[C320-list] OIL CHANGE

[Jane & Ken]

Our hull number is 219 and is fitted with the PERKINS engine.  This engine has a "drain" plug on the starboard side below the dipstick.  Oil change is easy because I remove the plug, screw in an air tool adapter (1/4 inch I think)  and then suck out ALL of the oil--no real mess involved and I am certain the sump is empty-unlike using the dipstick tube.  The filter is still a bit of a mess, but the diaper works wonders.  
  You might want to search the engine manual or look closely at the sump area because I have never seen a sump without a drain hole. The engineer designed one, but the boat location prevents access.  The filter is another story-I agree it should spin on from below.
  Ken Cathey 'OBUOY'  #219

Robert Seastream <robert.seastream at comcast.net> wrote:
  First, whichever Yanmar design engineer decided on a horizontal mount 
filter should be fired, then shot.
Second, accept the fact that some oil spill will occur. Minimize it by 
utilizing the methods mentioned on this forum, and repeated below:

Hole punch and predrain the oil filter
Place a ziploc bag around the oil filter
Place a diaper (Pampers, etc.), under the engine.

If it didn't cost so much, I'd have my engine oil pan drain fitted with 
an extension 'spout' and hose that would allow me to drain the oil from 
the pan as intended, rather than sucking it out the dipstick pipe. 
That's another reason the design engineer should be shot, given that 
s/he knew the engine would be located in close quarters.

Regards,

Robert Seastream
'Intuition' # 906

On Nov 7, 2007, at 8:09 PM, Warren Updike wrote:

> Cheeze, I'm so angry I could s?it (apply the appropriate letter of 
> your choice, H or P.) This time I loosened the filter just enough so 
> I could turn it by hand, stuffed oil absorbant material undet the 
> filter, then punched a hole in the top of the end, put a plastic bag 
> over it and rotated it until the hole was at the bottom (that's a mere 
> 1/2 turn.) Sure enough, the oil oozed out into the bag. I thought I 
> was in fat city (anyone recognize that term?) That is, until I looked 
> under the engine to see a smear of black oil coming down the sump. 
> This was the worse mess of any previous filter change attempt. Why 
> would one design such an affair. Isn't there an adapter to allow a 
> remote filter install? Time to change the filter: 5 min.; time to 
> clean-up: 35 min. To make matters worse, unless you are Ichabod Crane 
> or anorexic, there is no way to reach far enough under the oil pan to 
> clean-up all the mess. (You can guess my age group by the comparisons 
> I use.)
>
> Back to the drawing board.
>
> Warren & Pattie Updike
> C320, #62, 1994, "Warr De Mar"
> Frog Mortar Creek, Middle River
> Chesapeake Bay
>