I guess I'm lucky as the Evinrude E-Tec Motors have a self winterizing feature. The company says you don't have to do anything for 3 years or 300 hours. Not sure about how it works out long term but since I sell them all rather quickly I cannot tell you for a fact if this is a long term solution or problem. It is cutting into dealers easy money for winterizing motors. I would caution you to always make sure the water drains out of the motor. Blowing out the pitot speedometer lines is a good pointer too.
Evinrude E-Tec motors are almost self winterizing. Depending upon the style of control the instructions are slightly different and easily done by the owner. It takes around 5 minutes, can be done in the water on the trailer or on the garden hose using the built in connection. Technology like this is cutting into dealer fall income I'd guess. Evinrude says the lower housing fluid needs to be changed every 3 years or 300 hours. Checking the level is a good idea I think. I disconnect the battery giving it a full charge in the fall, mid winter and spring before the boat goes in the lake. The most important part is to make sure that all the water is drained from the motor (and boat hull).
