Changing my own oil?

A

Aquarius

New Member
Oct 11, 2007
166
South by South
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2007
Engines
350 Mags V Drives
Are the electric oil changing systems worth buying? I am looking at a device that costs around $225.00 and comes with a bucket and it says you stick a hose down where the dipstick is and it sucks the oil out.

Is this the best way or can anyone steer me in the right direction or should I just let my marina keep doing it? They charge me $600 for both engines and filter changing. I support them well throughout the year with all my gas being purchased only from them and slip rental....

Thanks-

Aquarius
 
Do you ever pull the boat out where you can get to the oil drain tubes behind the garboard plugs?

If not.....yes, purchase whatever you need to perform this simple task yourself.
 
It stays in the water year round. I guess I should have stated "does anyone have experience with these devices or is there any one brand I should avoid."
 
I don't think so... I bought a hand pump change kit for about $40 online, that uses a vacuum to pull the oil out... It was highly recommended by all... This what it looks like:
27266_M1.jpg



Aquarius said:
Are the electric oil changing systems worth buying? I am looking at a device that costs around $225.00 and comes with a bucket and it says you stick a hose down where the dipstick is and it sucks the oil out.

Is this the best way or can anyone steer me in the right direction or should I just let my marina keep doing it? They charge me $600 for both engines and filter changing. I support them well throughout the year with all my gas being purchased only from them and slip rental....

Thanks-

Aquarius
Click to expand...
 
If your gonna get one, you might as well get the best. The Jabsco Porta Quik, Paid about 150 for mine.
 
I have the Shureflow Model with DC power and love it. I use it on both boat my wifes SL 500 and my BMW 550. It makes oil changes a breeze. It really is one of the best investments I have made in a long time.
 
Newbie said:
If your gonna get one, you might as well get the best. The Jabsco Porta Quik, Paid about 150 for mine.
Click to expand...

This is the one I use as well. It's simple and quick. Although, the tubes provided did not fit in my dipstick tube. Fortunately, I have hoses already installed.

As mentined earlier, next time you are hauled out (or have an empty oil pan!), it's a good idea to have hoses added to your oil pan to make this easy task even simpler.
 
 
I use the Moeller extractor - comes with different size hoses for the various dipstick tubes. Works extremely well - warm up engine and suck out oil. Takes about 5 mins for each engine and it's easy to dump the old oil. Was about $70 if I remember correctly at WM and it has performed flawlessly. I like the look of the flat electric one - but also appreciate the simplicity of the vacuum operated one. Personal choice - it all allows you to change the oil and stop paying extremely inflated rates for the service.

033330_0779172dpi.jpg
 
I have the Shureflow Model with DC power and love it. I use it on both boat my wifes SL 500 and my BMW 550. It makes oil changes a breeze. It really is one of the best investments I have made in a long time.


Why do you use this on your cars vs. just pulling the plug. Don't you need to get under car to remove filter anyway?

Trying to learn hoe to make car oil changes easier...............
 
tcason said:
I have the Shureflow Model with DC power and love it. I use it on both boat my wifes SL 500 and my BMW 550. It makes oil changes a breeze. It really is one of the best investments I have made in a long time.


Why do you use this on your cars vs. just pulling the plug. Don't you need to get under car to remove filter anyway?

Trying to learn hoe to make car oil changes easier...............
Click to expand...

gotta get under the car to change the oil filter?:huh:
 
As long as the engine oil is good and warm, many pumps will work. It's just depends how easy you want it to be. But it is a simple job once you learn the oil filter tricks.
 
Trust me on this one bacuase I just went through this last weekend- Get the Jabsco as others have suggested.

The Shurflo model works good after you modify it. I helped my dockmate change his oil last weekend. He had bought a brand new Shurflo changer bucket. It has a nice pump but the darn hose is very small and made to go down the dipstick. You should be able to pump it all out by connecting around the top of the dipstick with a larger hose (that the Jabsco unit already comes with). If you try to do this with the Shurflo you will have to change out the hose and connector from the hose to the pump or it will take forever to pump. We got his Shurflo modified and working fine but it was kind of a pain.

I don't know why they dont just spend 50 cents extra and throw in an extra hose/connector set in the Shurflo box.


From what I understand, in older engines, the dipsitck tube did not go all the way to the bottom of the oil pan which made you have to stick the oil change hose all the way down in to the pan. With the newer engines the dipstick tube goes all the way down so you can connect to the top. Don't know when this "change" was made but just what I was told by a mechanic. Just make sure you get all the old oil out.

Others have posted specific procedures for changing oil here on CSR.

Jason
 
Last edited:
I used the Topsider that Away Point posted. Just pump it 5-6 times and 5.5-6 quarts of oil get sucked out while you wait. Mine used a quick connect fitting which was plumbed to the drain plug hole in the pan, but I expect it would work the same going through the dipstick tube.
 
Not aware of a dipstick tube going all of the way down to the bottom of the pan. They typically go down maybe an inch or so - the dipstick itself should go almost all of the way down to ensure an accurate reading of the oil. Either way - sticking the suction tube down the dipstick hole gives you a good chance of getting the old oil out. BTW - if you've seen a lot of these oil pans - the drain plugs are setup to not really drain it completely - so you probably end up getting close to the same amount using either the suction or actual drain method.
 
WOW...

I appreciate all the great advice!! I knew I could count my fellow brotheren....
Looks like I will be getting the Jabsco white one.

Aquarius
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,274
Messages
1,429,800
Members
61,147
Latest member
Boudica
Back
Top