Oil change on the water on a small boat-gctid369799

[Guest]

I have a 185 with a 4 cyl. I have read several posts were people say they carry oil and filters with them on the water just in case they need to change the oil. I thought this sounded good until it occured to me how do you do it and why would you need to? Do people carry a pump to suck the oil out? Any thoughts?

[boatworkfl]

A lot of us carry oil and filters, we change oil at the dock, saves a trip to the store, and you should always have extra oil on board, as well as an extra fuel filter and water pump belt.

[Guest]

I agree about the fuel filter, oil and belt. But I guess my question is why would you ever have to change your oil not at the dock when you are say underway? Could something happen that an oil change could fix and help you get back to the dock?

[ksanders]

Bay-185 wrote:
I agree about the fuel filter, oil and belt. But I guess my question is why would you ever have to change your oil not at the dock when you are say underway? Could something happen that an oil change could fix and help you get back to the dock?

No

Having a spare filter and oil on board would only come into play if you for example had a oil filter blow out and had to replace it and the engine oil.

for an 18' boat, probably on a lake, I think it would be a waste of space. I always carried a quart of oil, and a quart of outdrive oil and never needed either one.

[SomeSailor]

And since many lakes are also water supplies, there are some hefty fines for a spill. I have no clue why you'd wanna change the oil on the water on a boat that will roll out on a trailer.

[dmcb]

ksanders wrote:
No

Having a spare filter and oil on board would only come into play if you for example had a oil filter blow out and had to replace it and the engine oil.

for an 18' boat, probably on a lake, I think it would be a waste of space. I always carried a quart of oil, and a quart of outdrive oil and never needed either one.

This is the only reasonable answer.

Twice in my life I have had an oil filter fail. And I'm pretty old. But for those who have spares in case of failure, this is one of them.

I do have spare filters and oil also.

Doug

[Guest]

SomeSailor wrote:
And since many lakes are also water supplies, there are some hefty fines for a spill. I have no clue why you'd wanna change the oil on the water on a boat that will roll out on a trailer.

Exactly !

I like to do mine from the comfort of the trailer in the driveway where a spill does not involve the EPA.

Carry a spare quart of engine and outdrive oils for top off .

In 40 years of playing with cars/boats/planes/... I have yet to have an oil filter blow out.

You have other problems if you do.

[Guest]

Ok thanks -this makes perfect sense to me.