Serenity is back in the water!
I have an epic tale, that doesn’t even come close to rivaling Spiro’s, and perhaps fewer pictures. That has to wait for the moment. Serenity just got back in the water, and I was able to return her to her normal slip across the river from the yard.
I need to change the oil. I should have done it last winter when I turned her over to the yard, but I didn’t. (I ran antifreeze through the water system until the exhaust went pink, and winterized the water system, but I didn’t change the oil.)
I have attempted no less than five separate times to siphon the oil out of my engine through the dipstick tube. I’ve seen two dozen videos or articles about how to do it, but for some reason I just cannot get enough suction to pull the oil up the tube. I’m low enough in the engine (I can suck on the tube enough to see it coming up the plastic tube), but I’ve tried one of those squeezy bulb type pumps, and a rather generic drill pump from the local big box store. I ran the engine for about twenty minutes at about half throttle today prior to an attempt, but… Nothing.
Before I start experimenting with random pumps on Amazon, does anyone have any recommendations?
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River, MD
I agree, these vacuum pumps have enough suction to lift the oil at east several feet above the oil pan. I also have a drain hose fitted to the bottom of the oil pan and so can remove the last remaining half litre of oil that the vacuum pump cannot reach.
I have a pump something like Paul’s. It has certainly worked well for me too. I more than paid for it with the first oil change not being done by my local marina.
Fred Rachwitz
Concerto
Nonsuch 30 U #445
Harbor Springs, Michigan
Northern Lake Michigan
I hate that job. I’ve tried various pumps and I always make a big mess and probably don’t get it all changed. My recommendation is get someone else to do it! This year I had the Marina do it, best idea all year😀
The only messy part of changing my oil is the filter part. I have an electric pump connected to the drain hose that is attached to the sump which will drain the oil in under 1 minute. No mess at all.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Using the drain tube that’s attached to the sump pan of the Westerbeke 27A and an oil extractor pump I find removing the oil a doddle with no mess. Changing the oil filter is a wholly different game! Plastic bags., paper towels and old rags: nothing seems to prevent oil from escaping into the bilge. If only the oil filter was angled downwards - just a bit…
Bob Illingworth
Nonsuch Luck 30U #367 (GBR1262T)
Moored Brightlingsea, Essex, UK; cruising the rivers of East Anglia, and, the North Sea.
That may be something I do in future, but I don’t know enough about that engine (I’ve got a Yanmar) to try it at the moment. At least changing the oil filter was easy and relatively mess-less!
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River, MD
I had the same issue the first time I tried to change the oil on my Westebeke 27 using the dip stick tube. Then I discovered the oil pan drain tube on the front of the engine (see diagram). Pull the cap and unfasten the tube to get a better gravity assist. Don’t forget to open the fill plug as well.
George Berntsen
Wave Dancer 30U #283
Black Rock, CT
Like those with a Westerbeke 27A, I use the tube (shown in the above diagram shared by George) that extends from the bottom of the oil sump. I snake the hose (using the largest hose that will slide into the tube to minimize any air getting around the tube) from the manual vacuum oil extraction pump I bought from West Marine many years ago. Works great, especially if engine oil is warmed.
To prevent a mess in the bilge when removing the filter (even with paper towel and a bag wrapped around it) I use a kid’s crib/small bed night-time pad that absorbs liquids (don’t buy in the adult section, costs much more. Buy in the children’s diaper section. Spread it out over the floor under the engine with absorbing side up, over the stuffing box and between the engine mounts. It catches any and all drips, and then you justfold/roll it up as you remove it.
Easy.
Clean.
And you can buy a package at your local supermarket of 8 or 10 pads for about $5… instead of $5/pad for ‘marine oil absorbtion pads’ sold by any of the marine stores.
Peter Grabow
S/V CAKE WALK III
1987 30 Ultra 430
Jersey City, NJ
The MotoMaster vacuum pump that Paul, Fred, and “Island Moose” all seem to be recommending looks like a good one.
Using the tube that George pointed out makes a HUGE difference.
And yeah, on diapers too – there are economies of scale in the baby diaper industry that no boating product can match. Has something to do with there being a whole lot of them that produce a whole lotta stuff that diapers absorb almost as well as they absorb oil.
Not all of the vacuum pumps that you can buy work as well. I have a different one that cost me about the same. It works sorta well, but not nearly as well as folks seem to be saying about the MotoMaster. If you’re going to buy a vacuum pump, don’t buy just any, go with one like that which has people recommending it.
I had a boat sometime back that had Reverso pumps of the kind Joe describes. It had a hose at one end permanently connected to the oil sump, and an open-ended hose at the other. You put the open-hose in a container and set to pump out, and it emptied the old oil into the container. You put the hose in a container of fresh oil, set it to pump in the other direction, and it sucked the fresh oil out of the can and put it into the sump.
That was downright luxurious.
– Bob
Solar Wind, Nonsuch 26C #143 (for just a tiny bit longer)
Me Gusta, Nonsuch 26U #233 (for the foreseeable future)
This looks to be the West Marine version of the MotoMaster pump. https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--manual-oil-changer-6-9-quart--11047123
Not sure about a sump draining tube–that would be nice. I’ll have to hit the engine documents again. I don’t see anything in the engine documents that say how to change the oil, though they do at least talk about putting oil in.
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River, MD
Good pointer, thanks. I’m now suffering from itchy purchase finger that I may scratch by buying one myself.
Just out of curiousity, did you do anything in particular to adapt from the 1/2" hose barbs to the smaller hose size that would fit into the part #18 drain hose in the parts diagram George posted?
– Bob
Me Gusta, Nonsuch 26U #233
Solar Wind, Nonsuch 26C #143 (for about two more hours)
Having just changed the oil this afternoon on our Yanmar 3GM30 (which previous owner wrecked the Westerbeke?), I use a 3 litre suction pump with a tube down the dipstick hole. Works well. The filter is horizontal and I am loath to bury the port rail just to reduce spill but will try that baby diaper trick.
Alan& Tracy, Corvus NS30C, Toronto
I punch a hole in the bottom corner of the filter with a large nail. The nail plugs the hole well enough while I position a catch vessel below it and when removed the filter drains almost completely into the container. Then the filter can be removed with a plastic bag over my hand like picking up doggy-do. Not perfect but not too messy either.
