Bringing my BIII home for the winter.

[skibum]

I tried searching for the answer to this, but I didn't have any luck.

I am planning on removing my drive to bring it home for the winter so that I can clean, prime, and paint it. Apparently, I drug the skeg a couple of times over the last few weeks of the season.

With the drive removed, the gimbal bearing and the other parts of the bell housing will be exposed. Is there anything special that needs to be done to protect the exposed pieces over the winter? I was thinking about stuffing some new shop rags (maybe some oily ones would be better) in the opening to cover the gimbal bearing and bellows area. Am I over thinking this? Is there any reason that I shouldn't store the boat over the winter without the drive attached? I haven't spoken with my shrink wrap guy yet, but I was thinking about asking him to tape a section of shrink wrap over the bell housing and shrink it. They typically do not go that low on the colored hull boats to prevent chaffing.

I was also curious about if it is OK to run the engine with the drive still attached but no props installed? I know that parts of the drive will turn even if the drive is not in gear and I do not want to damage anything if I ever want to try this.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[jg300da]

There is a blank plate you can purchase that covers the opening. I know some guys that make their own blank off from marine plywood and some foam tape as a gasket, but any plywood should do.

It makes no difference if you run the engine with the props on or off. In fact it's best if they're off so you can run the engine while in gear to help warm the drive to make draining the fluid easier.

 

[skibum]

There is a blank plate you can purchase that covers the opening. I know some guys that make their own blank off from marine plywood and some foam tape as a gasket, but any plywood should do.

It makes no difference if you run the engine with the props on or off. In fact it's best if they're off so you can run the engine while in gear to help warm the drive to make draining the fluid easier.

Thanks. Right after posting this I took another look at the drive service manual and had a "Doh! I can make a block off plate out of plywood in about 5 minutes" moment. I have a wood shop in my basement.

We have a lot of folks at the marina these days, and some of them bring children or pets. I hate the idea of being at the helm while the boat is on the rack and not being able to see who or what may have found its way near my props. It would be just my luck that I make ground chuck of of some little kid's hand, or some poor dog's nose.

One other question. Would leaving the drive off over the winter cause the alignment to change? Does the attached drive keep the engine from settling in the motor mounts? I'm plannng on having my regular mechanic reinstall it in the spring.

 

[tcason]

jg300da

Just want to make sure I heard you right.
You take off your prop(s), start the engine, put outdrive in gear and run engine/outdrive in gear to warm up out drive oil before changing?

Does this make out drive oil flow out quicker and does no damage to anything?

I spent about an hour or more waiting for B3 outdrive oil to drain this weekend in 65 degree weather.

This is a good idea but first time I have heard using this procedure/method to speed up flow of outdrive oil.

 

[midway]

tCason, you heard right, warm oil flows a lot quicker that cold.

 

[jg300da]

jg300da

Just want to make sure I heard you right.
You take off your prop(s), start the engine, put outdrive in gear and run engine/outdrive in gear to warm up out drive oil before changing?

Does this make out drive oil flow out quicker and does no damage to anything?

I spent about an hour or more waiting for B3 outdrive oil to drain this weekend in 65 degree weather.

This is a good idea but first time I have heard using this procedure/method to speed up flow of outdrive oil.

How could it damage anything? You run your engine with the muffs on to warm the engine oil, right? The outdrive doesn't care if the props are on or not. The rotating gears and shafts warm the drive fluid which makes it drain easier. Remember to remove the upper vent plug at the top of the drive when draining.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Props off: Just make sure, obviously, not to rev it too quickly as it will spin up much faster.

Getting old drive oil out quicker: In addition to warming it up... You know that little orange, rubber, "nib" on top of the drive oil bottle? Using a rubber tipped compressor/blow fitting, stick it on that. You'll only need a few pounds of pressure.

The other, better, way is to remove the bottle (which tends to have old oil gummed up on the bottom anyway) and clean it out. Then, you can put the air compressor right into the hose.

I usually let the majority of the oil drain out for a bit, then do the air compressor trick.

Oh, for storing the drive: look to post #5: http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24977&highlight=scooter there are other ways, this is just one of the easier (and cheap) ones.