Winterization/Storage

A search of the title topic did not find the answer to my question. This spring I purchased a new to me but used outfit which is powered by a 2005 Mercury 90 HP. It did not come with a owners manual. When I sea trialed the boat, the gas tank had about a 1/4 tank of a 38 gallon tank. When I questioned if this motor was winterized, the salesman claimed that it was. I did not believe his claim because I was always under the belief that a gas tank was to be filled and a stabilization agent added to prevent gumming in the motor and water condensation in the tank. When I question this again, the salesman claim was that this is the "new" way to winterize due to the enthanol in gas.

While I did not notice it at purchase, I discovered that there was no disconnect for the fuel hose - there was direct line from tank to motor. So now I'm thinking that I have to install some sort of disconnect to drain the fuel out of the carbs when I put the boat into storage. Finally I was able to stop at a Mercury Dealer and explained the fuel line situation and asked if they had some sort of fuel filter with a shut off valve to accomplish my intent when winterization - to run the fuel out of the carbs. The Dealer told me that this was not necessary with the newer motors.

Is this true? Thanks in advance for your replies and answers.

Anyone????

With the way the weather was this past weekend, you would think that there may have been some replies. I get the idea that other forum users are looking for this info as there were 70 views of this request.

size of boat? in n. tonawanda 7166221811 14' x 15' opening, cold storage, concrete floor, secure and i keep my boat in my place also. 75.00 per mos. thanks

There are alot of views on how to store your boat. I know what has worked for me for many many years, and over those years I changed my view on storage with or without fuel. For me, in fall I start using a fuel stabilizer, I keep the tank full everytime before putting away ( you never know when your last time out is going to be), add more stabilizer, I keep the bottle of stabilizer in the boat. If you store your boat with the tank and carbs dry, you will get moisture in the tank and the carb gaskets will get dried out, crack and you will end up with a vacuum leak along with the moisture in the tank, hopfully it will be trapped by your seperator. I also do not change the lower lube till late spring, I pull the lower plug in the fall and quickly put back in, if water comes out, then you have to fix the problem, if nothing comes out ( the lube will be slow running if done while it is cold and sat for a day or too before doing) your good to go. Again, the lube is designed to absorb moisture and that is what it will do over the winter into spring. In the spring, when it's warm out , change the lube, then your running fresh lube all season long that has not absorbed any moisture.
But that's me. I've been working on boats and vehicles for over 40 yrs.