Motor oil...
 

I did a basic search and did not manage to come up with much. I've noticed on some of the other forums I frequent (thumpertalk, CBRforums) there are some pretty good discussions/opinions/ideas over motor oil, filters and intervals of changing it. Things like brands, conventional/ synthetic, wts, additives, etc.

What is everyone running in their Mariah? ( or whatever make your boat is!)

Re: Motor oil...
 

I run amsoil in both the engine and outdrive. I change it twice a year or whenever the engine oil changes color. I put on an average of 60+ hours a year tho. This year was right at 100

Re: Motor oil...
 

Royal Purple in engine , drive , power steering.

Change drive usually once a year.
Motor every 30 hrs.
P.S. every couple years .

Re: Motor oil...
 

I'm glad to hear good oils so far! Sold Amsoil for two years and still run it in the bikes.
Would like to give the Purple a go. It is sold at the local shop where as I'd have to order Amsoil now.
How about the weight of the oils?
All of my fluids are either Merc or Quicksilver as of now.

Re: Motor oil...
 

10/40 in the spring
20/50 come late june, early july

80/90 gear lube

Re: Motor oil...
 

10w-40 all the time in engine.
80/90 gear lube in drive.

Re: Motor oil...
 

I have an '09 18' F/S Mercruiser. It has 179 hours on the engine. The service department recommended changing impeller along with the oil & lube service. I'm not having any problems at all, and was thinking about only the oil and gear /lube service. What are your thoughts? Thank you.

Re: Motor oil...
 

I do impeller every other year no matter what

Ok, so I'm looking at approximately $500 for oil/gear/lube service and impeller. Does that sound about right?

Thank you.

Yep sounds about right

Does that include spark plugs and air filter or fuel filter?

I don't think so.

Re: Motor oil...
 

That is a pretty big chunk of change for oil and a filter.

Re: Motor oil...
 

you ever seen or replaced your sea pump impeller ?

Well, I've never had it serviced and it has 179 hours on it. I'm looking at oil, filters, lube, etc... Trying to determine if I should have a professional do it, or do it myself (?) I take care of my other vehicles myself

No sir, but from looking at the manual, I'm beginning to understand their prices. And, considering it's taken me 26 years to finally own my own boat-I do not want to screw it up. ;)

Re: Motor oil...
 

I'm guessing their price includes changing the motor and outdrive oil, the oil filter and possibly a fuel separator if you have one installed but the biggest part of the price will be the labor cost to R&R the lower leg of the outdrive when changing the impeller.

All any of these jobs takes is time. Do a online search/youtube search for videos showing how to change your Mercruiser outdrive impeller. IF you can use a set of socket wrenches, it's a fairly simple job that would be difficult to 'screw up' and the price you are quoting for this work is a little expensive. And use the same search for changing the outdrive oil. Again this is a straight forward job. Changing the oil in your Mercruiser engine is no different than changing the oil in a car with the exception that you should consider buying a hand powered or an electric oil vacuum (about $30) so that you can suck the oil out thru the dipstick tube into a large container. Warming the engine oil up first makes that job go easier & using an oil extractor makes much less of a mess.

Re: Motor oil...
 

Still not exactly sure how they get the motor mounted sea pump out to replace the impeller. You'd have to be either be very small (to fit along side the motor in the engine compartment), or have very long arm to reach down that far and work blindly.

Re: Motor oil...
 

My services includes:

Change engine oil and filter
Replace fuel filter
Replace spark plugs after fogging (every 2 years)
Clean K&N air filter
Replace drive fluid
Clean sea skimmer screen
Replace sea pump impeller (every 2 years)
Flush and replace power steering fluid (every 3 years)
Flush and replace power tilt pump/fluid (every 3 years)

Re: Motor oil...
 

I was thinking myboat meant just oils and filters. Didnt notice the part about the impeller.

Re: Motor oil...
 

Obviously i missed something here. A motor mounted sea pump? I was assuming he was talking about an outdrive impeller.

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.

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.

Re: Motor oil...
 

That little addition would make things even easier.... :wink_thumbup:

Will do. Thanks again.

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

Re: Motor oil...
 

I agree with Oregon specifically about the load and water factors. The bearing pressures within a marine engine are much higher than an automobile that gets up to speed and cruises most of the time. That's why a well taken care of automobile engine will most likely last 300,000 miles while a boat motor is toast after 1,000 hrs. Even if you avg 60MPH that is the equivalent of only 60,000 miles.

Re: Motor oil...
 

Oregondunes could not have said it any better! Frequent oil changes due to two extremes- periods of no use AND periods of extreme load/use.

Oil does a few things: Lubricating and cooling via reducing friction AND inhibiting corrosion while the motor is not running (storage). Metals are susceptible to rust/corrosion being stuck in the damp engine compartments!

On the 7.4MPI I went with the big boy oil filter M302. It is a few inches longer than the standard SBC/BBC filter. Does it really matter? Getting more filter surface area for the same price is a no-brainer if you ask me!

My SC21 has one of these and I thought they would be standard on all boats... Well they are not, now I will be putting one on the Shabah.

Oil Drain Kits | Marine Engines | Basic Power

Re: Motor oil...
 

And it gives us an excuse to get out of the house and go play with our toys :yes_grin:

For me it's peace of mind

And if something breaks it's not from the lack of maintenance

Re: Motor oil...
 

Well I appreciate the responses guys but I'm still not convinced. There just isn't enough science behind "peace of mind" or a "reason to play with the toys" LOL. And Oregondunes response makes plenty of sense up to a point but the fact is the boat simply does not spend the bulk of it's time at "100% load". I'm curious how you define what "100% load is? Nobody in a leisure boat setting anyways spends 100% of the time at wide open throttle while meeting or exceeding their weight limits all the while pulling a skier or tube. I can respect why you guys maintain the way you do I just dont see the reason for it so routinely thats all.

Either way though I'll be pulling mine out of storage this weekend and getting her ready for spring and I'll check everything then make the determination what needs to be changed and what doesn't.

Re: Motor oil...
 

A boat is a boat and a car is a car.
Comparing the two is like comparing snow to a volcano. LOL
I figure it this way.........."you can't jump out and push the boat".
I follow with "preventive maintenence" about the same as everyone else.
I'll be damn if I'm fixing my boat at the lake just cause I didn't maintain it.... on my vaca! My brother in law is notorious for breaking while on the lake. He doesn't fix anything til it breaks.
I haven't broke down in 15yrs. Knock on wood!!
As usual........just my opinion! :)

Re: Motor oil...
 

In a boat, if the prop is spinning the motor is under full load regardless of engine RPM. there is no coasting. of course the faster you are moving the more friction there is against it all causing a greater amount thrust necessary to move it and a greater amount of energy demanded.

in a car you can use gravity on downhill slopes. a boat never gets that opportunity, unless your going with a fast moving current or over a water fall.

Re: Motor oil...
 

Again, what oregon says! The marine motor knows no rest. Imagine always towing something in your car/truck. That is mocking the load he is referring to, minus the fact you can coast in a car.
So how I see it... You can do what you want to do and I can do what I want to do. Either way I will sleep good at night knowing my investment is well cared for. Regardless if it matters or not.
In reference to the recommended maintenance stuff, I work my bikes over like it is no ones business. Fresh oils, bearings, seals, blah blah blah. It is costly. But and the end of the day it is still like new and it is a 2005 model and it is my well used race bike. Still hauls balls and still draws attention like it was the model year new bike.

My good buddy has an older boat that they did a bunch of motor work to. Like valves, head work, port polish, balance, blueprint, etc. He said the motor oil in that boat gets changed once every 5 years if it happens at all. Still runs like a boss! Although it goes out half a dozen times a summer and is stored in a climate controlled garage.