Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I bought my unit new in the fall of 2009 so this year had been the first year of use. I have a 2009 4 stroke 115 Mercury EFI engine. When I get it serviced next month should I get it fogged? I have heard mixed reviews on this. Eg: Some say it screws up your electronic sensors. Need your help deciding. What exactly do they fog?

Is it a two stroke or four stroke?

I've always fogged two-stroke motors. Never fogged a 4-stroke.

whats this winter storage your speaking of?

brumbyvet wrote:Is it a two stroke or four stroke?

4 stroke.

2 stroke or 4, it's always good to fog before long term storage. Never heard of fogging oil screwing up sensors...it's a possibility that the piston rings may rust and stick to the cylinder walls if you don't and that's a situation you don't want.

Brandon,

Freaks not aloud to comment

Just put some muffs on her ever couple of months and fire it up for 10-15 minutes to let it warm up. This will keep the rings free and give the battery a needed charge.

I dread the time it will take me to winterize mine. I have to hook to muffs, then push warm up leaver all the way forward then turn it off. Damn that's gonna kill 10min

I've got the same motor, I just do as the book says....pull the plugs, couple squirts of fog oi,l, crank it over a couple times (without plugs in), install plugs and walla....done.

I do believe the term "fogging" originally came from the carburated motors, when they'd start the motor and squirt fog oil into the carb untill it died......walla .....done. now a days, no card, nothing to fog except as noted above.

thats all I do except change oil and lower unit oil. good luck with changing the oil and not making a mess.....I back off the driveway and in the grass for that and have lots of towels on hand. Filter location sucks and drain plug is too far into side, so far I'm 0 for 2 with mess free job, still have the dead grass spot in the yard from last years, BP didnt have shit on me with that one....thats another story.

fog my i/o every fall. used to run a/f through the cooling circuit, now i just drain the block, manifold & riser.

This is based on a 60 Merc EFI 4 stroke


The only trick I know on the oil change is to tie a towel around the leg below the drain plug with a bungie cord (right on the cavitation plate). Wad up most of it on the side with the plug. This catches oil that runs down the inside and outside if the mid section cover
If you let it sit overnight before you drain the oil, most of the oil will drain out of the filter so it doesn't drip.
Another tip I got from Mercury is to tilt it up and down before you drain the oil to get the last of it trapped in the pistons and other nooks and crannies. That can lead to a false "making oil" call where it is too full with the recommended fill volume because all of the old did not come out.

I change mine occasionally on the lift and I don't "sheen" the water using the towel method. I leave the towel on a while after I am done to get any that is still coming down. Just don't drop the plug

BTW it is a good idea to have a spare drain plug gasket because they do get squashed and look funky. I will put a new one on when that happens. The consequences of a failure are not worth the buck or two one costs at the auto parts store. (I think they are $2.99 for 2 in a bubble pack)

Because of hours I end up doing 4 changes a year.

curtiscapk wrote:Brandon,

Freaks not aloud to comment

some damn good fishing in the winter bro.

Cobra427cable wrote:Just put some muffs on her ever couple of months and fire it up for 10-15 minutes to let it warm up. This will keep the rings free and give the battery a needed charge.

That doesn't work very well here in Indiana. Water would freeze before it gets thru the hose in Jan. & Feb. I always fog my 2 stroke.

I see bigwalleye is from Manitoba. Never been there but assume it gets a bit cold there also.

lakerunner wrote:I dread the time it will take me to winterize mine. I have to hook to muffs, then push warm up leaver all the way forward then turn it off. Damn that's gonna kill 10min

Just rub it in Loyd! How is that E-Tec doing?