winterize question...regarding engine oil

bajabeginner

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Any reason I cannot just drain the engine oil ( warmed up of course) now and then fill it up at the beginning of the season?
 

bspeth

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I think you want it full,lubricated with fresh oil.
 

Watermann

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Not sure why but if you do just don't forget to add the oil in spring.
 

Fishermark

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Not sure why but if you do just don't forget to add the oil in spring.

Agree with Watermann. There would be absolutely no reason to wait and every reason not to wait. It would be an expensive mistake if you forget to put the oil in.
 

Starcraft5834

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no benefit to leave it empty........only possible trouble.... I'd toss it in there.........
 

Alumarine

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If you're going to do that then just drain it in the spring.
There is no benefit to draining it now.
All the critical surfaces will still have old oil on them.
 

HT32BSX115

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If you're going to do that then just drain it in the spring.
There is no benefit to draining it now.
All the critical surfaces will still have old oil on them.
Don't do that...... those critical surfaces will have possibly contaminated oil on them......

Any reason I cannot just drain the engine oil ( warmed up of course) now and then fill it up at the beginning of the season?
Yes, several...

Just about ALL engine manufacturers recommend draining it at the end of the season to remove possibly contaminated oil from the engine so that it can be stored with fresh clean NON-contaminated oil on all the "critical surfaces"

Simply draining the oil will drain any or all contaminants out of the pan, but will do nothing about the oil in the filter, oil passages and bearings.

Just do what the manufacturer recommends, drain the oil, replace the filter, run the engine long enough to circulate fresh oil throughout the engine and FOG. THEN drain the block and manifolds
 
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Volphin

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I just do it all in the spring. There's nothing in used oil that's gonna hurt the engine, and the oil probably has a lot less than 60 hours on it.
Heck, we store aircraft that way for months at a time, and those turbines cost an arm and a leg. (But then again, the big ones NEVER get the oil changed.)
LOL, and if it was THAT bad for an engine, my 55 gal waste oil drum would have deteriorated to NOTHING by now. ;)
Further, oil drains to the sump on engines with no oil pressure. That's where it stays until you fire it up again. A little will remain, but not much at all. I'm sure the Chevy motor will handle it just fine.
 

HT32BSX115

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I just do it all in the spring. There's nothing in used oil that's gonna hurt the engine, and the oil probably has a lot less than 60 hours on it.
Heck, we store aircraft that way for months at a time, and those turbines cost an arm and a leg. (But then again, the big ones NEVER get the oil changed.)
LOL, and if it was THAT bad for an engine, my 55 gal waste oil drum would have deteriorated to NOTHING by now. ;)
Further, oil drains to the sump on engines with no oil pressure. That's where it stays until you fire it up again. A little will remain, but not much at all. I'm sure the Chevy motor will handle it just fine.


But understand, that you're just going completely against what Mercruiser, Volvo, and a host of other manufacturers recommend. How do you know if there was water intrusion in the engine you let sit for an entire winter? Do you do a UOA? Does the water/oil emulsion drain to the bottom of the sump too? (so it can rust the pan?)


Not very many gas turbines or jet engines in boats....... Not sure how you can compare a turbine (or turbine oil) to a reciprocating engine or oil.....


But since oil and filters are cheep cheep cheep (on a yearly basis)

I would rather KNOW IF I have some water intrusion before I store my boat....... instead of waiting until 6-9 months later when it would have caused damage just sitting in there.....


From Mercury:
[h=2]Is it better to change my engine oil/gear lube at the beginning or end of the season?[/h] It is better to change the oil and gear lube at the end of the season, prior to storage. Lubricants naturally accumulate moisture, combustion by-products, and other contaminants during use. It can be detrimental to store an engine or drive with large amounts of these contaminants present.



But if it works for you to wait until the boat has sat idle for several months.........................Knock yourself out
biggrin.gif



Cheers,


Rick
 

Volphin

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No worries Rick! :) Different strokes...
I did in fact have a water intrusion issue once, (and so have many customers) but those old chevy oil pans are pretty thick and I have NEVER seen one rust (from the inside out) even after 6 months in the sludge. FWIW, I do sample the sumps in all my vehicles regularly. It's so cheap, it only makes sense... and prevents over servicing at unrealistic intervals. It's just wasteful, IMHO, to change an advanced synthetic oil with 75% of its usable service life remaining.

Regarding the turbine comparison, I was simply alluding to the common high stress environs for both applications and drawing a parallel between the two as far as the lubrication.

YMMV
 

HT32BSX115

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It's just wasteful, IMHO, to change an advanced synthetic oil with 75% of its usable service life remaining.
Well, I won't disagree here........Mercury, Volvo, Nissan, Tohatsu, 'Rude, IMHO don't really suggest replacing the oil because they think it's reached it's service life as much as they suggest doing it to check at the end of the season for water intrusion etc.

Now if you did a UOA at the end of the year before "layup" you could make the decision to not change it and it would likely be a pretty good way to do it.

problem is, the hassle and cost of a UOA is just NOT worth it for small engines that use off-the-shelf filters and 5-8qts of oil.....

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/tests-price-list.php

I might be tempted to do an analysis every few years to see where the engine "is" though...........and maybe If I had a fleet of boats, but if I did, I'd probably getting max use out of the oil (100hrs or more)

But for my boat? It's easier to just change it at the end of the season and call it 'good"!
 
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