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Changing Oil

10K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  ne57301 
#1 ·
Hi, I have a 1976 Atomic 4. I want to change the oil. Sounds like I need to pump it out through the dip stick hole. Can anyone tell me how wide that is? That is, what diameter tube can I stick down there?

Thanks,
Scott
 
#3 ·
Get the 6 liter version of that pump that can hold over a gallon of engine oil.
Dipstick hole is fine for draining oil as is oil cap, usually.
Hose size is small. I've got the $120 Jabsco oil pump that holds a few gallons and runs on 12V power from the batteries. No mess either.
Warm up the oil and pump it out.
Easy.
 
#4 ·
I had this problem and I happened to have enough clearance to put a drain pan under my motor. I took the oil pan off and had it tapped and threaded at an automotive machine shop and now I have a drain plug just like a car would. This was the best long term solution for me. It also cost me less than a pump by a long shot($25 to tap and thread the pan + $3 for a bolt $10 for tube of silicone form a gasket).
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the replies. I was originally going to go with a drill bit pump like this: Lowe's - Drill Pump customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings, with a garden hose out one side into a jug, and the others side in to the engine. It takes a garden hose on that side as well. So, I was going to take a small piece of hose and attach it somehow to go into the garden hose. But, the pump above looks much better.
 
#8 ·
I use a small brass hand pump available in most chandlers. The hose, about 3/8in was just too tight for the dip stick hole so I found a 18in length of 1/4in od copper pipe that pushes into the hose. Its is a bit of waste fridge copper, but it could be any pipe or smaller hose that fits into the original pump hose.
I also use the pump to transferrer diesel from my reserve barrel to the tank when at sea, saves a lot of spills in rough weather so I don,t feel guilty about poisoning the sea.:eek:
Safe sailing
 
#13 · (Edited)
Yes, warming the engine up makes the oil more liquid (viscous) and easier to pump out. You may have other problems though if there is not enough oil to pump out from the dip stick hole - even if the oil is cold it just moves slower through the pump. I also use a 12V Jabsco oil pump and even cold oil will get sucked out.
You should carefully check your oil dipstick to see what level the oil is at. The easy way to check the oil level is to take a clean paper towel or rag and wipe the dipstick down, then re-insert it and pull it out. Lay it up against the clean paper towel or rag and you will be able to see at what level the oil registers on the stick by the stain on the towel or cloth.
If you are just low on oil I'd advise getting a few quarts of cheap oil to put in and then run the engine for a bit and then pump out what you can. Check the color of the oil; dark is not good and milky is even worse. Dark oil just means that the crank case is dirty and needs a few oil changes to clean it out. Milky colored oil indicates that water has gotten into your crankcase; the cure for this is also several (3) subsequent oil changes to get most of the watery oil out of the engine. Also running the engine until it gets up to temperature after the oil changes helps get the remaining water out.
These old engines like fresh oil (change every 50 - 100 hours of use).
Use a good oil like Rotella T 30W oil to fill the engine after you have used cheaper oil to flush out the muck and/or water.
Good oil is cheap insurance.
Good luck.
 
#14 ·
Scott, in my warped view of the universe all the mechanical oil removal pumps are junk. Electric ones, drill powered ones, all junk.

We bought one of the vacuum-bottle ones and I love it. Pump up a vacuum in the cannister, stick the hose in the oil dipstick tube, open the valve and
s l u r p
it very slowly but surely all comes up.

The fly in the ointment is that you now have about three feet of oily curly plastic hose that wants to whip about and scatter oil all over you cabin, so you wipe it down with paper towels as you remove it, and store it in double plastic garbage bags because there's always some oil mess waiting to break out.

But the damned things work wonderfully.
 
#15 ·


About the best place to get out ALL the oil is tapping a 3/8 npt plug into the transmission cover

Due to the angle the motors are installed and lack of oil filter I found the sediment settled in this area over the years
 
#29 ·
Seems like a nifty solution.

Here is another. Indigo sells an oilfilter kit. It uses the existing oil change hole that was mentioned by someone else to circulate the filtered oil.

Incidentally, on my machine there was a manual pump in this hole which was a factory option on some machines. It worked well enough but was not fun to use. And I wanted the oil filter. The kit comes with everything you need, it is very well made, and it installs in a lazy afternoon.

Now here is the connection with this thread: The fitting for the oil filter has a connector for an oil change pump. I bought a 12V oil pump on ebay and installed it permanently with the oilfilter kit.

Now changing the oil involves putting the oil hose in an empty container, open the oil change valve (just a ball valve from Home Depot), and pushing the button to run the pump. All done in 3 minutes.

I never enjoyed changing the oil, now I genuinely do! Admittedly, it probably gets out less than the nifty hole in the transmission cover (depending on the tilt of the machine) but surely more than what I got previously. And it is so easy (did I mention fun?) that I have been known to just do two (or three) oil changes in a row, separated by running the machine for 10 minutes, to mix the new oil in. Which means I get nearly all the old oil out, and it only costs me a couple quarts oil.

Cost is about $80.- for the Indigo kit, the pump was about $20.-. Plus maybe another $20.- for a ball valve, an electrical switch, a few feet of hose and a couple hose clamps.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Tommays,

Two questions about your picture. It is really that easy to pump out all the oil from a hole in the transmission cover? Really? I will do that mod and work from back there if that is all it takes. I am wondering about the zirk fittings? on your water pump couplings.

Thanks,

Down
 
#17 ·
The Oil comes right out if it is warm as i use the same pump on inboards that suck up the oil through the dip stick the 3/8 NPT hole will take a 3/8 metal tube which allows a lot of oil to pass

That is the new Moyer pump with the quick change cover and i used two ball valves on it as i do not wish to drain the FWC anti-freeze every time i need to change the inpeller :)
 
#20 ·
Thanks again.

I will add a plug this season while TD is on the hard. I still have only 23 hours on my 3 year old Moyer rebuilt. Mostly back and forth from launch / haul and maneuvering in close harbors. We can sail onto and off of our mooring. It is time to replace the oil because of its age if nothing else.

Down
 
#30 ·
Just out of curiosity how much did that rebuild cost?
Did you take it out and put it in yourself?
 
#21 ·
Use the 3/4" plug to take out the oil

Use the 3/4" plug on the starboard side of the engine at the top of the crank case and below the carburator. That's what it is for. Use a simple hand pump with plastic hoses. Yes it can be a bit messy but not if your careful. Can't imagine waiting to take out three-four quarts of oil through the dipstick!

Early engines had a built in pump that stayed screwed into this access point.

Buy the Moyer Marine repair manual. It shows how to do many maintenance procedures.

Big Eye
 
#31 ·
Use the 3/4" plug on the starboard side of the engine at the top of the crank case and below the carburator. That's what it is for. Use a simple hand pump with plastic hoses. Yes it can be a bit messy but not if your careful. Can't imagine waiting to take out three-four quarts of oil through the dipstick!

Early engines had a built in pump that stayed screwed into this access point.

Buy the Moyer Marine repair manual. It shows how to do many maintenance procedures.

Big Eye
Hey everyone, don't let this one slip by, this is the correct answer (sorta, it's on the port side in my boat, under the fuel pump).

Combine that with this from Moyer:
Moyer Marine Online Store

and a simple hand pump like this
Amazon.com: Jabsco 34060-0130 Marine Engine Oil Drain Hand Pump (10.25" Long, 1.25" Diameter): Sports & Outdoors

Or this:
Liquivac Topside Oil Changer | Oil Extractors | Northern Tool + Equipment

or even this:
PUMP CRANK CASE OIL HAND OPERATED 102947

and you are done and cleaned up from your oil change in 10 minutes.
 
#22 ·
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I ended up using a battery powered pump. I wish I had bought one of the vacuum rigs, but, this worked well enough. I only seemed to get 3 quarts out, so, I flushed with 3 quarts, sucked it out again and filled it back up. The dip stick shows clean oil now.

The trick as had been said is to get the oil hot enough. I turned the engine on and waited for the temperature gauge to get up to about 170 or so.

Scott
 
#23 ·
Scott,
Depending on the angle of tilt on the engine you will routinely only get about 3 or 3 - 1/2 quarts of oil out on each oil change when using the dipstick or fill port to empty from. You will always leave at least a quart of old oil inside the crank case which is why all of these guys have mentioned different engine access points for draining the oil (transmission, various plugs that are low on the engine block etc.).
I also use a 12V Jabsco oil pump to suck out the oil and it works well enough. I usually do 2 oil changes per year to help dilute the 1 or so quarts of oil I cant get out of the engine.
 
#24 ·
Oill Grades and additives

Hi.
I have an Atomic 4 (1977) and usually use regular 10W30 automotive oil. I was advised recently that being an older engine I should use an oil with some of the additives present (eg: zinc), meaning an API of SL or lower (the "ell"). Most regular oils I see are SM or SN I think because of the effect of the additives on catalytic converts. I see many motorcycle oils (4 stroke) with SF or SG so I wonder what anyone here thinks about adding a few quarts of this to the crankcase? Also whether mixing 10W30 with something like 10W40 or other grades is ok?
Thank you very much and sorry for deviating from the topic of this thread
Don
 
#25 ·
don-
"Also whether mixing 10W30 with something like 10W40 or other grades is ok?"
Totally. What you'll wind up with is two quarts of "10w35" so to speak. Maybe not precisely but close to it. You'll have some of the 30-modifiers and some of the 40-modifiers, and the results do average out.

WRT the actual addtive mix in any oil grade, your best bet would be to call the engine maker (or in this, Moyer Marine) and then call the company that is making the oil. All the name brands have tech support departments who can and will look up what additive package is best for your engine, and tell you which of THEIR products is best compounded for it.

I think if you called Mobil, Shell, Amzoil (ahem), a couple of top names you'd find very similar suggestions from all of them. There are things that are not obvious when you reaed the can, or the web pages. Zinc may be used as a lubricant--but the Mobil synthetics have been used more expensive Molybdinum powders for 20+ years now instead, without mentioning it.
API and SAE also answer questions about this stuff, they LOVE it when a customer calls in and tries to learn what oil really is going to work best.
 
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