Too much oil

SRMark

Member
May 3, 2013
151
michigan
Boat Info
2004 Sea Ray 420 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins 6cta diesel
I have a 2004 420 Sundancer with 6CTA s. I changed my oil using the reverse pump on Saturday and from the starboard engine I pumped out 6 and 1/2 gallons of oil. It was black in color and there was no sign of water, it was not brown or milky colored. I am scheduled to put it away for the winter this weekend which is an 30-45 minute ride on the water from my marina. I am trying to get a mechanic to look at it before I run the engine. The last time I ran the boat, the previous weekend I went on a two hour ride on Friday and two hours back on Sunday with no issues, good power, good oil pressue, no smoke. Could diesel fuel be getting in the crankcase oil?
 
Definitely get it checked. Antifreeze/coolant in the oil can be in the oil and still look black. Not saying that's it - but that's easy enough to check based on coolant level and oil analysis.
 
That's exactly twice as much as should have come out. How's the level in the other engine?--reverso malfunction maybe?? 13 quarts of coolant would have come out as soon as you turned on the pump, oil floats on water, if it was coolant. 50/50 fuel would be almost as thin as fuel and smell like fuel. How thick was the oil you poured out of the filter when you changed it?
 
That's exactly twice as much as should have come out. How's the level in the other engine?--reverso malfunction maybe?? 13 quarts of coolant would have come out as soon as you turned on the pump, oil floats on water, if it was coolant. 50/50 fuel would be almost as thin as fuel and smell like fuel. How thick was the oil you poured out of the filter when you changed it?
Each motor holds 5 gallons. I am wondering if the port engine valve on the reverso pump manifold was not completely closed and maybe it was pulling some oil from the port engine. Oil I poured out of the filters seemed normal, thick and black however there was only about a quart in the starboard engine filter and the port filter was still full when I pulled it off. I assumed that was because the filter on the port engine has a remote mount to move it to the inboard side of the motor for easier access. I will have to check the bucket from the port engine when I get home to see how much came out of the port engine.
 
The oil pan capacity of a Cummins 6CTA 8.3 is 14 qts low mark, 18 qts high mark. That means that is what should come out of your reverso when you empty the oil pan with it. The filter holds between 2 and 3 qts, plus a tad in the remote hoses that does not come out with the reverso. Good luck, let us know what you find out.
 
I have the same boat and motors as you. I used https://www.blackstone-labs.com/ for oil analyses last year, my first year of ownership. Their test kits are free. I paid $84 for 3 samples: Port Engine, Starboard Engine, Generator. Best way to ship samples is in the box from the USPS that costs $5.95....(if it fits, it ships commercial). Package them up nicely. When asked about anything liquid or hazardous, just smile and say no. Blackstone has a letter on their website if you need it to show that it is not bad to send samples through the mail.

Jaybeaux
 
I checked the two 5 gallon pails I pump the old oil into and the pail from the port engine only has about 2 1/2 to 3 gallons in it. I went to the boat and checked the generator, it was full of oil and I checked the engine coolant and it was full. I ran both motors and they both had good oil pressure, 50-60 psi, and came up to temperature. At this point I think the ball valve on the reverso pump for the port motor must have been partially open when I was pumping out the starboard engine and that caused the 6 1/2 gallons coming out of the starboard engine and only 2 1/2 to 3 from the port. I plan to take samples of the oil from the two pails and take the boat to the marina that stores it for the winter. I plan to take samples of the oil from each engine when I get there and send those out as well just to be sure everything is okay.
 
If you run your engines with the oil to the high fill mark, it sounds like you got it figured out. Good news.
 
Both engines were at the high fill mark with clean oil. After I let them run for a while to get them up to temperature I let them sit for a while and checked the oil level again and it was slightly below full and still looked clean. I will be watching the gauges closer than usual on the way to the storage marina. I will post the lab results from the oil samples.
 
It's generally recommended to run just above the low fill mark - as long as you verify the mark is correct - i.e. with an empty pan fill it with 14 qts (per above) and check the dipstick mark.
 
I have never heard that. Why is it preferred to be just above the low mark?
 
Oil analysis evaluates in parts per million on quite a few metals, particulates and chemistry. To take your sample from the bucket that you pumped it into will not give good results. It would be a waste of money to sample the oil after you pumped it out of the engine. The oil pump system, the buckets, hoses, exposure to the atm. all will skew the analysis; it will be essentially useless except to show that possibly a big problem exists (like off the charts high in aluminum). The oil must be extracted from the engine's crankcase using a new clean extraction tube and sample jar from the dip stick tube and with the oil warm and mixed by the engine running. The intent of oil and coolant analysis is to first set your engine's baseline and basic health then trend the results with sampling before every oil change so predictive actions can be taken to prevent costly failures.
 
I have switched to this method. An additional plus I've noticed is in cold morning startups....my engines will turn over easier during the initial second or two of hitting the start button. It was immediately and easily noticeable.
I am going to use this method going forward. I do notice on a cold start they turn over slowly at first.
 
Oil analysis evaluates in parts per million on quite a few metals, particulates and chemistry. To take your sample from the bucket that you pumped it into will not give good results. It would be a waste of money to sample the oil after you pumped it out of the engine. The oil pump system, the buckets, hoses, exposure to the atm. all will skew the analysis; it will be essentially useless except to show that possibly a big problem exists (like off the charts high in aluminum). The oil must be extracted from the engine's crankcase using a new clean extraction tube and sample jar from the dip stick tube and with the oil warm and mixed by the engine running. The intent of oil and coolant analysis is to first set your engine's baseline and basic health then trend the results with sampling before every oil change so predictive actions can be taken to prevent costly failures.
I will have to follow this procedure at my next oil change and establish a baseline.
 
Mark,

As I said earlier, I use CAT's SOS at $13 a sample. Blackstone is slightly higher. Either of them can sell you a special pump for $35 to use to take your samples from the dipstick tube.
 

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