merc oil change

[boatman37]

quick question...my boat is in storage so i can't go out to check but does my 1986 sea ray sundancer merc 260 have a drain plug on the oil pan and is it accessible? or do i need to buy an extractor? it will be on the trailer in my driveway when i change it. my thoughts are if there is a drain plug i will get a funnel and attach a long hose to it and fish it out through the garboard plug and drain it into a bucket.

 

[savetexomabeaches]

Well, some oil pans have a long hose on them, where they can be put through the drain hole in the transom and drained that way. Others just have a plug. Now, you can (if room allows) cut open a milk jug or 1 gallon water jug and drain the oil into that (no spill) or suck it up through the dip stick tube (after running it) Without seeing what yours has, I don't know if it has the long hose, but it does have a drain plug on the bottom.

 

[savetexomabeaches]

Side note: You could always get a heavy duty trash bag, open it up and lay it inside of a regular oil drain pan and catch the oil in the trash bag. Then when done, just close up the trash bag and carefully get it out of the boat.

 

[Scott Danforth]

your 1986 is too old to have had a remote drain hose installed from the factory. maybe the prior owner installed one, however most likely not.

the motor would have an extractor with threaded dipstick tube.

I wouldnt empty the oil into the bilge. it would take a month of sundays to get it clean again.

you can always pull the motor and add a remote drain hose.

 

[flipbro]

I take it you're Sundancer the engines bellow deak? If so I doubt you could ever get to the plug. My 20 foot wellcraft is easy to get at. I just purchased a 25 foot Tempest with a 4.3 bellow deak and there is now way I would ever get to the plug. Or filter unless I pull the exhaust manifold.

 

[Bondo]

or do i need to buy an extractor?

Ayuh,.... My guess is, Yes, you'll be needin' an oil extractor,...

 

[Lou C]

Check to see if the top of the oil dipstick has garden hose threads on it. If so using an extractor with a garden hose adaptor will go much faster than the little tube you slide down the dipstick tube....

 

[boatman37]

it does have a threaded dipstick. last time i had it changed (when i bought it) the shop did it. i know there is no drain hose attached currently and would not consider draining it directly into the bilge. just thought if it had a drain plug and my kids could get their skinny arms in there to remove it i might be able to attach a hose to a funnel and funnel it out the back of the boat.

oh well, looks like i need to buy an extractor

 

[Scott Danforth]

your kids arms are not long enough or have enough joints to get to the bottom plug. you would have to fabricate a very very shallow funnel to be able to get an arm, tools, and a funnel in the less than 3" of room