Using boat in cold weather – Making sure water is out of motor

For guys that are in boat this time of year with cold temps at night and do not have heated storage for your boat what do you do after each use to make sure no damage is being done to motor.

Guys I talk to say shoot air up the pee hole and blow water out that way. I wanted to ask the forum as well as I have always gotten good information from this site.

Thanks in advance.

I have a Merc 50 HP 4 stroke if that makes a difference.

I have always lowered the motor then started it briefly right after pulling out of the water. That wont hurt anything since the impeller is definitely wet.

Tip the motor vertical so the water can drain out. Once drained tip it up to transport and you are done.

Start and immediatly kill will get water out-have your finger on the kill switch before you start. My mechanic says to never start out of the water-maybe he is right-you decide.

I Lower the motor and then open the fresh water flush plug to allow it to drain.

onestout wrote:

Tip the motor vertical so the water can drain out. Once drained tip it up to transport and you are done.

This is all I have ever done. Motor has never had a issue

remember to drain your water IN THE WATER this time of year as opposed to on the boat ramp. this will avoid black ice on the ramp for the guys that show up in the morning after you

tim hurley wrote:

Start and immediatly kill will get water out-have your finger on the kill switch before you start. My mechanic says to never start out of the water-maybe he is right-you decide.

I’ve dry started motors for 20 years. Your mechanic is correct because there will always be that one guy who starts the motor, lights a smoke and eats a twinkie before shutting it off.

I have always just lowered the motor all the way down and let it drain.
Never had a problem even when we put the boat in on the Missouri River one morning when it was 20 below.
It warmed up that afternoon to a balmy 25 above.

All newish motors are designed to drain when trimmed down. My 2016 Merc Optimax drains when trimmed level.

I have used my boats on P4 for 35 plus years never had any issues. I take it out of river lower it all the way down and get everything else done then trim it up put my transom saver on and call it good

I agree, just lower it and let it drain. Done. I do it year round. I make it part of my load-up ritual.

Thanks for all the feedback and I am glad that it is that simple. Will do that from now on thanks. Will make sure to not cause any dicey areas on the ramp.

I just lower the motor and let it drain. If I am staying over night below freezing I will drop the motor down just to make sure I have all the water out.

I bought a Merc FourStroke 60HP last summer. I called Mercury CS and asked them exactly that. He said “Lower the motor all the way and let the water drain out. That’s it.”

I’ve been duck hunting with my Merc for over 15 years. A quick startup and kill to push all water out is what I’ve done and never had a waterpump issue that wasn’t caused by cattails inside from a cracked pickup screen…

make sure your lower unit fluid is good and full and not milky as well!!!

keppenhiemer wrote:

make sure your lower unit fluid is good and full and not milky as well!!!

I was just going to say the same thing. If there’s enough water in your lower unit, it can freeze and lock up the lower unit. Speaking from experience and the first boat I bought when I was in college and I’d fish that thing year round on pool 2

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>onestout wrote:</div>
Tip the motor vertical so the water can drain out. Once drained tip it up to transport and you are done.

This is all I have ever done. Motor has never had a issue

x3