Installing a dedicated oil change pump

[wsmurdoch]

I thought about putting an electric oil change pump on the engine, but canceled that idea; too much money. Buying the stuff, installing the pump, and adding a drain to the oil pan would run maybe $1000. I figure $1000 invested will earn $40 a year. $40 will buy two cases of beer a year. I’d rather have the two cases of beer every year for the rest of my life than the installed oil change pump.

I use one of the brass piston hand pumps that West Marine sells to change the oil in our Yanmar 3HM35F. We live on the boat about five months a year, and I change the oil several times a year, usually at anchor. (We are now in the Abacos slowly working our way back to North Carolina.) The hand pump needs some modifications most of which I have learned from others. To speed the removal of the oil, the pickup tube needs to be metal and as large in diameter as will easily fit through the dip stick hole. 3/8 tubing is just a little tight. 11/32 is perfect. The hardware store near my house keeps a collection of thin wall brass tubing that comes in diameter increments of 1/32. I have also seen it in hobby/model stores. To fit 1/2 inch hose to the tubing, I cut the hose barb off a brass hose to NPT adaptor, slid it over the tube, and soldered it in place. I trimmed the tube to a length that will just reach the bottom of the oil pan and make a satisfying clink when it drops into place. I put 1/2 inch hose between the pickup tube and the hand pump and an inch or two of hose on the pump discharge which I stick into an empty gallon oil container to collect the used oil. To keep the pump and all its parts together after it becomes slick with oil, I put hose clamps on the suction hose ends and on the red rubber ends of the pump. To keep the assembly from dripping oil in storage, I put a rubber stopper in the end of the discharge hose, and I slip another rubber stopper with a 1/4 in hole drilled part way into it over the end of the pickup tube. I store it all wrapped in paper towels in a zip lock bag, but I am looking for the right size Tupper Ware box to store it in.

Up to now I have been using a zip lock bag slipped over the horizontal oil filter with the stiffened edge pulled up under the flange where the oil runs out to try (with about 50% success) to catch the oil that spills from the filter. Next time I will try another method that was suggested to me. It goes like this. Loosen the filter to prove that you will be able to get it off and to find the spot where it just begins to drip. Tighten the filter back 1/2 turn. Drive a sharpened 16d nail halfway into the filter at the top away from the flange and remove the nail. Holding a tin can under the filter loosen it back so that the hole is on the bottom. The oil in the filter will drain out of the hole and into the tin can while air sucks in through the leaking flange. When drained, tighten the filter back and plug the hole with a piece of dowel rod sharpened in a pencil sharpener. Now remove the drained filter.

Bill Murdoch
Irish Eyes
1988 PSC 34

[BirdBrain333]

While I like Bill's Balme's method I am somewhat less adventurous when it comes to changing oil filters so do essentially what Bill Murdoch does: With a Yogurt container (and oil blanket underneath that), I then punch a couple of holes in the old filter, turn it so that one hole is down and the other on top, and then go off and do something else while it drains. This means I only have about half a pint of dirty oil to clean up later on! I like Bill's idea of plugging the holes and will try this in hopes of only having a quarter of a pint to clean up.

Jay, PSC 37, Kenlanu, FINALLY on her mooring in Buck's Harbor, Maine.

[yzlian]

i have an electric pump that i used once a year, eh... may be less. this time, while on a long trip to japan, it died on me - pump action wasn't enough to suck up the stuff halfway! so what i did was to go to the nearest cheapo store and got a siphon and a length of plastic tube (all for 800 yen) that i taped onto the too-big siphon suck-pipe so that the thing can fit into the dipstick casing. then i just squeeze-pumped the darn thing out, all seven liters of it. much better than an electric that doesn't work.

yzlian
PSC#260
berthed overnight at obama wan (yes, same name..., meaning "little shore bay" in japanese) in the prefecture of fukui, on the way to destination akita up in n.w honsh.

[teejayevans]

Originally Posted by yzlian

i have an electric pump that i used once a year, eh... may be less. this time, while on a long trip to japan, it died on me - pump action wasn't enough to suck up the stuff halfway!

I use a manual pump with container that works pretty well, it's much easier to do it when the engine is warm.
Tom

[SEMIJim]

The venerable old A4 on Abracadabra had a plug down near the bottom of the block. Moyer Marine sells a kit that replaces that with a plug with a brass tube calibrated to just reach the bottom of the oil pan, and a heavy-duty rubber hose, complete with all the fittings you could possibly need. I terminated mine just behind the companionway steps.

Then I hook up a Moeller Fluid Extractor, give a few pumps, and out comes the oil. (Works much faster if you run the engine to heat the oil, then give it about a 15-20 minute rest for all the oil to drain back down into the pan.)

Those Moeller products might not be available any more. West Marine used to carry them, but now carries their own branded product that looks the same: West Marine Manual Oil Changer

For a once-a-season job, I can't see installing a permanent, dedicated pump on the boat.

Jim

[johnhayesuk]

help i want to change the oil on my 25ft river cruiser its a 4107/4108 i cannot see the oil drain plug the guy at the oil filter shop said the dip stick is to thin to change this way any help please direct to pictures on utube johnhayesuk thanks

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by johnhayesuk

help i want to change the oil on my 25ft river cruiser its a 4107/4108 i cannot see the oil drain plug the guy at the oil filter shop said the dip stick is to thin to change this way any help please direct to pictures on utube johnhayesuk thanks

Suggestions:

• When you have a new subject, rather than a contribution to an existing one, start a new thread
• Capitalization is your friend.
• Punctuation is your friend.

Jim

[MarcHall]

Originally Posted by CalebD

Something like this oil extractor pump and bucket: Economy Oil Changer Pump - ITT Jabsco 17850-1012 - iboats.com
makes extracting your old oil quite easy and is nearly dripless and clean. Once extracted I bring the unit home and use my car battery (with engine idling) to pour the old oil back into containers for recycling. I hardly ever spill dirty old oil but have spilled clean oil when refilling.
I'm sure it is handy to have an oil extraction/refilling pump on your engine but it does add an extra system that can be damaged or fail.
I use a 12V pump bucket like the one I linked to above twice a year for oil changes.
Your boat, your choice.

I bought one of these as well a number of years ago. Before taking the boat cruising I pull the pump off the bucket and mounted it near the Racor Fuel Filter. Bucket stayed home. Still working great.

Marc Hall
"Crazy Fish", Crealock 37 based in San Diego