Where's all the OIL ?

Hey guys, I just changed my oil in my 05 Supreme V220. I used the oil pump from the dipstick and only 3 quarts came out? I made sure the pump line was all the way down till I hit the bottom of the pan. For some reason I was only able to pump out 3 quarts. I just towed the boat back from the lake so I know the oil is nice and warm, but the gauge on the oil read 3/4 full, so I was expecting to pump out at least 4 quarts of oil. Am I doing something wrong? There has to be more then 3 quarts in there. Thanks in advance....

Try attaching the pump out line from your oil pump to the drain line attached to the bottom of your oil pan. This is or should be the lowest part of the oil pan where the extra oil might be hideing out. figure out the Low point of your oil in the pan. You might need to park your boat up or down hill a bit to get it to drain all the way back to the part where you are sucking it out from

Waylon- before you fill with oil, remove the plug at the bottom of the engine and replace with one of these:
http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1054
Next time, drop the line out the bilge and drain
-and you don't need a pump for these

It might seem a bit repetitive but you can also add some oil till the dipstick reads full. If it takes three quarts and reads full then you are not getting all the oil out. If after three quarts it is not reading full then you were probably low on oil. Depending on how often you change your oil (in my experience) a weighted down boat or if you have low hours can use quite a bit of oil. Worst case for piece of mind you are only out the cost of three quarts.

He said the gauge was only 3/4 full so I think he is saying the dipstick read one quart low so 3 quarts in pan would be right. There is one quart in the filter.

Most likely the oil pump is not pulling out all of the oil. I have used the Oil Boy pump before when my boat is on a lift. It will get 75% of oil out in the first 30 minutes, but to get it all, you have to keep pumping the pump and leave the tube in for a long time. Also try moving the extractor tube up and down at slightly different levels.

I'm with Tom, 1-2 qts low and one in the filter. Just be sure to check levels after each qt when filling.

Thanks guys for all the tips. The boat comes with the "convenient" oil drain line already from the factory. I found out it wasn't very convenient routing that oil line out the back of the boat. So in short, I purchased the Oil Boy pump as Rich did. I believe I got the line down the dip stick and I can hear it hitting the bottom of the pan. I never like the gauges on the Supreme because they never seemed accurate (the needle bounces all over the place), I will try and fill the oil up and see how many quarts I'm really putting in "if I think it's empty". Like BigRich said, the worst case is I'm out on 3 quarts.

If you go that route and find its full after 3 quarts then hook your fake-a-lake to it and run engine again. This will give you a little oil flush and you might not feel like you have wasted three quarts.

i could be wrong, but isn't the oil gauge for pressure, not a level indicator?

i think you guys need to understand. there is ABSOLUTELY no room in the engine compartment to get at the oil drain line to fish it thru the plug area! these boats where not designed for maintenance at all.

to change the impeller you basically have to stand on your head, to replace ballast lines and pumps is a mother effer too. trust me, i know!

Waylon:
The "convenient" drain tube as you called it is not so convenient, man that's true.
I have messed with this many times. I have the same boat V220.
I run the boat at least 1/2 hr on the fake a lake and then have all my stuff set up to pump it out the drip stick tube as soon as the boat is shut off.
You can't pump the oil out of the "convenient tube" with the oil boy the opening is too small.
As many people said, you have to mess with the depth of the tube and it still takes 1hr or longer to get all the oil out. I have to just keep messing with it and finally I get 4qts out or in my case the oil boy container is almost filled. My friends 208 is the same.
Have fun
G

Jonny:
I hear you brother, impeller replacement what a bummer!!!
Thanks Leo, oh yeah new concept front ballast tank!!
Ok venting, other than that it's a good boat
G

You can hook onto that fitting on the end of the drain hose you just have to be a little crafty. On my last boat I would hoseclamp a piece of 3/8 hose over the fitting and use one of the oil boy adapters to hook to the 3/8 hose. Make the hose short so it won't collaps. Worked great. Waylon, three quarts is about right if you were a quart down counting the quart in the oil filter as stated earlier.

dont forget there is about a half a quart still in your oil filter as well.

Ahhh...direct drives are looking a little better!

But seriously, I'm with these guys. You were probably about a litre low, and there's another in the filter.

I've never seen an "oil gage" that indicates oil level. They don't exist. That's what the dipstick and regular inspection is for.

If you push the hose down too far it'll hit the bottom of the pan and curl back up. When it does this you have to pull it back out some.

Btw: One of your missing Quarts of oil is in the oil filter. So that means you're only a quart down. You're fine.

(Message edited by yosquire on October 26, 2006)

threads like this make me wonder how often a job like this is done half a$$ at the dealer? Do they really spend an hour or better to get all the oil out of these boats? Or do they suck out the first 3 quarts and just add 3 fresh quarts of oil? DIY is the way to go.

Bob, that's why I'm doing it myself. I got my boat back from the dealer and the mechanic left dirt marks all over the floor and interior. He didn't even bother to clean up his shoe marks or whatever caused it. Plus it was a rip off in price to have them service it as well. I take pride and clean my boat often, but when I get it back from the dealer, it shows their sloppy ass work. Thanks for everyone's input. I'll finish my oil change this weekend and I'm sure it'll be fine. You guys share lots of knowledge and that's why I like WW.

I'm probably going to sound like an a$$, but I've never had problems changing oil and getting it all out. I have a Malubu VLX, so that may make a difference. I'm also no a big fan of pulling oil from the dipstick tube as it may leave heavier sluge on the bottom of the pan.

I just get the oil hot by running the engine and then attach a $20 drill pump to the drain tube that's attached to the bottom of the pan(I run this hose out through the bildge drain hole. It gets it all out, minus a little bit, in about a minute compared to the "forever" time it takes to let it drain on its own. BTW, all engines use a little oil.

Tuneman, that sounds pretty clean as well. I tried using my drain tube once and no matter how warm my engine was, I only got out a few drops of oil. This drill powered pump sounds pretty cool for $20. I just Googled it, is there a certain brand you recommend?

Like a few others have said, I have never seen an oil level gauge. The dipstick will tell you how much oil you have. The gauge on the dash will tell you the pressure, which should remain constant until you run out of oil, then it is too late.

My boat, a Super Air Nautique, has the oil drain hose fastened to the bottom of the engine, then it routes up to the top and is capped off and clipped to a convenient spot. I don't have to fish it out of the bottom because it lives up top.

I don't bother trying to route it out the drain hole, I just connect my pump to the end of the hose. While this method still needs a pump, I know I am getting as much oil as possible out because it is draining from the very bottom, plus I am sucking oil out a 5/8" hose instead of an 1/8" hose

"I've never seen an "oil gage" that indicates oil level. They don't exist." FWIW Dry sump systems often use an oil gauge. IE Porsche. Many vehicles today use a low oil level sensor. That is one of the best inventions.

Waylon, stick with the oil boy it is much better than a drill pump. If the motor was at operating temp a couple hours before the oil change you will have no problems getting the oil out. Usually just putting the hose out the back and letting it drain for a couple of hours does the job. You can speed it up with the oil boy though. Just make an attachment as recommended above.

Peter, the boat on your profile is sick! Changing the oil in that thing looks hard.

Waylon as you have found out there are plenty of resources for DIY'ers especially here. Nothing beats the satisfaction of doing something yourself even if it takes longer and sometimes as much money. Plus think about how familiar you will be with your boat if the unfortunate was ever to happen and you had to make a repair on the water. When you spoke of your experience at the dealer it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I brought my boat to the dealer for the 20 hour service (at 12.9 hours even) and when I got the boat back there were greasy boot prints all over the upholstery and fingerprints everywhere. I chose an all white boat with almost all white interior because that is what I like. I guess the people that work there dont appreciate spending 50k of your hard earned money on a nice boat. I decided not to use them for service anymore and even if there is a warranty isuue I wont go back unless it is really expensive. Even then i probably will make a sign that says NO SHOES ALLOWED IN BOAT. Sorry end of rant.

Sure, pick a rare rear engine exotic import with an unusual oil pumping system to point out that Oil Level Gauges do exist. That makes perfect sense, I'm sure, after reading your post, that his boat does have one.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_11948_11948

here is a drill powered pump, however, the easiest way to get the oil out is with gravity and time. If you can let it drain overnight, that's the way to go.

if you drain out of the drain hose make sure you pull off your fill cap. If not it will just drip out. I had all my oil drained out of the drain hose in a few hours.

searchy searchy

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/312359.html

I never seem to get a lot of oil out of my drain hose. I know that there's a half quart or so in the filter, but I always seem to only get 3-3.5 quarts out total.

I've got a pump this time so we'll see if I get more out.

Waylon, just about any drill pump will do. A $20 one is probably the most expensive. I also take off the fill cap, as was mentioned by adam Curtis. It seems to help. I picked up some tubing that fits snugly around the threads on the drain tube. So, I just push it on to drain and pull it off when I'm done.

Sure, you can let it drain overnight, but who has that much time? That'll cut into riding time.

I just hook the pump I bought for dipstick method to the hose coming out of the hull. I wanted to get the sludge out from the bottom so I just screwed the pan hose onto my electric pump. I was impressed when I did try it down the dipstick, I pulled the pan plug after and didn't really get anything.