Changing Engine Oil

[alec]

When changing engine oil, I have always filled the new filter with oil manually – and very messily . Particularly when you screw it in.

Do we still need to do this ?

Many Thanks


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[sailorman]

i think its certainly benificial but it must depend on the angle of the filter

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[david_bagshaw]

personally I put the filter on emptty & spin the engine over on the starter motor , stop control pulled @ 30 sec per time until there is oil pressure showing.




<hr width=100% size=1>David
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.euroboating.net>http://www.euroboating.net</A>

 

[ruff_n_tumble]

I have never done this, with no apparent ill effects so far. I just run the engine for about a minute and then check the oil level again, topping up to account for the oil that's filled up the filter.

<hr width=100% size=1>Steve Marsh
Hunter 27 OOD "Ruff-n-Tumble"
Gosport

 

[pvb]

If you've run the engine up to warm before changing the oil, there'll be a good coating of oil everywhere and the second or two it takes for fresh oil to reach the bearings won't represent a risk. Do you think your garage fills the filter first when they service your car? I bet your car's OK. Why bother messing about with the boat engine?

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[Miker]

Glad to hear it. This post made me wonder whether I should have filled the oil filter first, which I have never done.

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[LORDNELSON]

Never have done and so far no ill effects!

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[brianhumber]

I do it but then I do not run the engine before I change the filter. This is because I do not change the oil until the hours run has clocked up to the correct amount of hours and i want to drain the oil with as much suspended solids in it as possible. Interestingly a couple of monitoring tests showed the oil even then had hardly lost any base conditioner ( additive to combat acidic products of combustion from the fuel) and showed no signs of fuel or water contamination as compared with new oil, suspended solids were getting high as could be expected.
Still amuses me when people write convinced engine oil will be acidic after one summers or say 50 hours use and you must change it before the winter. My 16 year old engine has the equilvent of over 200,000 miles road use and its oil pressure when hot is still the same as a new enigne. Inspection of the camshaft lobes a few years ago showed no signs of wear/pitting.
This oil monitoring routine is adopted from my day job where I am responsible for over 20mW of 4 stoke diesel engines. Why spend money and waste resources when you do not have too?. Sadly too many people writing articles/books in magazines about subjects they know bugger all about.

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[nealeb]

Can you say why you drain the oil cold (I think that this is what you are saying)? In my naivety I would have assumed that stirring up the oil first would have ensured that the muck was better suspended in it, rather than sinking to the bottom layer of oil which may not drain out very freely if cold (and I always end up changing my oil at a cold time of year!).

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[Avocet]

Never filled my car filter when changing the oil and it's still Ok at 215,000 miles so far!

As far as changing the oil cold is concerned, I'm curious. I'd have thought you'd get more of the old stuff out if it was warm (assuming it's been left to stand 10 mins or so after shutting down so as to let it all drain back into the sump).

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[brianhumber]

Heavy solids will tend to gravitate to the bottom and the idea is not to stir up by circulating around. As you have pointed out the downside is the oil is a little thicker and takes longer to drain out. I use a pump and have a maunal drain point to get the last cupful out. Bear in mind mind I wait until the oil needs changing so I take care to get as much as possible.
With modern multigrades this has become easier but you can imagine in the past it was a right pain if you were draining thicker oils designed for the tropics and you had come up to more temperate climates.
If you are changing oil at the frequencies most people do it will not matter much if you run the engine first, it saves time, but it does mean your pocket loses a tenner sooner than it needs too.

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