Trim & Tilt Winter Storage Question

[HD]

After the mess that I went through with my trim & tilt this summer. And DDS having problems with his trim & tilt.

I mush raise the questions....Is there a certain way to store your boat motor that has trim & tilt? Drain it? Open the manual lift port? Nothing?

The Johnson I have I never did anything, maybe Mercury's are different? 

(Please, I don't want a link to follow, just an answer if you have one)
Thanks for your input,
HD

[DDSBYDAY]

   Your merc tilt motor is different than mine.  I have a 120hp  and there is a pressure valve that should be opened.  I had no idea that it was there.  There is a thin fin on the tilt motor that will crack if the hydraulic fluid freezes.  That is rare but with the winter we had last year it happened a lot to people that store their boats outside.  It's a Teflon screw that just needs to be turned 1/4 turn counter clock wise to release any pressure in the motor.  That keep the fluid out of the fin.  I have talked to several people that winterize boats that have never heard about or done that.  The service guy at the dealership
knew right away what happened without seeing it going by my discription of what happened when I tried to raise the motor.  They even had the part on hand because they were expecting some to come in given the severity of the winter.   

   I wish you asked this yesterday I could have taken a picture of it.

[DDSBYDAY]

   Winterized the boat.  I did remember to drop the motor and open the tilt plug a 1/4 turn.  I didn't think to take a pic until I was done.  Once the plug is opened you can not raise the motor and all the fluid goes to the bottom.  That keeps the fluid out of the thin fin on the sleeve.  (this is where the crack form upon freezing).  I did take a pic of the teflon plug that I will post soon.