Changing Oil/Fluids. Looking for some advice

I am looking to save some money and change the oil and transmission fluid on my boat (Moomba LSV) by doing it myself instead of getting raped at the dealer.

I have changed the oil on a car numerous times so the concept isn't foreign to me. However when I look at the engine in the boat I wonder what is the best way to drain the oil. Changing the filter is easy because it does have a remote oil filter, but how do you get the oil out. I have considered buying a fluid/oil pump and suck the old oil out of the dipstick. Has anyone tried this? Also I want to change the transmission fluid on the V-Drive. Any advice or hints.

Thanks

You need to buy a pump. Chances are that there is already a hose that is attached to the drain plug on the oil pan. Hook the pump into this and then suck the oil out. Changing the oil in the boat is easy and can usually be done in about 10-15 minutes total. As far as the tranny goes take the hose from you pump and stick it in the fill hole of the tranny. Suck the fluid out, make sure you have the hose clean of oil before you stick it in the tranny. After the fluid is out of the tranny refill it. You won't get all of the fluid out of the tranny cause it has some in the lines and such. You also want to check the fluid level when it is warn so run it up to temp and then check the level.

For the tranny I use a hand pump. It is a bulb with lines out either side, you just sqeeze the bulb to get the fluid moving. You can get them at any automotive store for 5 or 10 bucks. I use 2, 2 liter plastic bottles to messure what come out and what I out back in. That way I put in the same amount that I take out. It works great.


The oil you will need a pump, and a drill.

Check on you engine if you have the garden hose option. That way you pull it through the drain plug. Otherwise you'll want to get a oil extractor system.

Buy the service manual. Minimal investment, step by step instructions and it'll save you money in the long run.

Make sure you warm the engine up to normal temp to get the oil to drain easier - user use a "fake a lake" or if you have water close by just go start it up on the trailer and then change it.

You may want to let it drain overnight. What i've done is started it draining when I left my boat at the end of the day and then dropped on the new filter and added the fresh oil when I went back the next trip. Only took about 10 minutes.

On my inboard, there is a hose that is connected to the oil drain spot on the oil pan. You just put it through the bilge drain hole in the boat and uncap it and it drains out into your used oil container.... You can add one of these drain hoses for pretty cheap..and it'd be worth every penny. Check out www.skidim.com if you do not already have one...

i use a jabsco drill pump that attaches to your dewalt/other brand drill. the oil takes awhile, gets tiring but the tranny is fast and easy!! they cost about 25 bucks. just remember to run the engine before doing!

I've changed my engine oil, trans, and V-drive fluid a bunch of times with a "Tempo" vacuum pump that is available from Boater's World, Overtons, etc. Here's the set-up for changing engine oil using the E-Z Drain hose that your boat has:



Here's what the hose connection looks like:



The end of one of the Tempo hoses has a female garden hose thread connector on the end (the large black plastic piece in the picture above). In order to connect the E Z Drain hose to it, I screwed a bushing into the E Z Drain (the iron piece in the picture below), and then screwed a pipe-thread-to-garden-hose-thread adapter (the brass piece in the picture in the picture below) into the bushing. When I'm finished changing the oil, I screw the garden hose cap onto the end of the hose, and it's sealed. It takes maybe 10 minutes to drain the oil.



The Tempo also comes with a smaller hose, and it fits into the dipstick/fill holes in the trans and V-drive to suck the oil out.

Of course, it's best to get all the fluids up to operating temps before trying to suck them out. Also, I heat up the oil that I'll put into the V-drive because the fill hole is small, and it takes forever to get cold oil to go in. I heat it up by putting it in a bucket of hot water. You also can get a quart-size oil pump from an auto supply store (the kind used to pump gear lube into a differential), and that really makes it easy to get the oil into the V-drive.

Thanks for the pics Jeff. I didn't think it would be hard and it appears a lot of you out there make it seem easy. Thanks for the advice.