Engine Oil Change

[JumbleDuck]

Codswallop or not the only year i did not fill my tank for winter I found i had diesel bug the following season

 

[GrahamM376]

Run the engine for a while before motoring to the hoist, the oil will be pretty warm for an hour or more after lifting out and easy to pump.

 

[bert49uk]

These days, with a nice safe marina berth in which to carry out all my pre-lift maintenance before the big day, I change my oil and filter on the water immediately beforehand. In the old days when the boat lived on an exposed mooring I always did it in the yard after haul out. Easily done, all you need is a water supply. Put a bucket in the cockpit filled with a hosepipe. Take a hose from it to the raw water pump and run the engine for ten minutes or more. Definitely do not remove thermostat and impeller. The oil will then be warm enough for a Pela, although it may still take some time to suck it all out, plus you have the bonus that the water side has been well flushed. Remove the impeller and
drain the exhaust trap to overcome any possible feezing issues.

However, the sky is not going to fall in if you don't change oil until the Spring. Not ideal but not a disaster. The condensation issue is a non-starter, half an hour under engine will vent all water vapour through the breather. But recent research into diesel tanks has shown that the old story about tanks breathing in atmospheric moisture was started by an old wife - no truth to it whatsoever. I feel certain that the same applies to crankcases.

That's the way most of us do at our yard, just a gentle reminder, DONT do as someone did, connected to bucket in cockpit, went home for dinner, came back to find water had syphened in to his engine!

 

[James_Calvert]

That's the way most of us do at our yard, just a gentle reminder, DONT do as someone did, connected to bucket in cockpit, went home for dinner, came back to find water had syphened in to his engine!

I hang a bucket over the side so the water level is about the same as the normal waterline. The tube from the bucket jams nicely into the engine water inlet in the hull. Just need to be sure it is syphoning properly to start with - a clear tube helps.

 

[lw395]

Codswallop or not the only year i did not fill my tank for winter I found i had diesel bug the following season

These days I'd be more concerned with biofuel and additives going stale.
Anyway, what's all this laying up about?
Nice day for a sail today.

 

[NormanS]

I hang a bucket over the side so the water level is about the same as the normal waterline. The tube from the bucket jams nicely into the engine water inlet in the hull. Just need to be sure it is syphoning properly to start with - a clear tube helps.

That's what I do, except that I fitted a valve and hose connection in the bottom of the bucket. Saves disconnecting hoses from pumps, and having water hose coming into the boat. I normally do the oil and filter change a couple of days before lift-out, to make sure that new clean oil is circulated round the engine. I use the bucket method to flush fresh water through the raw water system, finishing off with antifreeze to protect the parts of the exhaust that I cannot drain.