oil change schedule

[jdoe71]

Originally Posted by Nauticatarcher

Just found a manual online for our 72C velvet drive, reccomends oil changes every 1000 hrs or annually as our boat is used on a regular basis and oil shows no sign of degradation, eg burnt smell, small particulate contamination from clutch plate wear or water ingress i dont see any reason why 1000hrs should not be used

I don't either if the oil looks good, it must be a much stouter unit than our little tiny Hurth. Our maintenance book says annually or 300 hours. I change the ATF in the fall when winterizing it, I have the pump there for the engine and with everything warmed up it only takes a second to suck the oil out of the trans and put new in. Also forgot to mention I am using Redline synthetic ATF in the trans now and it seems to run cooler, $10 a litre and I get two changes out of a litre, pretty cheap.

[mestrezat]

Since I started this thread, how important is it to filter the diesel coming into the boat when i buy it from a marina in the US? The one I'm in now does a lot of work with the fishing fleet so they have a rapid turn around on fuel. I can understand the filtering in less "civilized" areas but wouldn't fuel bought in the US be OK? If what we get is filtered (Baja Filter) as it comes into the boat, would that make it less necessary to change the diesel filters on the engine?

[jdoe71]

Originally Posted by mestrezat

Since I started this thread, how important is it to filter the diesel coming into the boat when i buy it from a marina in the US? The one I'm in now does a lot of work with the fishing fleet so they have a rapid turn around on fuel. I can understand the filtering in less "civilized" areas but wouldn't fuel bought in the US be OK? If what we get is filtered (Baja Filter) as it comes into the boat, would that make it less necessary to change the diesel filters on the engine?

I got a Mr. Funnel filter which is the same as the West Marine one. I don't intend to cut back on the diesel filter change schedule. I look at using the funnel as cutting the probability of having a fuel issue down.

A few years back we had an issue with our tractor, filters were full of water and literally froze to bursting in winter. When our fuel supplier dipped our tank with water detecting paste on a stick they found about 10% water in a 200 gallon fuel tank. Our supplier is very high volume, supplies lots of farms and several transport companies, but they got a railcar of fuel that had a lid open on it and wasn't noticed. I tell this story just because weird stuff can happen even to the best of suppliers. The funnel is just supplemental insurance in my view.

[mestrezat]

Should I pull the drain plug to get the oil out or is it just as good to use one of those pumps that suck out the oil and then refill?

[never monday]

If your using a high turn over fuel dock you should be ok. Make sure they change their filters regularly.

Changing oil.
It's not advised to dump the oil in the sump. This can lead to pollution and discharge from your boat. Many new engines don't even come with a drian plug
Get a pump or vacuum bucket and suck out the oil.

[seafox]

If you can get to the sump plug it is best (as long as you can get a container under it). Those pumps never get it all.