Engine Maintenance

[TheOldDuffer]

Anybody go to the trouble of fogging the engine over the winter?

On my little Suzuki 2.5. I would drain the carb and float chamber for any period of disuse, given that one time, the fuel in the carb had turned into treacle. I'd thought to do the same on the Yamaha 6 HP but I couldn't see any drain screw and the manual says nothing about draining the carb.

Edit: I think I've found the drain screw from a photo on a website selling a replacement carb - hopefully the same model

Edit 2: Carb drained

[Sea Simon]

Carb. Well done!

Winter storage Fogging. Yes.
Full fresh water wash down of exterior. Fog.
Remove spark plug, a little oil in cylinder,  pull engine over, but don't let it fire. Fog power head under top cover.
Oily rags stuffed into air intake and exhaust.

Fresh water flush...as often as possible. Depends...sometimes only possible at end of season for me.
But when running a small fleet of heavy duty Zodiac workboat, dive boats etc, all engines (generally 40-60 HP) fully flushed every time they were lifted out, sometimes daily. Made a big difference, especially  in hot weather (at least no fuel problems  in the "good old days").

[MarkF]

Is it necessary to replace the spark plug after fogging?
I was told so by a Yamaha dealer, but remain incredulous. Seems to me it's just a coating layer that will burn off and worst case the plug may need a bit of a clean.

[Sea Simon]

Imho, new plug not strictly necessary...

That said, and I've  never run Yamaha units...what I do/did with my Hondas (5HP, and 2.3HP) is renew plugs yearly as preventative  maintenance. Together with rigorous fuel hygiene,  it seems to work for me...generally...

To render this more affordable,  you may well find that the same plugs are available far more cheaply from motor factors (Eurocarparts can supply 5HP) and or garden machinery dealers.
Last 2.3 plug was about £3. I recall £9 from motor main dealer?
I don't  buy in to all this "special marine plugs" BS.
However, buy the big brands, from a reputable stockist (beware ebay and even amazon), lots of fakes out there...

[Llafurio]

I never yet had to replace a single spark plug in a four-stroke engine.
Not in any of my outboard engines, my cars, or in garden machinery.
But then, I also never "fog" my engines, whatever that means exactly. And btw I only flush my engines once per year with freshwater with a drop of washing up liquid
And I never had real problems re-starting my engines. Some clogging in my early days, until I started draining the carbs before the winter, and that was that.
Maybe I do somethng wrong.

[Sea Simon]

I'm  pleased your service regime works for you Llafurio!
Draining the carb is very good, but can be fiddly/tricky. I do wish they'd  make it easier, and fit something like a central heating radiator air vent cock.

My practices re the Honda 2.3 are based on advice received from a " certain Honda 2.3 specialist based in W Midlands " who I have spoken to and dealt with several times. Excellent, but can be difficult  to pin down sometimes. See...

https://forums.ybw.com/threads/honda-2-3-outboard.568523/

Generally, I try to avoid spending too much money with Main Dealers, and tbh, I have to. (I recall the Honda outboard dealers were £70/hour, bloke in a shed in a field...) be they cars or boats/engines.  The majority of my experience has proven that what they really want to do is sell, rather than service, and especially rather than fix/mend!
5 years of MD servicing on a small Honda motor (to preserve "warranty") costs approx 75% of a new motor. And that's with me delivering/collecting my motor from their premises.

I've had bad experiences  with both Honda and VW (eg £100s of diagnostics fees on a GTi, no fix!) Car main dealers and very much prefer strong independents.

[Llafurio]

Draining the carb is very good, but can be fiddly/tricky. ...

No. Just close the fuel valve and let the engine suck the carb dry. No bother at all.

[Sea Simon]

Draining the carb is very good, but can be fiddly/tricky. ...

No. Just close the fuel valve and let the engine suck the carb dry. No bother at all.

Sorry, I  must disagree. That's  not the same as draining the carb. There is "Honda 2.3 expert" opinion on this in the thread linked above.

That said, I  too do this fuel shut off and run dry whenever  possible. Probably better than nothing?