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Re: Motor oil...
Obviously i missed something here. A motor mounted sea pump? I was assuming he was talking about an outdrive impeller.
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Ok Oregondunes, you bring up another good point. I've read the maintenance schedules, but I'm not sure I use the boat enough to do a 2-year schedule. I am watching the hours though. Like on my vehicles, I watch the mileage and not just change things every three months. Is this the same for my boat (watching the hours I mean)?
And, I can't thank u guys enough for your patience with me and this issue. |
Re: Motor oil...
youve got a V8 right ? Take a look at the lower left corner of the front your motor. there you will see your drive belt wrapped around a pulley. that pulley is connected to the sea pump that feeds your motor.
Here is a pic of a motor and there you can see what Im talking about. http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1fdc2a8a.jpg |
Re: Motor oil...
"MyOwnBoat's" boat details show up as an 18ft FS with the 135hp which is the 3.0. Either i'm confused or you two are talking about 2 different engines...
For a 3.0 with an Alpha one outdrive there is no need to change the outdrive impeller any more than every 3-4 yrs unless you put a lot of hours on the boat each year. And my earlier comments about the work required will stand true. If you have the V8 (in an 18ft Mariah???) that Oregondunes is talking about then its a completely different story. |
Right, it's the smaller engine. I'm averaging approximately 89 hours a year. Bought it in 11/09 new. You guys have been a great help. I think I'm going to have the professionals change out the lower unit's gear oil and impeller, and I'll do the engine's oil myself.
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Re: Motor oil...
Engine oil should not be bad at all. Before you try sucking oil out of dip stick do yourself a favor: look and feel under the engine, specifically the oil pan for a hose. One end of hose goes to the oil pan. The other is plugged with a bolt. The hose fits though the drain hole on the back of the boat. You can drain the oil through this hose straight into a pan.
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Re: Motor oil...
Quote:
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Will do. Thanks again.
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Re: Motor oil...
Just curious but why such frequent fluid changes in boats? Oil for example, with todays synthetics you can go 5-10K plus miles in an automobile. But on here there are guys changing their oil every 30 hours or so. Doesn't make sense to me. Lets say your top speed is 45mph and chances are you wont put 30 hours on your boat topped out but if you did. Thats only 1350 miles. Thats nothing for a synthetic oil. I unfortunately didn't get to put more then about 10 hours on my boat last year so am I really do for an oil change???
Why a fuel filter change every year? I run good gas with Stabil in mine every tank. Why a spark plug change every couple of years? Most automobiles dont recommend a plug change till you reach 100K miles. Outdrive fluid would be comparable to trans fluid in an automobile correct. The majority of automobile owners go the entire life of their vehicles with out ever changing that and a majority of times never see trouble out of their transmissions. I know where talking about boats and not cars or trucks here and they operate in two completely different environments but still I would think for a boat that spends most of it's life out of the water and not sitting in some slip all the time doesn't need the fluid or parts change intervals that I'm reading on here. Seems excessive to me. Just looking for some guidance not a debate or anything. thanks |
Re: Motor oil...
I think the reasons are this:
Our boats are ran infrequently (weekends and extended periods in between). They are sometimes left at the marina in the water and the engines attract moisture inside. Some dont use an air filter, but rather a spark arrestor screen. This makes it easier for dirt and such to enter the engine while being stored then started up. probably the most important reason is while being ran, they are under 100% load. If you drove you car or truck at full load all time for 30-40 hours it would look pretty bad too. Fuel filters will stop your day quickly. Our boats again are left outside and near water. Our fuel tanks arent as "filtered or screened" as your car tank that is sealed and under vacuum pressure. I change mine twice a year and cut it open every time and Im amazed at how much stuff there is in it. I change my plugs cause I fog my cylinders. Once I didnt and they fouled the next season. Outdrive fluid..its sitting in water and subject to some pretty extreme heat due to the load. half is in the water and half is out. No seal is perfect and water is going to get in there. Not to mention you outdrive holds like a quart, you truck tranny holds a gallon. your trucks auto trans also has a cooler and is kept pretty stable temp. Although I would agree that a boat that is kept in the garage or shop (trailer queen) probably needs less changes, unless your like me and put 100 hours a year on it. Load you truck up and hit a hill so your at full throttle nonstop for 45-60 minutes under full load. then do that again for another 4-5 times each day every other weekend all summer. just my $.02 worth |
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