Oil Change Question

[aerolland]

Coming from a 305 I/O that required pumping oil out the dipstick tube so forgive the ignorance...

Went to change the oil in my 2000 Outback LS tonight and before even looking, I grabbed the oil sucker. I pumped out into a clear 1/2 gallon container which of course wasn't big enough. It filled it once and I drained it, came back to pump more and only about another quart came out until it was sucking air. I checked the oil before I began and it was in the safe zone on the stick. I also ran it on the fake-a-lake to warm the oil up. I decided I would try to take the plug out of the pan and put a thin catch pan under it and that's when I realized it has a remote drain line! I was wondering what that hose was end of last year when I bought the boat, never traced it backwards. :neutral: Question is, after taking the cap off the end of the remote line and sticking it through the bilge drain to an awaiting pan, is there a valve on the elbow near the oil pan that needs to be opened before anything will flow? It has a 1/4" allen head setscrew in it but it's TIGHT - read, zero movement. I was expecting about 2 more quarts out of the motor and when I was routing the remote hose through the bilge, no oil was attempting to come out. Any thoughts?

[kaneboats]

Sure. Start dumping oil in the valve cover and see if anything comes out. Far as I recall there is just a plug in the end of the hose; that's all. Also, is the boat level? Er, not the boat, but the engine. It's supposed to sit level when the boat is floating so that doesn't mean the engine is level when the trailer is level. Check on it and let us know what you find out.

[maxpower220]

It's just the plug on the end of the hose. Pretty simple. When stowed, that cap should have a clip on it that can be placed higher than the oil level.

Mine came clipped onto the back of the motor at the valve cover level.

[NCSUmoomba]

How long did you run the boat to get the oil warm? It needs to be run for quite a while to get warmed up. Also, It seems that if the hose on the fake-a-lake is turned on too much, it will take longer to warm up.

[aerolland]

I ran it about 10-12 minutes. The oil being pumped out using the 'sucky' pump (appropriate nickname for it now since it drooled oil on my carpet as it was leaving the boat) was free flowing and warm, but not hot.

I have the waterline level, however, this will never make the engine level. I could lower the tongue to get the engine closer to level but by the looks of the oil pan, the drain is in the lowest point even with the motor tilt. I'll have to pour some oil back in it and see if it comes out the hose tonight. I was just concerned that I didn't get 4-5 quarts out. When I do put oil back in I will be measuring closely. Worst case is I refill tonight and run this weekend and do another oil change next week. Oil is cheaper than metal!

Oh and for what it's worth, I got the oil out of the carpet and the sucky pump is in the trash now. RIP

[kaneboats]

Well, I used the drain line once and went over to the sucky pump and haven't gone back. On the Outback it came out of that line so slowly I went through a twelver waiting for it to finish. I can pump out through the dipstick in 5 min. so I still use it on the LSV which is much harder to drain.

[NCSUmoomba]

Just the boat being level is okay. The engine does not sit level when in the water. Maybe it was just low on oil? I am guilty of never checking the level before I drain mine, maybe I should.

[aerolland]

OK time for an update. I had left the oil drain hose through the bottom of the boat all night and during the day Friday, not sure if it drained more or not. Got home Friday night from work and blew air into the drain hose and heard it breathe into the pan. Capped it off and began working on the oil filter... all I can say is wow to the last owner. Mr Muscles did a great job of keeping that filter on there for sure. Finally got it off and replaced, went with a Bosch D3510, filling it first of course. Put 5 quarts back in so I guess I got 5 quarts out in total, who knows.

Replaced the fuel/water separator filter while I was in there, I doubt it had ever been replaced based on the exterior condition. Had a bit of rust on the interior metal part of the filter, guess water has been there. That filter was put on by Superman as well, wound up crushing it during the process.

Lastly, replaced the raw water impeller for good measure. I had reports when I bought the boat last August that it just came out of service and they replaced plugs, wires, impeller, etc. Well, the plug wires were never changed and I'm assuming they didn't change the plugs either. Impeller looked good but I didnt want to take any chances. Now I have a spare in the glove box.




Too long, didn't read? - - > oil changed successfully and had a great Saturday on the water with the family!



Thanks for the help and QUICK replies. This forum is great and you guys are great. I've been a reader since last August and finally getting my feet wet sharing with you guys!