oil change

lukecono

Seaman
Joined
May 23, 2023
Messages
57
Hello, does anyone have a recommendation on the pump they used to extract oil from their MerCruiser engine. Mines a 5.7 but not trying to spend the $80 on the pump from west marine. Has to be a better alternative that someone's come up with.
 

JASinIL2006

Vice Admiral
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
5,674
After having trouble a Moeller extractor that repeatedly fell apart, I ended up buying a small $25 wet/dry vacuum from Walmart. I duct-taped a section of garden hose to the end of the vac hose. The garden hose screws onto the dipstick and I can drain the engine faster than I could with the Moeller extractor. The wet/dry vac only gets used for boat oil changes, and it has been going strong for about 6 years now. I have to re-tape the junction between the vac hose and the garden hose every couple of years, but otherwise the contraption functions flawlessly.
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
12,686
this is the Topsider vacuum pump, all metal construction, very durable, I fabbed up a garden hose adapter you can see in the pic, to make it easy, threads onto the top of the dipstick tube.
 

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lukecono

Seaman
Joined
May 23, 2023
Messages
57
this is the Topsider vacuum pump, all metal construction, very durable, I fabbed up a garden hose adapter you can see in the pic, to make it easy, threads onto the top of the dipstick tube.
Something like that seems like the best option, shop vac tubes break all the time and crack prolly still viable to use but that's a nice setup. Those metal canisters still a little pricy though?
 

JimS123

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
8,165
You know, boating is not a hobby to save money. I bought several pumps over the years and finally got one that works well. Been using it for 25 years now.

Moeller makes the best pump, imho. It will last you forever. West Marine has the same unit, private labeled, on sale now for $65. That's a real bargain. If that's too expensive for you, then anything else you buy will probably not work well, or have to be replaced in few years.
 

lukecono

Seaman
Joined
May 23, 2023
Messages
57
You know, boating is not a hobby to save money. I bought several pumps over the years and finally got one that works well. Been using it for 25 years now.

Moeller makes the best pump, imho. It will last you forever. West Marine has the same unit, private labeled, on sale now for $65. That's a real bargain. If that's too expensive for you, then anything else you buy will probably not work well, or have to be replaced in few years.
I appreciate your opinion for this job, thank you.
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
12,686
The Topsider pictured above is $62 on Amazon. I’ve had it 20 years used it on the boat, diffs & auto trans on our Jeeps. All I did was change the plastic hoses when they get old & stiff (once) the all metal construction seems very stout.
 
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