Service Tips      Listed below are some service information and reminders from Dave's Sport and Marine's service department. Winter Special Winter discount on major engine repairs, I/O repairs, lower unit repairs, replacing wood floors and carpet on both pontoon or V-bottom boats available from December 1st to February 28th Winterizing Always winterize your boat and engine before the temperature falls below freezing. Wheel Bearings Don't forget to repack your wheel bearings on your trailer every year.  Water can seep through a damage seal or dust cap and seize a bearing.  Every year customers come in with trailer wheel bearing problems that ruined a family vacation and cost more money than if they had repacked the bearings.  Don't get caught in this situation repack your wheel bearings every year. Waterpump Impellers Waterpump impellers should be changed on a regular basis to prevent engine overheating and failure. If you go boating in clean lakes the impeller should last for years but if you go boating in rivers with sand and silt or in lakes with alot of weeds the impellers should be changed every two years. Fuel Most of the engine problems that come to Dave's Sport and Marine are fuel related.  Fuel starts to break down after just one month.  When the fuel breaks down it loses its ability to burn effectively which causes carbon build-up on the internal parts of the engine.  The carbon that builds will cause the engine to start hard and run rough. The bad fuel will also plug up the fuel filters for the engine.  The ethanol that is mixed with the fuel will attract moisture because most boat fuel system are open to the air.  We recommend to use a quality fuel stabilizer such as Evinrude's "2+4 Fuel Stabilizer" or Yamaha's "Fuel Stabilizer" to prevent the fuel from breaking down.  Add the stabilizer to the fuel everytime that you fill up to ensure that it is mixed properly.  To prevent carbon build up we recommend to use Evinrude's "Carbon Guard" or Yamaha's "Ring Free".  We also have shock treatments to clean the existing carbon from the internal engine parts (Call for Details). Fuel Filters Fuel filters should be replaced on a regular basis. We recommend to have a 10 micron fuel/water separator installed on your boat to help prevent water and small debris from entering the fuel system and engine.  An outboard might have one or up to six fuel filters.  Fuel filters that become plugged with debris will starve the engine of fuel.  An engine that is starved of fuel will not run right and will cause damage to the fuel pumps.  Fuel pumps can be very costly to replace. Call for prices on changing your engine's fuel filter.