DaySailer.org Forum

I just finished reading the discussion on short VS. long shafted motors - which combined with the time of year and tasks at hand has me thinking:

What do you guys do to your motors before putting them away for the season? I've only owned the motor through one full season, and honestly I didn't do much to it before putting it away last year other than turn off the valve to the gas tank and run it until the carburetor was empty. This year however, I have a sticky float. If I don't turn the valve off and run it until the carb is empty it won't start for the rest of the day - I've been stranded for hours on several occasions when (alone) I sailed way too far from the dock, the wind disappeared and so there I sat - in the rain, in the dark, whatever. These boats ae light, but don't move fast with one guy paddling with a canoe paddle.

So I guess I've two questions:

1 - what does everyone do before putting the motor away - run some stablizer through it or just empty it? Does anyone squirt oil into the cylinder through the spark plug hole or anything like that?

2 - does anyone know of some sort of solvent aditive I might put in some gas and run through the engine to free up whatever gunk might be causeing the float to stick? I have a really poor history of having anything good come from taking carburetors apart - although they were from things like tillers or mowers, but still - things didn't play out well the time I tried to rebuild a quadro jet either!

Thanks to all, during this oh so sad time of year. As I put the floor boards up into the loft in the garage yesterday, I kept telling myself, "it only takes 5 minutes - which means if you get another opportunity this year it will only take five minutes to get them back down - have faith! Maybe this isn't it for 2010 after all".

I live in the deep south so I don't really have an off season. However, the owners manual for my Nissan recommends the following:

Drain all fuel from tank, fuel lines, and carb
Disassemble and clean carb
Remove spark plug and feed engine oil or fogging oil into hole, then pull the recoil starter several times to circulate the oil, replace spark plug
Grease prop shaft, sliding parts, bolts and nuts
Change the gear box oil
Stand the engine vertically

I do drain all the fuel, put oil in the spark plug holes, and change the gearbox oil if it looks at all milky. I don't mess with the carburetor unless I'm experiencing problems. They are pretty simple carburetors so I wouldn't hesitate disassembling and cleaning it.

ChrisB wrote:
Drain all fuel from tank, fuel lines, and carb
Disassemble and clean carb
Remove spark plug and feed engine oil or fogging oil into hole, then pull the recoil starter several times to circulate the oil, replace spark plug
Grease prop shaft, sliding parts, bolts and nuts
Change the gear box oil
Stand the engine vertically

Pretty much the same for my 1969 Clinton 3.5 except I have never needed to touch the carburetor. Also I place a cloth cover over the engine to keep the dust off because it is stored in my home work shop. Brad

Regarding disassembly and cleaning of the carb, I totally agree with KC and Brad. You don't fix what ain't broke. It's in Nissan's recommendations to take it apart and clean it, but if the engine is running fine, I'd drain the fuel out of the bowl and call it a day.

I agree concerning the disassembly - I'm not going to do it unless I feel it is really necessary - unfortunately, I think it may be. I can keep going the way I have been, but until I get the hinge the float pivots on cleaned off or the valve seat or wherever the muck is it's not going to improve.

So I guess I need to find some oil to fog the cylinder with.

Well - I've got a long weekend so I guess this is when it's going to happen. I'm planning to remove the halyards and cover it up with the tarp I bought that should cover everything. The one on it now just covers the cockpit. I think next summer I'm going to look into renting a dry sailing slip near the lake so I can leave it rigged - I know that will increase my sailing.

Dry Storage is definitely the way to go. I have dry sailed my boat for a year and a half now and it makes a huge difference in the time it takes to get on the water.

ChrisB wrote:Dry Storage is definitely the way to go. I have dry sailed my boat for a year and a half now and it makes a huge difference in the time it takes to get on the water.

Dry sailing will probably get you in the water more often. Also it offers a significant savings over a slip rental with the side benefit of not having to worry so much about weather extremes when the boat is left unattended for a while.

Safety Note : As simple as this may sound though be well aware of overhead wires ! I had an embarrassing incident years ago when I moved a larger boat I owned into part of the yard that I didn’t normally go into. Luckily there were no injuries or worse. Brad