Dry Run a motor

[Pooltwotool]

Well besides storing the motor in the down position and maybe sitting on the boat ramp incline a little long. I’m doing better than last year. I shouldn’t have as many issues as last year. Sat at the boat ramp for ten minute to let the ice melt. Thanks for the good info.

[Kevin23]

My winter fishing motor drain process is to have my buddy pull the trailer out slowly to not ice up the ramp, then go way away from the ramp for the next steps.

Motor all the way down until it almost stops dripping
Motor all the way up until its done dripping
Slowly go down, stopping every time it starts to drip and let it drain
All the way down, let it drain
Start the motor for 2 seconds
Kick pop a few times to get any water stuck in it out

Did it for 3 years now, shop went to replace the impeller this year for maintenance and called to say they arent going to bother... It looks brand new, just wanted the OK before they reassembled.


Motors these days will self drain, but if its below freezing and you drive home without draining all the water at the ramp... Its going to be a big ol block of ice inside before you are 5 minutes down the road.

[Kevin23]

Originally Posted by seaotter

And always store motor down, if at all possible.

Have a great day. Jim

Drains completely of water, lets the oil drain to the bottom of the oil pan, and does something with the injectors (not sure what). Its in my merc manual to store with motor lowered, i asked the service tech why and he said something about those 3 things.

[Ches]

Prior to becoming a wimp, I used to fish till Ice up and then hit the Mississippi as soon as the guys opened the landing of ice. I never dry started or turned over my motor. I saw lots of guys do it but not me. I did do as another poster said and trimmed it all the way down once launched and waited a while prior to starting. I store my boat outside for winter with motor trimmed down and prop off. Current motor requires prop to be removed to drain fluid so I just leave it off till spring.

NEVER dry run an outboard.

[last chance]

i've been using outboards in cold weather for 40+ yrs now and never cranked the motor over. when I pull out I just tilt the motor down while I secure the boat. tilt it up and away I go. when I unhook the trailer I lower the motor so no water gets trapped dome there in bad weather.

[Wyo-eye]

Saw a cold weather tip video by Ted Takasaki and he recommended tilting the motors down and giving them a bump to clear the water pumps.
So I did just that last month.

[MarkG]

Originally Posted by Wyo-eye

Saw a cold weather tip video by Ted Takasaki and he recommended tilting the motors down and giving them a bump to clear the water pumps.
So I did just that last month.

Yeah, me too. I do that in freezing temps as needed. Pull the safety lanyard to kill the spark, then 3 or 4 quick half second bumps of the starter. Kicks out any water that might still be pooled in the water pump housing. Won't hurt a thing.

[jdavis]

How could dry starting your motor for less than 10 seconds cause a problem? Is the thinking here that it might overheat in that short amount of time? If your impeller froze would it not take the same amount of time for it to unfreeze once in the water, possibly running your motor without cooling for the same amount of time?

A guide I know stops on the ramp and lets his motor run for about 5 seconds. He is in Denver and uses his boat all winter. I asked him about it and he says that his impeller has frozen before and this helps get the rest of the water out.

Originally Posted by jdavis

How could dry starting your motor for less than 10 seconds cause a problem?

Unwanted wear on your impeller ovee time.