Oil Changing Methods

I am changing the oil in my M-40 on the 89' E 38-200 and was wondering what method everyone else was using? I have a little Jabsco brass transfer pump with the small (1/4") tube to go down either the dipstick hole or the hose attached to the sump but the oil being thick is a royal PITA to get through the pump. I used to use a can with a bicycle pump that created vacuum to pull out the oil but I think my father reposessed it...Maybe time to buy a new one. Damn near broke my arm and made a mess trying to pump it out last night. I have the coolant drained as I spotted a small leak from the petcock coolant block drain on the strbd side of the motor. Need to replace the petcock then refill coolant. I suppose its best to do it with the oil hot as it gets the contaminants suspended in the oil just wanted to get the oil out before I finished the coolant issue.

I've got the can with the bike pump on top. Its called a Topsider MVP and can be found at WM. Works fine as long as the oil is hot, and as long as you don't misplace the gasket that fits between the pump and the can. I run the tube down the hose that is connected to the engine's oil pan. The tube has two parts, the business end is smaller and more rigid, the end connected to the collection can is larger and softer. If you pump too hard vacuum is too strong and collapses the soft part of the tube.

Me too!

mark reed said:

...fine as long as the oil is hot...

Click to expand...

Ditto for me - the pump is actually very easy - just run the engine up first and get it nice and hot so it's runny.

I used the same thing to do my transmission as well.

//sse

Slurp!

I use a Tempo Oil Boy vacuum extractor. It holds just a gallon of oil and lucky me, that's the sump capacity of a Universal M25XP.
The first owner had the optional oil removal tube put onto the sump, replacing the original drain plug. This is standard nowadays in the current version of my engine, BTW.
I take the plug out the end of the hose and put the larger size rigid tube down all the way the banjo fitting and pump up a bit of vacuum, every so often, and the warm oil comes right out. I do run the engine first for a while to heat and cirulate the oil and make it less viscous.
I copied a little picture of the device from the Sailnet.com site.
Best,
Loren in PDX
Olson 34 Fresh Air

My boat is equiped with Universal's oil drain hose so that all of the oil can be drained from the bottom of the pan from the front of the engine.

I believe the sump drain can be retrofitted to engines:

http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/universal/shopping/details.php?mfc=Universal&sku=300724

Having just rebuilt our A-4, we have much experience with changing the oil (i.e. 6 times in 2 weeks after rebuild). We tried electric pumps, the bicycle pump style and three different kinds of hand pumps. We eventually settled on the brass handpump (about $40 at West Marine). It was a question of keeping the suction going and that one just worked the best, cleanest and fastest. We have to feed the tube through the dipstick hole. We even have an electric oil pump, which we would disconnect the recirculation hose and direct it into the container, but it left easily 1 to 1 1/2 quarts in the pan. We had lots of seawater in the engine when we bought the boat, thus the rebuild.

Hope that helps

Jim McCone
Voice of Reason E32-2 Hull #134

Oil sump drain

Like Geoff, our boat was equipped with an oil sump drain fitting. I wasn't the originial owner, so I never knew if it was a factory option or a retrofit. But it was a terrific convenience. I used a small 12 V pump that attached to this hose, flicked the switch, and the job was done.

I would highly recommend it, but I've no idea how difficult it would be to install. If you have one be sure to add tightening the fitting once a year to your annual check list!

Universal oil filter?

My E29 has the original Atomic 4 engine. Not sure about the previous owner but I have tried to maintain a schedule of spring and fall with my oil changes. Something that has puzzled me is it doesn't have an oil filter. Can I purchase an aftermarket installation, or, Is there one on it and I haven't found it in 14 years???
When using the hand pump to change the oil. Remember to tie a string to the discharge hose and the container. Mine came out one time and I sprayed the cabin with hot oil. She really bragged on me for that one...