Bill Landry]

My engine is a 50hp 2 stroke Mercury. What is the general rule of thumb when fogging the engine for winterizing? My engine manual says to disconnect the fuel line and then fog the engine till the fuel runs out of the line and the engine dies.

I have also read that you leave the fuel line connected and use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the fogging oil till the exhaust is putting out heavy smoke. This is the way I had always done it with my prior engine and never had any problems.

Seems to be there are two trains of thought on this subject and I'm curious how others look at it.



Bill L.

 

[Greg J.]

I have the same engine as you do. As I did last winter, I left the fuel line connected and ran the engine with muffs on. Fuel has had appropriate amount of Sta-Bil added. Drained lower unit lube, refilled it, and yesterday I fogged the cylinders; then tripped the emergency shut-off to the off position and cranked the engine about 3 times to distribute the fogging solution. My boat stays outside, but didn't have a problem yet (knock on wood). Oh, and when I pulled the plugs yesterday to fog the cylinders, the plugs were in great shape, so I may or may not not put new ones in next season.