Engine Oil Help for a newbie

[russrimm]

Just bought a 92 Galaxie Bowrider with a V6 4.3L Mercruiser Alpha One I/O. 1st I'm trying to find a manual for the I/O motor and 2nd, what's the easiest and best way to change the enginer oil and outboard gear lube? I'm a first time boat owner.

 

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Re: Engine Oil Help for a newbie

I know what you're up against. I had a PennYan with a 350CI in it,that was an all-day job changing the oil on. UNTIL I found this neat little pump that connected to a household electric drill. They are cheap and work very well. They are available at most hardware stores and auto parts stores.<br />It comes with a small diameter hose that you can stick right down into the dipstick hole,draw the old oil out, change-out the filter, and refill with oil. <br />There are two downsides to this meathod.<br />First one is, you must make sure to draw all the old oil out. I used a straight,stiff tube in place of the coiled hose it came with. That assured me it was at the bottom of the crankcase.<br />Second problem...It's unavoidable to lose some oil to the bilge when you pull the filter.To prevent this, it requires "black ops"..You gotta wait till the better half is asleep,sneak-into the kitchen,and find a nice sauce pan. Make sure it's the right size to receive the oil filter ,and just drop the gooey filter in the pan. Clean the pan afterwards,and store it in yer bilge (mama will never know you took it,as she isn't gonna look in there.

<br />If you get the pan outta the kitchen, you should be home free.<br />

<br />On the L/U, leave it be for the most part.<br />sure, check it every now and then (I'm assuming you are keeping her in the water).<br />You can check them after every trip if you prefer (i do on mine). Just unscrew the vent screw,insert a pipe cleaner into the hole,as you would a dipstick on the motor oil.<br />Allways use new gaskets tho ,after the checkup.<br />BTW, NICE BOAT!!!! Congrats and enjoy her

<br /><br /><br />------------------<br />Time to change my tagline

 

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Re: Engine Oil Help for a newbie

Petition the moderator to enable the "EDIT" feature!!! LOL<br />As usual, I forgot a few things...<br />Cleanup: While you are on your black operations,also lift her bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid

<br />It's cheap and works better or as good as anything else you can use. Just a few squirtz here and there, a little water,let it slosh about, then pump it out (into a bucket of course).<br />My PennYan was inboard as opposed to an I/O,<br />but the principles are the same. I mounted a cleat on the gunwale just above the bilge discharge. I had a 5GAL plastic bucket that I would dip into the river. I'd toss the bucket of water in the bilge,let the wakes by passing boats slosh it overnight,hang the bucket handle on the cleat,pump out the bilge,and carry it off.<br />Last tip, keep a spare impeller in the bilge with all the tools needed to change it. They fail on those engines at the most inapropriate times!! And it doesn't seem to matter when you changed it last.I've had them last 2 years,and I've had them fail after 40hours.<br /><br /><br />------------------<br />Time to change my tagline

 

[russrimm]

Re: Engine Oil Help for a newbie

Ok, I hunted all around town for this dipstick pump kit and no one seemed to know what I was talking about. Well, I didn't search all around town, I searched Lowe's (similar to home depot if you aren't familiar with it) and O'Reilley's auto parts. Any other places I should try? Maybe I can order it online? Can you tell me the technical name for this device?<br />Thanks.

 

[ODDD1]

Re: Engine Oil Help for a newbie

russ...grab your yellow pages.....under boats...any body that sells/services inboards or I/O's can help.

 

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Re: Engine Oil Help for a newbie

I'm surprised you can't find a drill pump locally,Russ. I even saw one at a covieniance store (you know the little bin with cheapo-tools and fuzzy dice in it?).<br />Sorry about the actual name of it, I think it's called a drill pump,but who knows.<br /><br /><br />------------------<br />Time to change my tagline