changing oil in your boat

After how many hours do you guys change your oil? thanks

I do mine about every 50 hours.

50-75. I'm not taking any chances with something that makes such a difference and really doesn't take that long.

yeah, thanks guys, that's what i thought

50

what does it usually cost, do you guys go to a boat dealer?

Do it myself about every 40-50 hrs. cost of oil and filter. easy to do, takes about 1/2 hour or less

I tried once. I have an '05 Calabria Pro-V and had the hardest time locating the oil filter. To this day I cannot find it.

That is the nice thing about having a direct drive. Once you pull the dog house off... everything sits out nice and open for you do what you gotta do.

I use synthetic and change it every year, or about 100 hrs.

Every 50 here. I have a drain hose hooked to the bottom of the oil pan drain bolt. Then I use the "oil boy" and hook that up to the end of the drain hose and suck out as much as possible. When changing the oil filter it gets messy, so lay down some rags to protect the interior near the filter. I also cut the bottom off a 1 gallon milk jug to stuff underneath the oil filter upon removal since it will drip a bit.

Good luck.

I use a plastic garbage bag under the filter and it leaves no mess.

My oil is changed on my 210 every 25 hours. There is a Certified PCM Mechanic that owns his own shop that works on inboards only about 5 miles from my house. He only charges $50 to do it including the oil and filter. I usually end up spending $200-$250 on oil changes per year but it is peanuts compared to the gas bill.

I can take it to him when I get off work and go pick it up 90 minutes later. If it weren't so convenient I'd probably do it every 50 hours.

(Message edited by aarond0083 on June 22, 2007)

Every 25 hours, that is an extreme case of overkill. I understand protecting your investment but come on.

Oil... whats that? Change what? Why?

I do mine every 25 hrs too. what, it costs $25 and 25 min. time.

The smartest guy I know, and most anal too, took his 25hr old engine oil outta his heavily weighted VLX in to get analized by some lab. the outcome of his analysis, change it every 25 hrs. and he also added and external oil cooler on top of that.....thats overkill.

Anyone know how much oil to put in a PCM 351 engine? Its in a 1995 Moomba Boomerang.

An external oil cooler on an engine that maintains 160 degrees, ya I'd say that's overkill.

Hey Chad, I have a 351 and it takes 5 quarts.

I change mine once a season with is normally 75 hours or so. Thing is my boat runs on propane so I can extend my oil change periods. My oil comes out after 75hrs just as clean as when it first went in!

50 hrs. like clockwork. Dealer charges 200+. Do it yourself for $25 in way less time than it takes to tow it in.

200+!

WOW I only pay 59 bones for my oil change..

I don't have an hour meter so I have to guesstimate. I usually change oil every 15th trip or at season end. Most of the time we go out for 4-6 hours but we're driving the boat 4 hours at most during that time. I've got a tally marker set up in my garage to keep count. If I haven't hit 15 by end of season, I'll change it then, too (unless I JUST changed it already).

My oil pan doesn't fit underneath the engine so I use a thick trash bag to drain into and then pour that into my pan and from there into a container. I just use the pan as an intermediary step because I have a pan with a nozzle for easy pouring into a 5qt. Pouring from the trash bag into the 5qt even with a funnel would be messy at best. Other than that, it's a standard oil change. My filter is pretty accessible and I use Quicksilver engine oil as I have a Mercruiser engine.

One of these days, I keep telling myself I'm going to get one of those drain tubes that you thread onto the drain plug hole.