Re: Brass Drain Plug... Please Advise
Many new Merc motors are coming with a fitting installed on the oil pan drain. This fitting is connected to a hose, which has another threaded fiting on the other end. The intention is (when the boat is out of the water) you can remove the garboard plug, and pull the hose thorugh the garboard drain hole. With the drain hose pulled thorugh the garboard drain hole, you can remove the fitting on the end of the hose to drain the oil from the oil pan rather than sucking through the dipstick. So, if there is a remote drain hose on the oil pan, and if this garboard installation is intended for that remote drain hose, then unscrewing it would do nothing but open the hole which the drain hose would need to be stuck through. It WOULD NOT drain oil immediately by opening the garboard plug. It would be silly that you would connect to oil to an underwater inlet. In the event of failure, you're introducing water directly to the oil.
This is how it is on my Merc 496.
Many new Merc motors are coming with a fitting installed on the oil pan drain. This fitting is connected to a hose, which has another threaded fiting on the other end. The intention is (when the boat is out of the water) you can remove the garboard plug, and pull the hose thorugh the garboard drain hole. With the drain hose pulled thorugh the garboard drain hole, you can remove the fitting on the end of the hose to drain the oil from the oil pan rather than sucking through the dipstick. So, if there is a remote drain hose on the oil pan, and if this garboard installation is intended for that remote drain hose, then unscrewing it would do nothing but open the hole which the drain hose would need to be stuck through. It WOULD NOT drain oil immediately by opening the garboard plug. It would be silly that you would connect to oil to an underwater inlet. In the event of failure, you're introducing water directly to the oil.
This is how it is on my Merc 496.