The eight steps are the same for every outboard. What changes brand to brand is which fluids go in and a few details about how the engine is built. This is the Evinrude and Johnson version, and it splits in two, because an E-TEC winterizes itself and an older carbureted two stroke absolutely does not. For the general walkthrough, start with the boat winterization guide.
What your Evinrude or Johnson needs
- Evinrude and Johnson fuel additives
- Evinrude and Johnson 2-stroke oil
- Fogging oil, for carbureted engines
- Spark plugs
- Evinrude and Johnson fuel filters
- Evinrude and Johnson gearcase lube
- Water pump and impeller kits
- Triple-Guard grease
- Evinrude and Johnson anodes
If you have an E-TEC, the engine does most of this for you
This is the best feature nobody uses. E-TEC engines have a built-in storage routine. You put the engine into it with a key sequence, and it fogs itself, oils its own internals and shuts down. It is faster and more thorough than doing it by hand, and it is the procedure BRP wants you to use.
The exact sequence depends on your model and year, so get it out of your owner's manual rather than off a forum. What stays true either way: the engine still needs fresh gearcase lube, a full oil tank going into storage, stabilized fuel, and everything in the finish list at the bottom of this page. The self-winterizing routine covers the engine internals, not the whole job.
If you have a carbureted two stroke, do it the old way
Everything Johnson and Evinrude built before the E-TEC generation, plus the carbureted Evinrudes, needs the manual version. Carburetors are the thing to worry about here. Fuel left standing in a float bowl over the winter turns to varnish, and varnish in a carb is a spring rebuild.
- Add stabilizer to a nearly full tank and run the engine long enough to pull treated fuel all the way through
- Fog it through the carburetor throats until it smokes and stalls
- Drain the float bowls. Every carb has a drain screw for exactly this reason
- Install new plugs after fogging, never before. Fogging fouls whatever is in there
- Change the fuel filter
No oil change, but check the oil
Two strokes do not have a crankcase oil change, which saves you a step. If you run an oil injected engine, top the oil tank before storage rather than in the spring. A full tank has less air in it, and less air means less condensation.
Use the oil your engine calls for. The E-TEC oils are formulated for that injection system and a generic TC-W3 is not a substitute on those engines.
Lower unit, and the two gaskets everybody reuses
Pull the lower screw and read what comes out before you plan the refill. Clean lube is the color it went in. Milky means water past a seal, and on an engine of this vintage that is worth dealing with now rather than in May. Glitter means wear inside.
Refill with the gearcase lube specified for your engine from the bottom until it comes out the vent, then close the vent screw first. BRP specifies different lubes for different gearcases and the high performance one is not interchangeable with the standard, so check the book.
Both screws take a new sealing washer. Two cheap parts and the most skipped item on this list every year. Reusing crushed washers is exactly how water gets into a gearcase over a winter. They are specific to your model, so send us your model and serial or call and we will match them.
Impeller
The impeller is a wear item on a schedule. On an older engine it is usually the most overdue item on the boat, because it is out of sight and the engine gives you no warning until it overheats.
Fall or spring both work, and the case for fall is that you are already in the lower unit for the gearcase lube, so most of the labor is shared. An impeller that sits all winter with its vanes bent in one direction also takes a set, so a marginal one in October is worse in May.
Buy the full water pump kit rather than the bare impeller. On an older engine especially, the wear plate, housing and seals are usually as tired as the rubber.
Finish it
- Grease the steering, the tilt tube and the prop shaft with Triple-Guard
- Check the anodes. More than half gone means replace now, not in the spring queue
- Battery off the boat, terminals cleaned and coated, on a maintainer if you have one
- Store the engine tilted all the way down so the gearcase drains
- Cover it, and vent the cover
Evinrude and Johnson parts get harder to find every year and we keep a lot of them. If you are not sure what fits, call us at 631-722-5700 or send us your model and serial number. Always check your owner's manual for the storage procedure, capacities and service intervals for your specific motor.