Centurion owner/boats with Merc 350 engine

I'm going to try and change my own oil on my avalanche today and the question I have is how can I tell if I have a drain hose for the oil. I was told most newer boats will have this hose for easy draining. If I can't find it I have the tools to suck the oil out of the block. I'm kind of weary of using the fake lake for this process because i heard if you don't hook them up just right you have the potential to overheat and destroy your motor. That and ways of removing the oil filter without making too much of a mess.

Looking for any advice, thanks

I don't have an avalanche, but I do have some tips for you. I use the fake a lake. I was a little concerned running it at first too. Make sure once you have it over your intake and the hose is on. Start the engine. Do not rev it up or put it in gear when you are on the fake a lake. Make sure that about 5 or so seconds after you start the boat that water starts coming out of your exhaust. You can watch your temperature gauge too. The water coming out of my exhaust never even got that warm, but the engine temp got up to about 120 or so just idling. Lay lots of sheets/towels down in the boat and just be very careful. When removing your oil filter, hold a coffee can or something under it so the spillage gets caught in that. If you do find that you have a drain hose, I'd still suggest using a pump. Hook the pump up to the drain hose and pump it out that way. Takes forever to just let it drain out on it's own even when it's warm. Pump it right into a milk jug or other container instead of an oil pan. One less thing to clean up. It's a pretty simple job.

Thanks Bob,

That is some good advice, hopefully it goes well.

No worries with the fake a lake just make sure it is connected correctly. Like Bob said Don't put the boat in gear. You can bring the engine RPM up for short periods of time. Your better off to suck the oil out of the dip stick tube. All the boats that I have drained with the factory drain hose takes for ever. If you need help let me know and I can walk you thru it.

Thanks Phaeton,

Have you been out on the lake lately? I saw an older malibu vlx riding with two air chairs on backbone. One of their riders was pulling huge backrolls.

I got this idea from another member. It sure beats using a fake a lake. Crawling under the trailer and propping it it up was a pain in the butt. This works perfect. Just take out the (e) elbow and install this Tee with valve

Also what you can try and do is put a plastic bag as far around the oil filter before you take it off. this way most of the excess drains into the bag. Never had a problem with my fake a lake. Just after you get it running make sure water comes out the exhaust. NEVER PUT THE BOAT IN GEAR. but you can rev the rpms a bit here and there if you wan't. Was actually recommended by my mechanic juist to keep the engine running smooth. Blows it out a bit. I think that is more of an old school thing, but hey I have never had a problem. Also recommend the pump even with the drain hose. The drain hose on that engine should have a brass clip on it if I recall correctly

That was friends of ours. Mike goes pretty big for a 55 year old. We went up to Bend last week on Vacation. We have been out on the lake just not here.

Bend, thats sounds nice. Billy Chinook?

Your Avy with the 350 MAG should for sure have the oil drain hose. Usually the loose end is clipped to the top of the engine with what looks like a brass shower curtain hook. Take the hook off and run the hose out the rear drain plug hole. Do this before you warm up the engine or you could get burned. Remove the little brass plug at end of hose and let it drain. It takes a long time to drain, like hours. Crack your oil filter loose and then wrap it with a plastic bag to catch the spillage. I put a tower under it just in case. Undo everything you did and don't overfill the oil. You should have no problems. Good Luck, Bob

Prineville

Thanks Bob

Phaeton, I have see pictures of Prineville that place looks awesome. Was it cold compared to what you are used to in Redding

Water was mid 70's my parents have a vacation house over looking the lake there. We took our friends from here up to Central Oregon and gave them a tour around.

JTW - Looking at your setup with the T connection, how do you keep the water from flowing back out the hull intake when you're using the hose? Did you install a check valve?

Paul-

The suction from the impeller pulls all the water in.

Thank you everyone for the advice, changing the oil was successful and overall very easy. Biggest thing I ran into is that I had the fake lake hooked up to the right spot and with the engine running water was shooting out my exhaust, but my engine temperature got up to 180-200 deg. I was surprised how hot it got, makes me think something was off. I turned off the engine and the oil was plenty hot and sucked right out.

does your engine normally run at 180-200 on the lake? If not, something doesn't seem right here? I ran my boat at idle for probably 10-15 minutes and it was only around 120ish. It runs warmer when on the lake, close to 160 if I remember correctly?

I think that it was not sucking enough water, maybe the pressure was to high on the hose forcing the water to spill out and not get sucked in, even though I had the fake lake right up to the intake. Thats the only thing I could think of. Typically my boat runs about 140-160 on the water also so who knows. No damage done thank goodness