Winterizing 175 OPti

Would like to winterize my ’07 175 Opti myself. Besides changing lower unit oil and adding stabil to the fuel, what is the best way to fog the engine? Can I do it pretty much the same as I did on my ’03 FICHT? Do you guys find it necessary to change the fuel filter and plugs each year? Thanks.

I just bought a ’07 150hp Opti. I was told to mix 2 Tbls. Merc Kwikcleen and 2 Tbls. of gas preservitive (stabil or seafoam) in the gas filter/water seperater. Run motor for 10 min. at idle with the ears on and Kwikcleen mixed in the main gas tank. Do not use fogging oil on Opti’s as this can plug injectors as it sits all winter. Instead squirt 1 oz engine oil or a 5 sec blast of Merc store and seal in spark plug holes. Rotate motor with wrench on flywheel, I like to do this say once a month on the off season just so the impeller doesn’t set in the same place for 4-5 months. My mechanic said to allways run Merc Kwickleen year around as the injectors are quite sensitive to fouling, maybe not initially but 3-5 years down the road. Bottle treats 72 gal. of gas about $15. Small price to pay to keep up performance, injectors cost mucho dinero to clean professionally or replace.

Thanks setter….I’ve been using the kwickcleen on every tank of gas as I was told the same as you. Did not know that about the fogging though. So no stabil in the tank, just the kwickcleen?

I make sure I fill the tank with a good proper dose of Seafoam myself, you can also pull the safety switch up on the console and turn the motor over that way after you fog the cylinders.

That being said I always run seafoam in my boat’s tank, takes care of stabilizing the fuel and keeping the motor clean of carbon. Works as good or better (IMHO) as ringfree or kwikclean, plus it keep the gas stabilized.

I have an 01 150 opti. I run stabil all year. Fill the gas tank with non-ethanol fuel. I fog my engine and haven’t had any problems. After fogging, I turn off the kill switch (no spark)and pull the electric fuel pump fuse (no fuel diluting fogging oil), then hit the starter for just a second to lubricate the engine. I would suggest pulling the prop, clean everything (fishing line too), grease, reassemble.

Thanks for the info guys. Maybe this weather will continue for a few months and I won’t even have to winterize the boat.

Have you guys ever heard of doing this?

Loosen oil cap on the oil tank under the hood, turn the key on, shift in and out of gear, letting the oil pump into the cylinders then starting the motor for approx 20 seconds.

Sounds simple just wondering if this would be the easiest way to go about it.

I can`t see how this would work since the Optis use a pressurized oil tank. What would putting it in and out of gear do? They don`t recomend putting it in and out of gear with the engine not running, can damage lower unit ( Mercury says ). I have never noticed any residual air pressure when I have added oil to the tank. The thinking might be since the resevoir is pressurized it would force oil into the cylinders . Cranking the engine with the kill switch on might force oil and gas into the cylinders but I really don`t see how that would help as far as winterizing ( fogging ). The only thing I see there is leaving raw gas to sit in the crankcase after it seeps by the rings, in my mind washing away what oil protection is there.

Just my two cents

I think this is what he is referring to. I have no clue, but I’m pretty sure I saw the same thing he did.

Quote:

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You can pump oil out of your small jug under the hood and into the cylinders, this takes the place of fogging and is much easer than removing plugs as regular plug wrench wont fit on lower plugs ( you need to be triple jointed )

Remove motor hood

Loosen oil cap on small oil tank attached to motor ( under hood not the main tank )

Turn key on

Shift 3 or 4 times to forward and back to neutral

Hear oil pump ticking as it is putting oil in cylinders

When ticking stops refill oil reservoir ( must be no air in tank) and replace cap tightly

Start motor for 20 seconds – should smoke

Turn off, residue oil will protect engine all winter

This comes directly from the Merc dealer and confirmed by 2 mechanics

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Yep, same thing I saw. My first thought was the shifting in and out of gear didn’t make sense, but being as I’m not an expert on this motor I wasn’t sure. Maybe I’ll dig a little deeper and see what I come up with. That or fish year round out of the boat!