How To Winterize A Pressure Washer In 5 Minutes!

What Is Needed
There’s only three things needed to get this project done:
1) Pump Protector
2) Fuel Stabilizer
3) Carboard (Optional)
You can find links to these products above!
Why Winterize Your Pressure Washer?
The two systems we want to protect over winter are the fuel system and the pump. We all know that fuel goes bad over time. Gasoline only has a shelf life of 3 to 6 months. Yep! You read that right. Only 3 to 6 months! That’s not long at all! If fuel sits in your pressure washer for longer than this, there is a good chance it is going to varnish and gum up everything it runs through such as your carburetor. This is a major problem being that the carburetor on your pressure washer has tiny holes in the jets that fuel must be able to pass through for it to run properly. To help keep the fuel fresh for as long as possible, a fuel stabilizer should be added to the fuel before storing the machine for extended periods of time. STA-BIL keeps gasoline fresh for up to 24 months (2 years). Now that’s a time frame I can work with! This will prolong the life of the fuel and will be more than enough to keep it from gumming up over winter.
The second thing we need to protect is the pump. The pump has pistons and seals that need to be protected while the pressure washer is sitting not in use. The pistons can corrode and the seals can dry out and crack. Another major issue is that if any water is sitting in the pump, the water will freeze which causes it to expand cracking the pump. If this happens, your pressure washer will be useless. There are many different brands that make a lubricant that is sprayed into the pump to lubricate and protect all these components. I have been using STA-BIL products for years and have had nothing but good experiences with them.
How To Guide
Protecting the Fuel System
Let’s get started and get this thing ready for winter! This is a pretty easy task and should take about 5-10 minutes to complete. I like to start by treating the fuel system. In order to keep the fuel fresh in the pressure washer, I use a product called STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer. I start by completely filling up the tank with fuel. This removes all the air out of the metal tank so it can’t corrode. Not to mention, it also makes knowing exactly how many gallons you have in the tank such a breeze.

1-ounce of STA-BIL can treat 2.5 gallons of fuel. In my case, the pressure washer has a 5.3l tank which is equivalent to 1.4 gallons. This means we need to add 0.56 oz. of fuel stabilizer to the tank. In order to measure out the additive, it’s as simple as squeezing the bottle, filling the cup up to the desired ounces.

Now we can just directly pour the STA-BIL into the fuel tank. To keep things simple I just filled the cup to a hair over 0.5 oz.

Even though your fuel tank is treated, you’re not done. You’re going to want to get that treated fuel through your entire fuel system and most importantly into your carburetor. Take the pressure washer outside and hook it up to the hose bib and get water flowing thorough the pump. Then start the pressure washer and let it run for a few minutes. This helps mix up the STA-BIL in the tank and runs the treated fuel though the carburetor.
NOTE: Do not start the pressure washer without water running though the pump. Running the pressure washer with a dry pump is a quick way to destroy it!

Protecting the Pump
With the fuel system complete, we’ll now move onto protecting the pump. Ensure that all the hoses are disconnected from the pump. I then like to take a piece of cardboard and place it under the water inlet and outlet on the pump. The pump protector has an adapter on it that connects directly to the hose inlet on the pump. Go ahead and thread this on hand tight.

All we have to do now is spray the pump protector into the pump. Once lubricant starts coming out of the outlet, your pump is protected. I just use the entire can since I’ll be getting a new one next year anyways.
NOTE: Place a rag over the outlet before spraying the pump protector and let the lubricant drip down on to the cardboard. This stuff sprays a lot further than you think! Ask me how I know….

The lubricant is a bit messy so, take a rag and wipe off everything it may have found it’s way on.

Your pressure washer is now protected and you can be sure It’ll fire right up and run once the weather starts getting warmer!