Oil change could be easier...

[rkilpa]

Who the hell designed the engine attachments on the 5.0L MPI that make changing the oil a lot more difficult than it should be?

First off, the oil filter remote housing is very easy to get to right on top of the engine. Thank you for that. However, why would you mount the filter on a flat bracket surface so that all the oil that comes out of the filter when you unscrew it pours over the edges of the bracket and down into the bilge? Even with towels wrapped around the bracket in anticipation of spills, I still managed to get some drops of oil in the bilge that I can not reach to clean up. Why not have a mounting bracket that is cupped to hold the oil like my son-in-laws top mounted Subaru? Cleanest filter removal ever!

Secondly, why couldn't you make the dip stick tube just 2" longer so that the threaded end can actually be reached to tighten the extraction pump on it? The tube is buried behind the alternator and between the manifold and block and there's not enough room to twist it on by hand let alone get a wrench in there to tighten the pump to get a good seal. What should take seconds to attach a pump takes forever because you can't get your hand in there to tighten it and when you think it's tight you're still sucking air so you need to try to twist it some more...

If the oil filter was on a cupped bracket and the dip stick tube was 2" longer, changing the oil would be a breeze. Instead it's a pain in the ass that takes 4 times longer than it should.

Don't even get me started on the location of the fuel/water separator filter.....

Rant over!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Bet your motor has an oil drain hose you can pull out the garboard plug

 

[GA_Boater]

Also punch a hole on top of the oil filter to let it drain. Not completely drip free, but close if you let it sit for a while.

Now you know why dealers charge so much for labor.

 

[rkilpa]

Also punch a hole on top of the oil filter to let it drain. Not completely drip free, but close if you let it sit for a while.

Now you know why dealers charge so much for labor.

I like this idea, but wouldn't that create a vacuum leak when extracting the oil? ...or should I just tape over the hole after the oil drained out of the filter to create a seal again?

 

[GA_Boater]

A hole in filter may actually vent the crankcase to suck oil easier like a fuel tank vent.

 

[Scott Danforth]

going back to 2002, mercruiser started making the drain hoses standard. if your garboard plug has a lanyard on it so you dont loose it, the lanyard is attached to the drain hole. just pull it thru the plug

what I would do, pull hose thru plug, warm the motor on muffs, have hose in bucket, punch hole in filter, then drink a beer and go about cleaning other things while the oil drains.

then when its done, put plug in hose, swap filters, fill it up, then fire it up to ensure no leaks

then pull the engine coolant jacket plugs, etc and winterize as needed.

 

[jakwi]

Mine didn't have the drain hose connected, so I purchased one of these fumoto 101N valves. At $30 it was cheaper than the Mercruiser drain hose kit, and it works just as well. I attach a section of clear hose to it and drain to a jug on the ground. The valve is locked to prevent it from opening accidentally. My oil changes have gone from a 3 hour ordeal, mostly due to vacuum extraction, to about 20 min.

Also plus one on punching a hole in the oil filter. Do that first drain your oil, then place a paper towel at the base of the filter, and have a plastic grocery bag ready for the used filter, because it will now drip at both ends. It is still 100 times cleaner than just removing it without punching a hole in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Fumoto-F-101N-Engine-Drain-Valve/dp/B003VC7138

That being said I'm with you on the idea of simple design changes. Every engineer should have to do a year as a mechanics apprentice. The first time I changed the oil on a toyota I was amazed. The oil filter is at just the right angle so that when you loosen it. it drains from the seal without running down the side of the filter. Let it drain, and remove. Dry hands and zero mess. Costs toyota essentially nothing additional to design it this way.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Those Fumoto valves are cool (I put one on my wife's minivan), but if I could reach a Fumoto valve on my boat, I'd just pull the drain plug. I don't think I could reach down there unless I grew 6' long arms with double jointed elbows...

 

[jakwi]

Yeah, it's a stretch for me, but I can reach it on my boat thankfully. Let me tell you though. you only make the mistake of draining your oil into a pan in the bilge once. It took months to get it mostly clean again, and I still get an oily residue coming out from hidden parts of the bilge. It's a worthwhile upgrade if you can reach it.

 

[Lou C]

Agreed on making the designers do all the maintenance before releasing a design for sale!
A few design changes could make a world of difference:
Remote oil filters with the filter mounted the “right” way to avoid all that mess...
Dipstick tube with the top high enough to get to it for pump hook up...
All inboard engines to come standard with at least a half closed cooling system to avoid the reaching the drain plugs nonsense...
Redesign the inner transom mount and shift engine forward about 6” to allow access to reach steering actuator...
Redesign transom mount/bell housing/pivot mount to a more open design to make it easier to paint with anti fouling paint for salt water boaters like me
Salt water regions given exemption from the horribly expensive cat converter exhaust (this killed I/Os for me, I will absolutely not ever own one so equipped).

This is what Merc & Volvo need to do if they want continued sales otherwise I see them becoming extinct. Too difficult to repair with all the past designed in problems. The dealers know how bad the cat converter issue is in coastal regions and has killed I/O sales here.

 

[rkilpa]

Mine didn't have the drain hose connected, so I purchased one of these fumoto 101N valves.

My 2011 5.0L does not have a drain hose and there's no way to get to the bottom to install a fumoto valve, otherwise I would.

I have a fumoto valve on each of my cars and it makes oil changes clean and easy.

The first time I changed the oil on my son-in-laws Subarau, the oil coming out of the side mounted drain plug overshot my pan and my floor, hand and arm was soaked with oil. I had never had a messier oil change in 40 years of changing oil.

After installing the fumoto valve, it has become my favorite car to change oil on. With the drain tube running directly into the catch container and the oil filter bracket catching oil when the top mounted filter is removed, I can actually change the oil now without spilling a drop and could do it wearing dress clothes.

My other cars still require a pan to catch the oil from the filter, so props to Subaru for their oil filter housing design. Not so much on their drain plug location...

 

[Lou C]

My 2011 5.0L does not have a drain hose and there's no way to get to the bottom to install a fumoto valve, otherwise I would.

I have a fumoto valve on each of my cars and it makes oil changes clean and easy.

The first time I changed the oil on my son-in-laws Subarau, the oil coming out of the side mounted drain plug overshot my pan and my floor, hand and arm was soaked with oil. I had never had a messier oil change in 40 years of changing oil.

After installing the fumoto valve, it has become my favorite car to change oil on. With the drain tube running directly into the catch container and the oil filter bracket catching oil when the top mounted filter is removed, I can actually change the oil now without spilling a drop and could do it wearing dress clothes.

My other cars still require a pan to catch the oil from the filter, so props to Subaru for their oil filter housing design. Not so much on their drain plug location...

Or that silly plastic door/flap you have to unscrew from the belly pan each time you do an oil change...yes the filter location is great on those we have a ‘17 Forester in addition to the 3 Jeeps...

 

[Grub54891]

I never use the dipstick screw on attachment. I went to the hardware store and got clear hose that fits snug on the dipstick tube, stick it on the tube, pump the vaccume tub up , poke a hole in the filter and have a "soda" or two. No mess, no fuss.

 

[platon20]

I'm an engineer but I don't design boats.

I understand your frustration.

In my very first engineering class in college, the first thing the professor said was to use the KISS principle -- KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID

During my college years, if I designed a schematic for something and my professor could easily think of a way to do the same job in a simpler way, he would autonatically deduct 5 points off my grade.

Obviously this is a lesson that the engineers at Mercruiser have failed to learn.

One thing I can't blame them completely for -- they dont know how much egress space is going to be used by the boat designers around the engine. Maybe they are assuming that boat companies like Sea Ray or Chaparral are going to put more room in their bilge space when in reality the boat companies try to cram it as close together as they can.

 

[bruceb58]

My current Volvo has the oil filter mounted upright so there is little oil leakage. However I just bought a 2017 6.2L 350HP Mercruiser and will be doing an oil change on it soon. I like the idea of punching the hole. Makes perfect sense as long as there is no anti drainback valve that prevents oil from going back into the engine. I know the instructions say to crack the oil filter slightly when changing.

My extraction pump is the type where it is a 5 gallon bucket with an electronic pump on it. If I had the type pump that screws right onto the dipstick, I would just buy a short piece of hose which would solve any clearance problems.

 

[Lou C]

I'm an engineer but I don't design boats.

I understand your frustration.

In my very first engineering class in college, the first thing the professor said was to use the KISS principle -- KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID

During my college years, if I designed a schematic for something and my professor could easily think of a way to do the same job in a simpler way, he would autonatically deduct 5 points off my grade.

Obviously this is a lesson that the engineers at Mercruiser have failed to learn.

One thing I can't blame them completely for -- they dont know how much egress space is going to be used by the boat designers around the engine. Maybe they are assuming that boat companies like Sea Ray or Chaparral are going to put more room in their bilge space when in reality the boat companies try to cram it as close together as they can.

Have you seen a schematic for even just raw water cooling on a late model Mercruiser? Its a rats nest of hoses going everywhere, fiendishly complex for what benefit? Compare this to older Mercs, or even an OMC Cobra or Volvo SX. They seem to get by just fine with 4 hoses up front, a raw water intake hose, the big hose connecting the thermostat housing and the circulation pump and one hose to each manifold. Simple and it works, my engine runs at 160* and the exhaust runs at no more than 130* even after coming off plane. What exactly is Mercruiser trying to achieve in their engineering goals? I know about warm manifolds vs cold manifolds but their current system goes way beyond that, it would have been far better if they made closed cooling standard, never fiddled with the easy to clog single point drains, plastic pieces that break, etc!
Sometimes I wonder if they really WANT to stay in the sterndrive market. If that means keeping customers, making the ownership experience better, well they have a heck of a long way to go. Because what they are selling now, I'd never ever consider.

 

[bruceb58]

Have you seen a schematic for even just raw water cooling on a late model Mercruiser? Its a rats nest of hoses going everywhere, fiendishly complex for what benefit? Compare this to older Mercs, or even an OMC Cobra or Volvo SX. They seem to get by just fine with 4 hoses up front, a raw water intake hose, the big hose connecting the thermostat housing and the circulation pump and one hose to each manifold. Simple and it works, my engine runs at 160* and the exhaust runs at no more than 130* even after coming off plane. What exactly is Mercruiser trying to achieve in their engineering goals? I know about warm manifolds vs cold manifolds but their current system goes way beyond that, it would have been far better if they made closed cooling standard, never fiddled with the easy to clog single point drains, plastic pieces that break, etc!
Sometimes I wonder if they really WANT to stay in the sterndrive market. If that means keeping customers, making the ownership experience better, well they have a heck of a long way to go. Because what they are selling now, I'd never ever consider.

It's too allow you to drain the system by just attaching a bicycle pump. I know because I just bought a 2017 Mercruiser powered boat and was perusing the service manual for it last night. Mine is raw water cooled. Not a big deal to me.

Volvo has an almost identical type setup although their's uses a push button instead of an air source.

 

[kvkon]

I'm an engineer but I don't design boats.

I understand your frustration.

In my very first engineering class in college, the first thing the professor said was to use the KISS principle -- KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID

During my college years, if I designed a schematic for something and my professor could easily think of a way to do the same job in a simpler way, he would autonatically deduct 5 points off my grade.

Obviously this is a lesson that the engineers at Mercruiser have failed to learn.

One thing I can't blame them completely for -- they dont know how much egress space is going to be used by the boat designers around the engine. Maybe they are assuming that boat companies like Sea Ray or Chaparral are going to put more room in their bilge space when in reality the boat companies try to cram it as close together as they can.

I'm also an engineer (Mech) and I've just finished building a new 4.3 MPI. Mercruiser hasn't done a terrible job in my opinion however there are some easy improvements that can be done. The real problems are caused by the crack heads that build the boat around the engine and make even routine service nearly impossible.

 

[QBhoy]

Ok. So I’ve never found either of these an issue. In fact I honestly don’t know anyone here in U.K. that actually uses the threaded dip stick fitting to extract the oil.
I just use a vacuum pump with a tube that goes down the dipstick hole into the sump.
as for the oil filter upside down thing...leave changing that to after you e pumped the oil out. By that time, it’s drained most of the oil out it. Then just a rag around the base will deal with any small oil quantity spilled. All good. As for the drain pipe from the sump...I have that too...tried it once. Won’t be trying it again. Total pain to do on my boat and didn’t get anything noticeably more oil out than vacuum pump did.
my thoughts at least.

 

[Lou C]

I’ve done it both ways, thin tube down the dipstick tube and garden hose adapter. Garden hose adapter much faster because it has a larger diameter hose. Easy to fab up yourself.