winterizing question

Figured I would save some money this year and do it myself.

I have a 15 hp mercury 4 stroke. Put in fuel stabalizer and ran engine out of gas, changed filter and oil, changed gear lube then took it off the boat and stored in the basement. last step was to change the plugs. had the motor with tiller up, prop down horizontal to the ground. took out the top plug all ok, removed the bottom plug and began to leak oil from the hole several cuss words and a whistle for the wife to come quick. Got the motor vertical and sprayed each hole with fogging spray and pulled the rope to move the fly wheel and oil litterally shot 10 yards across the basement ( Linda Blair from the exorcist would have been proud) I am concerned that I did something wrong!! is oil supposed to be coming out of the spark plug hole. Am I ok or do I need to take it to the dealer. Why is it never easy, always something. Also Have a story about trying to get the filter off but will save that for another time. Someday I will find humor in this. I will always have the oil stain on the basement wall to remind me. Comments welcome
thanks

Someday Zoomer, you will see the humor…I see it now…but I didn’t have to clean up the mess.

I’m a little confused about how you were storing the motor. It should be stored…in the same position as it is mounted on the boat. You can get by storing a 2 stroke on the floor because it doesn’t have oil in the bottom of the motor…

Could this be the source of your new artistic wall design?

That would be guess as well, by lying the motor on its back, the oil leveled out and didn’t have time to drain back. You did everything right, except for the art work on the wall and floor.

Brian,
according to the manual you can store the motor 3 ways a)vertical like it would sit on the boat, b) on the floor horizontal on its side tiller closest to the floor and C) horizontally with tiller on top and prop towards the floor which is the way I chose. Sounds like I should be o.k. though come spring if I just add a little more oil to make up for my stupidity.
thanks for your comments

Really!? I don’t own a 4…but I wonder what would keep the oil in the proper area.

It is now time to call your favorite dealer!

Again, I know nothing about 4 cycle marine engines…BUT I would be very careful starting it for the first time in the spring. If your cylinder has some oil in it and the top cylinder fires…you could damage your motor….seems to me.

I’m very interested in knowing what your dealer says or what you find out….please post your results here…

Four stroke engine. Put Sea Foam in the motor and run it on the last trip. I have used Amsoil in the engine and Amsoil in the lower unit for four year. I just get out in the spring and start the motor with no problem! Make sure that there is no water in the lower unit by starting the motor out of the water for a few seconds and all it fine!

Brian,
Always something, I called one place and the mechanic said just to put it upright (he would sell me a stand for $100) and all the oil would drain back to where it belongs. Always get a second opinion so I called a “reputable” dealer and he said I need to remove the plugs and pull on the cord and continue to spray oil all over the basement? until it is out of the cylinders and that I needed to clean out the carb using the “gold screw” out of my league he would be happy to do it for me for $125 (ouch) will try another dealer tomorrow and hopefully do not get a third opinion.
still confused??

See this link:

Motot Stand For Sale

I’m not a marine mechanic, however basic motor sense will prevail.

On the 4 strokes, it is the same theory as a car motor. There is an oil “tank” that is below the crank and pistons. Your pistons will have 4 rings. 3 rings are for compression and 1 is for oil. By laying the motor on the floor the way you did, it caused the oil in the tank to flow up to the bottom piston cylinder. Here, the oil “pooled” in that cylinder, and not the top cylinder. Due to these rings getting “tight” via through heat, when the motor is “cold”, contraction of the metals from each other will give you a “gap”. This is what keeps the motor from seizing.

With that said, the oil pooled on your cylinder, and seeped pass the piston, to the top of the cylinder.

As for damage, there will be none. However, come this spring, there will be some residue oil in that cylinder, along with oil in the head, around the valves. When you fire her up, she is going to get really smokey. It may even foul a plug or two. But it will burn off and you will be fine. Just put the motor upright and the majority of the oil will drain back into the tank. Again, you will have a residual coat, but it will not do any damage.

Years back, when I was building hot rod motors, we would put them in storage for a year or 2. We actually filled the motors with oil, upto the vavle covers to prevent any moisture from building and to prevent the rings from “seating” on the cylinder walls. You don’t need to do this to your motor. This was long term storage. And when you have $5k in a motor that you built, you tend to go to the extremes.

Point is, when we fired them up, it was messy, but everything was fine!!!!

Gary,
very useful information thank you. Talked to another dealer this morning and he said pretty much the same thing that the oil might be helpful during storage but will be a very tough smokey start come spring. He mentioned that I may need a little starter spray down the carb to get it to pop. But no damage. Must have tipped it wrong when putting it on the floor for storage.

I have a new way to winterize….just burn out your motor! I wont have to worry where I store it now! Sorry, I’m really bumming!