Pumps for changing oil

[Will-C]

Hi,
I wondered about dip stick style suction pumps manual or electric for removing oil up thru the dip stick tube rather than using the conventional drain plug routine. Was there any type or brand that seemed better than others? I wondered if people just used them for changing oil in four stroke outboards or did they also use them for changing oil in their cars and trucks also?
D.D.

[Sea Wolf]

D.D.-

I use manual pumps to change the oil in my Sea Ray's twin V-6 inboards only because I have to, since I can't get access to under the engines.

It's a royal pain, but partially because of the engines location down in the bilge.

Electric assist on the pumps would be easier.

But I can't see how there would be any advantage to just pulling the plug on outboards.

The oil filters are the real messy part of the job, mostly, on either outboards or inboards, and especially the latter.

Personally I prefer to be sure that ALL the old oil is removed, and I don't think you get that assurance with dipstick removal systems.

If you had to change oil on outboards while the boat was still in the water, the dipstick suction route would be advantageous., of course.

At least that's the view from here, for now, anyway.

Hope this helps answer your question. I don't have any experience using that type of system on cars or trucks.

Joe.

[Will-C]

Joe,
Strangely enough my Yamaha owners manual recommends sucking it out. I do drop the oil using the drain plug normally but because of where it is located it's hard to get a drain pan anywhere near it unless I hand hold it for the real heavy stream about 4 1/2 quarts. Then I just put the drain pan under the lower unit and let the drips run down the outside of the motor. This makes sort of a mess which is easily cleaned up using a few shop rags. The oil filter which sits with it's bottom sticking up must drain back into the sump because when I remove that I don't have any oil to speak of to clean up from that. I just wipe the sealing area clean; coat the oil ring with some oil and spin on the new filter. I agree getting all the dirty oil out has to be better. I can't imagine there is to much left if you can get to the bottom of the crankcase. I guess the oil filter catches the left over bad guys. Since I only change it once a year it's not really the end of the world. I was just wondering about how many folks sucked out the old oil versus actually draining the oil. Thanks for your reply. Happy Holidays!
D.D.

[jhwilson]

Dave,

I've been using a manual pump out for everything autos, lawn equipment, ATVs and outboards for years. It is a pump I got from Griots Garage. I have used this probably 7 - 8 years and the thing works as good as when new.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+maintenance/oil+changes/multi+fluid+extractor.do

On my Honda 90 it takes all of five minutes to extract the oil and absolutely no mess. You simply pump the tire pump type plunger a few times creating a vacum in the pump holding tank and out comes the oil. Very little pumping is needed to keep it coming.

Harper

[Will-C]

Harper,
Hi and thank you for your response. That site has a lot of interesting stuff. I can see less oily rags already. Say hi to Pat for Ginnny and I.
D.D.

[c-ness]

I can see that something like this is going to be on my Christmas wish list. Looks like a handy little device.

[Sea Wolf]

D.D.-

Should have pointed out that I don't change the oil on my Yamaha 90, myself, since it's done at 100 hour intervals with the regular engine service.

A good electric system would probably be the way to go, especially if you were a commercial outfit changing oil out of a lot of motors daily.

Harper-

I've seen the vacuum system you described in the catalogues, but never invested in buying one to replace the pump that came with the boat. That may be my next step, though. Sounds like a better system! Thanks!

Joe.

[thataway]

I much prefer the electric pumps. I currently have one by Jabsco which has a 5 gallon bucket, and then I reverse the pump to put the used oil into one gallon containers for recycling. Even if I am going to drain the last few drops of oil out thru the plug, I will use the pump first.

I have never had much luck with the manual pumps--and would not recommend the drill driven ones. For inboards, there are several pumps which are left in place, and draw the engine oil out of the pan drain. Those are far superior to any of the external pumps. Example is "Reverso". These can be obtained with manufolds for several main engines and generator sets, so one pump does all, and puts the oil into 5 gallon buckets or a used oil tank.

[BrentB]

I have the same pump as Thataway which my father in law left it for me and was made in 70's. It looks terrible but still works. Should it ever fail, I plan to purchase a MityVac
http://www.simyamaha.com/Mityvac_p/mv-07400.htm

[Chuckpacific]

I have used a Tempo Oil Boy for 5 years. I have used it on my twin 40s, my 15 (on the Zodiac), my home generator and my car and have been very happy with it.

[SGIDave]

I use the Pella 6 liter extractor (http://www.jerrybleach.com/pelaapplications.html) with great success. It excels for removing oil from the outboard, cars, lawnmowers, etc, etc.

/david

[nimrod]

a review of the Pela 6000 can be read here:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f94/pela-6000-oil-extractor-46264/

jd

[nieking]

I've been using the MityVac for a few years now and I really like it. For my Yam F75 it takes about one beer to fully drain the oil pan.