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Starting during the winter ?

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shaunster

shaunster

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Hello All!!

My boat is stored outside in a plastic tarp shelter..

Just wondering if I could start the engines this time of year? (Sportster 1800)

Cheers,
Shaun
Nova Scotia, Canada
 
I guess you could start it, however if you do you're going to blow all the anti-freeze out of the motor, which means you will need to winterize it again. I'm pretty sure winter is not over in Nova Scotia.

Lou
 
Depending on how long you run it you will also burn off some of the fogging oil which should have been part of your winterizing. As Lou said you would need winterize it again. If you dont hook it up to the hose you could skip the antifreeze part.
 
If it was properly winterized... don't touch it until you are ready to bring it back to life for the season. Starting it will just introduce more fuel into dry carbs. (making varnish) and it will burn out your fogging oil. Also... the biggest problem will be ACID !!!!!!!!


So... when you start a cold engine... it needs to be rich. All that extra fuel leaves a lot of residual carbon. (in all forms) Since you aren't going to run the engine(s) long enough to really get them to operating temps... and to burn out all the condensation that may be in there... the leftover carbon will bond with the water, and form carbonic acid.

FYI... that's the same problem with a car, and needing to change the oil when there are a lot of short trips.


Basically... it's worse to start it for a short time... than to let it sit when it's properly winterized.
 
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I agree with all the above.
In Michigan I store mine in an shed and never start it until Spring.
Just make sure you don't let the anti-freeze run into the lake or rivers.
 
Seadoobuddy said:
I agree with all the above.
In Michigan I store mine in an shed and never start it until Spring.
Just make sure you don't let the anti-freeze run into the lake or rivers.
Click to expand...


That's why you are supposed to use RV anti-freeze. It's bio-safe, and not toxic. The red stuff from wal-mart is only $3 gal.
 
OH, I do but don't know if the OP did. Even then I run it in the drive and really dilute it with more water from the hose afterwards.
 
Really? We can use RV antifreeze? I didn't think it was aluminum safe, nor had the necessary corrosion inhibitors? Fine for plumbing and copper, but aluminum components?

As for starting, I will crank my challenger (along with other seasonally stored toys) with the fuel & ign systems disconnected just to get the oil up into the heads and covering the cams etc. Now before you roll your eyes, I know that there's no crankcase oil in a 2 stroke, but there is oil in the drive and a few other parts. It just might help to clean any corrosion off exposed parts & bearings. It certainly can't hurt...
 
I believe he wanted to actually start it up not just crank it over, and that would burn the oil off.
To crank a 2 stroke over without adding an fuel or oil I would think that all the frictions points (cylinder walls, bearings, crank etc) would get wiped clean of the oil that was sitting in and on them from the fogging. That fogging oil would not be a nice even coating on everything.
 
This should sum it up. See it in the spring. After it's winterized there is no need to fire it up, that's the point of fogging it.

[video=youtube;tLq27iOW0R0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tLq27iOW0R0[/video]
 
Biffitis said:
Really? We can use RV antifreeze? I didn't think it was aluminum safe, nor had the necessary corrosion inhibitors? Fine for plumbing and copper, but aluminum components?
Click to expand...



It's fine since you are putting it in an open-loop cooling system, and it's just a temporary install. As far as corrosion... it's better than leaving water in the engine.

I've been using it for a while now, and never noticed a problem.

Way back when... I was using regular green anti-freeze... but I eventually started to care about the fish, and things in the water. (The wife is an environmental engineer) Because of that... I have to keep the "Tree-Huger" in her happy. (lol)



With that all said... I'll go read the label again. I would think it would need to be aluminum safe since most fixtures are aluminum these days. We known it's good for other non-ferrous metals.
 
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Dr Honda said:
It's fine since you are putting it in an open-loop cooling system, and it's just a temporary install. As far as corrosion... it's better than leaving water in the engine.

I've been using it for a while now, and never noticed a problem.

Way back when... I was using regular green anti-freeze... but I eventually started to care about the fish, and things in the water. (The wife is an environmental engineer) Because of that... I have to keep the "Tree-Huger" in her happy. (lol)



With that all said... I'll go read the label again. I would think it would need to be aluminum safe since most fixtures are aluminum these days. We known it's good for other non-ferrous metals.
Click to expand...

In my experience, the pink stuff with the corrosion inhibitors is pretty hard to find so I end up using the RV stuff. I've gone to West Marine in the past and all they had was RV and the local boat shop at the lake just uses RV stuff too. My bottom line: if it's good enough for Doc, it's certainly good enougn for me!
 
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