Changing oil while on a cruise.

[Casey]

I'm sure we all understand that regularity in oil changes is vital for continued good service on virtually any motor.

That said, my question has to do with changing only the oil, versus changing the oil AND filter every time. When doing oil changes at home I always change the filter each time. With the boat is on the trailer, it's pretty easy. When cruising (the boat is NOT on the trailer) oil changes become more problematic.

Changing the oil by itelf isn't that difficult (use a small hand-suction pump in the dipstick tube). Changing the filter is more difficult ... it seems like there is ALWAYS a tiny bit of 'escape oil that dribbles down, and you end up leaving a nasty (if thin) oil sheen on the water.

My question is: (While cruising) is it a waste of time to change only the engine oil, but use the same filter until 'next time? Logic tells me that if we can remove most of the seven quarts of engine oil, the small amount remaining in the engine and (old) oil filter isn't going to be a significant problem. Then again ... could particulates/chemicals trapped in the oil filter get flushed into the new oil and contaminate it?

Thoughts?

Best,
Casey&Mary

[Sunbeam]

Good question, and I will be reading with interest.

Technically, I don't know the answer, but what I have done in the past (on vehicles, not boats so far) is err on the side of "not messing with more than I have to" while away from home base. I DO make sure to start with a fresh oil change and high quality filter, and it's not like I would go 300 hours or anything like that; but on the other hand, if I can get back to home base without having to have someone else (whom I don't know) mess with things, I generally do that (within reason). So from that angle, I'd be likely to change the oil (myself) and leave the filter till I was back at home (to do it myself) or at a trusted mechanic (for them to do it).

But like I say, that's just me going on my judgement, and not technical expertise, so I'm interested to hear what others have to say.

On a related note: I wonder about putting synthetic oil in my Yamaha 80. I have switched over to Mobil 1 on my van, and one huge "side benefit" is that I feel comfortable "stretching" it a little bit between oil changes if I'm on the road and another thousand miles means I can get back to a service place (or driveway!) I know. I wouldn't feel as comfortable doing that with non-synthetic oil. (I'm talking 5-6,000 miles vs. the ol' 3,000 miles I used to do with regular oil.)

[Aurelia]

Changing the filter may not be much of problem depending on position. If you pump out the oil while warm with an extractor and push a rag under the filter to catch the oil when unscrewed, you may not have anything outside the rag. On our Honda 90s this was the way I did it and never lost a drop to the water. I would not worry personally too much about double using the filter but it really is an easy thing to swap in most cases.

I see carrying the supplies and then disposing of the old oil and filter being a bigger "issue" on an extended cruise. In remote areas you have little choice but if I were travelling through towns of any size, I would find a local outboard shop that could send someone down to the dock and do the service for you and take away the mess. I did a service that way once and the upcharge of travel time (one hour total) was worth the convenience for us.

Greg

[rogerbum]

[Sunbeam]

Not on the water, but I did end up driving around with the used oil and filter from my van once after changing it in a state that didn't make it easy to dispose of the old stuff. I finally managed to get it dropped off in the next state, but for a while I felt like an oil barge

[nimrod]

On my Yamaha 115 it is nearly impossible to change the filter without making a huge mess, unless you do two things. Do it with the oil cold, i.e. with most of the oil drained out, and use a phillips screwdriver (or similar sharp instrument) to make a hole in the lower outside edge of the filter. Then you can just hold a cup under the filter and whatever oil is in it will drain out.

Personally, I would never change the oil without also changing the filter.

jd

[localboy]

Holy double post, batman....

[localboy]

You guys are all over-thinking this. Changing both on the water is really simple. Just let it all drain into the water and drop the filer in too. It'll sink and no one will see it. Duh.....





























I'm kidding....it's a PIA to change them w/out spilling something and that's in the driveway. I use cardboard, paper towels & cat liter.

[thataway]

there are several ways to look at this. Generally we change once a year, or every 100 hours. 100 hours at 20 knots is 2000 miles. We changed oil when we crossed oceans, as we carried 5 gallon cans of oil, and 5 gallon cans to to put the used oil in. But we also ran the engine at 30% of rated hp. Based on this, we would extend the time between oil changes. Oil breaks down by heat, and ccontamination- probably more contamination in the diesel than gas engines.

Where I am going with this, is that if you are running at displacement speeds, you can extend the time between oil changes to some extent. If I am going on a month's cruise--I will change the oil and filter before I leave. It is rare that I would go more than 2000 miles in that month. Reasonably one could extend the oil life based as much on fuel run thru the engine, as by actual hours on the tachometer. Taking that to the next level--and to answer Casey's question--it would be very acceptable to change the oil, and not change the filter until you get home.

If you are doing the Great Loop, then you would have to find dealers to help out, or borrow a trailer to pull the boat out of the water, to do the oil changes.

A few years ago I was talking to the skipper of one of the ferry boats on the Calif. Delta. They ran those 6 71's 24/7 for 2 years at a low constant RPM, and then major them. Claimed they never had a failure. Oil: used one of the ultra filtration systems, and added a small amount of fresh oil and took off some on regular intervals. With synthetic oils one can markedly extend the change levels on 4 stroke engines.

[Casey]

Excellent responses ... Thanks.

Dr. Bob. You mentioned ultra fine oil filters. Years ago I used an oil filter that used a roll of toilet paper (New toilet paper ... better stipulate that) as its filter element. I vaguely remember that it was call a "Frantz" "GulfStates" filter, or something like that. It seemed amazing. I would change the TP a couple times a year and didn't change the oil at all, just added a quart to replace the oil held in the TP filter. The oil appeared new/clear all the time. I even did a couple of oil analyses, and the report(s) always came back 'clean.

I haven't used the TP filters in Years, but it was interesting at the time. As I recall, that was in the days of DINO oil, before we largely moved over to synthetics.

Best,
Casey&Mary

[Levitation]

Filters are vastly improved over what we had 20 years ago.
To directly answer your question:
Yes, change the oil on time. You can leave the filter on until it is convenient to get at. No harm done. Don't worry, be happy.

I have road driven equipment where we change the filter at every other oil change.

My airplane engines are done the same. Change the oil every 50 hours and the filter every 100 hours. We cut those filters open and inspect them carefully. They are sparkling clean other than a a fleck or two of gasket varnish, and such. It is clear to me they could go on for several more oil changes - but with a $50K engine I don't push the envelope quite as much.

Now, my tractors/combines operate in a continuous cloud of dust and dirt and chaff. The filters get changed with the oil on a 100 hour interval even though the book calls for 200 hours.

[Will-C]

We change oil in our cars once a year and run Mobil One synthetic that's probably 15 k on an oil change. 100k on a Honda CRV and my Civic no harm done. They still don't use much if any oil between changes. My diesel truck I do at 10k intervals as recommended along with a fuel filter. I think if you run short trips you might change your oil more often. Just like cars around town every 3k. Highway use 5 to 7k.The boat we change once a year and use Yamalube as recommended. You might consider keeping some of your old oil after your next oil change and send it in for an oil analysis. If it was me I would start out a trip with a fresh oil change and not worry a lot about it till the trip was over. If I was running an extended trip on the water of a year or more I would probably be running synthetic. Clean oil is a good thing but the way an engine is run along with making sure valves are adjusted if you don't have hydraulic lifters, making sure you have functioning thermostats (proper engine temperature and running some form of Ring Free to reduce carbon buildup behind the valves and above the top ring on the pistons are also factors that contribute to longer engine life. Just my opinion.
D.D.

[thataway]

Gulf Coast Oil Filters has been around for over 20 years and have a number of documented cases of 500,000 and a million miles on trucks with no oil changes, just filter changes and top off the oil. I know several folks who have used them in their trawlers with ocean crossings. Unfortunately they don't make outboard filters.

Our RV Diesel (8.3 L Cummins) has almost 6 gallons of oil in the pan and filters, plus external filters--interval is 15,000 mlles or yearly. Again, outboards do not have these large sumps, large filters and run at different conditions than these type of Diesel engines.