blmustang01

For normal driving the lever will remain locked. I'd guess the lever isn't going to open accidentally unless you're driving over mountain terrain or something. For added protection, simply put a clamp around it.

roadpilot

Millions and millions of I/O boat engines have oil changed from the top side via suction. That's the way they are designed. The oil dipstick tubes are threaded (garden hose style). I have a reversible pump mounted to the top of a 5 gallon bucket (lid) - purchased from the marine store. It has a hose that connects and screws on to the dipstick tube. Turn it on and suck out the oil, then reverse it to pump the oil out of the bucket into your container.

Been changing oil in my twin 305 cui GM Vortec V8's in my Regal (boat) that way for 14 years now ...

Norm Peterson

I don't know a whole lot about boats, but I do have to wonder how much oil is left in the sump below the end of the dipstick tube, and how nasty that could get over time.

Is there a specially configured pan, perhaps with a low spot at the dipstick tube location? Or is this something that gets ignored/put off until an engine 'refresh' after X number of engine hours?


Norm

99GTvert

For boats, couldn't you change the oil while its on a trailer? I have no idea if they have drain plugs at the bottom though seems like any four cycle engine would be similar to a car (having an oil pan at bottom of motor).

Mr. D

Bad idea in the hands of a careless/poorly trained person. I took a vehicle in for an oil change & when I picked it up 1 1/2 of the bottles of synthetic oil I provided was unused. That's how much of the old dirty oil was left in the crankcase of the engine! I'm sure it works fine in the hands of someone well trained, but where do you find a person like that? Not at Walmart or a lot of the places that do oil changes. It's tough at there! I caught a kid tightening the drain plug by hitting the wrench with a rubber mallet! When I yelled at him to stop he said, "Well if it leaks oil they yell at me!" I found a two man local shop I can trust to do oil/filter changes & repairs, but they are getting harder to find. The good ones charge nearly as much as a Ford Dealership & I'm willing to pay them. I've had some scary work done by Dealerships too. Two quarts too much oil put in the engine likely done with a pump attached to a barrel of oil! I had overload springs put on a truck & the mechanic didn't put the stops on the frame that overload springs require to work. I was going to put a very heavy camper on it & if I knew nothing about the subject it could have caused an accident. Always check out the work done for your own safety!

Siber Express

My Boat had a hose attached to the oil plug hole in the pan, it attached to a pump that put it into a container. No problem but it came off the drain plug on my 429.

Norm Peterson

Might not be a whole lot of room between the bottom of the motor (pan sump and the drain plug) and the hull to work in or get a drain pan into . . .


Norm

User 92421

i do the following: bring car to shop, say "lube oil filter please" come back in 20 minutes and pay a small fee. no mess.

roadpilot

If there was a low spot, then the oil dipstick would always read "Full" even when there was very little oil in there, wouldn't it?

There is no such procedure identified in the owners manual for my engines.

Note that I'm not necessarily advocating that folks do this with their automobiles ... I'm just saying that topside oil changes on small block V8 motors have been done for eons on the water.

Norm Peterson

I'm talking about a low spot in the pan so that the dipstick tube can run all the way down to the level of the rest of the pan, leaving only the small amount of oil in the low spot that can't be sucked out. Oil will only rise as high in the tube as it is outside it, plus maybe a really tiny amount due to capillary action.


That a pan (and pickup, dipstick, and its tube) used in a marine application might differ from what would be used on the same engine in a road application would not surprise me at all.




Heh . . . tell you what, my wife's car is just about due for an oil change. Against my better judgment, I'll have the local Subie dealer do it for me. Expect to get a PM from me in a thousand miles or so after that when we start smelling burning oil because the tool they use to install the new filter crimps the filter and that crimp eventually becomes a crack. I'll swap in the new filter, but you'll be welcome to clean up the oily mess on the undercar panel. I'll provide the acetone and the rags. you bring your own gloves.


I'm not making any of this up







Norm