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 Yamaha version. If you want the general walkthrough first, start with the boat winterization guide.
What your Yamaha needs
- Yamalube fuel additives
- Fogging oil
- Spark plugs
- Yamalube 4-stroke engine oil or Yamalube 2-stroke oil
- Yamaha oil filters
- Yamaha fuel filters and water separators
- Yamalube gear lube
- Yamaha water pump and impeller kits
- Yamalube marine grease
- Yamaha anodes
Yamaha sells two fuel additives and they do different jobs
This is the one that trips people up every fall. Yamaha's fuel stabilizer and conditioner is the storage product, the one that keeps fuel from breaking down while the boat sits. Ring Free is a combustion chamber and fuel system cleaner that you run all season. They are not interchangeable and the stabilizer is the one you need before the last run.
Dose the tank for the fuel you actually have in it, then run the engine long enough that treated fuel has been through the lines, the water separating filter and the injectors or carburetors. Ten to fifteen minutes on the hose is not a bad rule. Then shut down and change the fuel filter.
Flush it, using the fitting Yamaha gave you
Most Yamahas have a flush fitting that lets you run fresh water through the block without the engine running and without muffs. It is there because Yamaha expects you to use it, and salt left in the cooling passages over a winter does real damage. Flush until the water coming out is clean.
Fog it, then new plugs
Fog it through the intake until it smokes and stalls, then put in a fresh set of plugs. In that order. Fogging fouls whatever plugs are in the engine, so new plugs installed first are already spent by spring.
Oil and filter, four strokes
Change it warm, right after the fogging run, so the contaminants come out with it. Yamaha's F-series four strokes want Yamalube 4M in the weight your manual specifies, and a new Yamaha oil filter at the same time.
Running a two stroke? Skip this and check your Yamalube 2-M supply instead.
Lower unit, and the two gaskets everybody reuses
Pull the lower drain 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 that is a repair to book now. Glitter means something inside is wearing.
Refill with Yamalube gear lube from the bottom until it comes out the top vent, then close the top screw first.
Both drain screws take a new sealing gasket. Two washers, a couple of dollars, and they are the most skipped item on this list every single year. Reusing crushed gaskets 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, not a lifetime part. Check what your manual says for your engine, then pick an end of the season and stick to it. Doing it in the fall means you are already in the lower unit for the gear lube, and it means a marginal impeller shows itself in your driveway in October instead of on the water in May.
Buy the full water pump kit rather than the bare impeller. The wear plate, housing and seals in the kit are the reason people end up doing this job twice.
Finish it
- Grease the steering, the tilt tube and the prop shaft with marine grease
- 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
Not sure which Yamalube weight or which filter fits your engine? Call us at 631-722-5700 or send us your model and serial number. We will tell you exactly what it takes. Always check your Yamaha owner's manual for capacities and service intervals for your specific motor.