Quiet Magic
Member II
Heres a quick and hopefully easy question for you guys. How in the world do you change the oil on the Atomic 4 that was put in the ericson 27 (diagrams would be helpfull). Thanks.
E-27 Atomic 4 oil change
- Thread starter Quiet Magic
- Start date
Hi,
The right front (flywheel) corner of the sump on the A4 has a drain plug. You probably can squeeze a home made drain pan made out of a flat jug e.g. anti-freeze, with a hole cut in the side. If your incline is such that you feel there is too much oil left in the aft end of the critter, get all your friends to go stand on the bow for 5 minutes or so while you get the last of the oil out. You might find they are more willing to stand there if you tie a case of their favorite brew to the bow pulpit.
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
The right front (flywheel) corner of the sump on the A4 has a drain plug. You probably can squeeze a home made drain pan made out of a flat jug e.g. anti-freeze, with a hole cut in the side. If your incline is such that you feel there is too much oil left in the aft end of the critter, get all your friends to go stand on the bow for 5 minutes or so while you get the last of the oil out. You might find they are more willing to stand there if you tie a case of their favorite brew to the bow pulpit.
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
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atomic4e.jpg
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Hi There,
I recently did the atomic on my e27 and i would recommend picking up the OilBoy from westmarine. I attempted to drain it with the oil plug .... the engine in the e27 is canted at such an angle that nothing short of a bull elephant on the bow will get it slanted forward enough so that you can get any oil out. Also, it is almost impossible to get an oil pan of any kind under the motor and even if you do it wont work well and you will likely end up with oil all over the bilge....speaking from experience. .....get the oil boy and suck it out of the dipstick hole ....this works very welll..
jarod
I recently did the atomic on my e27 and i would recommend picking up the OilBoy from westmarine. I attempted to drain it with the oil plug .... the engine in the e27 is canted at such an angle that nothing short of a bull elephant on the bow will get it slanted forward enough so that you can get any oil out. Also, it is almost impossible to get an oil pan of any kind under the motor and even if you do it wont work well and you will likely end up with oil all over the bilge....speaking from experience. .....get the oil boy and suck it out of the dipstick hole ....this works very welll..
jarod
On the port side of the motor,(opposite side of above picture),there is a pipe plug approx. half way back, above the pan rail casting. By removing this plug, you can use a larger diameter hose on your suction device of choice. While helping an e 29 owner this summer,(he had water in the crankcase),we found this to go much faster. We changed the oil 3 times to get it clear. You can also move the hose around inside th panto pick up almost all of the oil.Kind of like a vacuum cleaner. The only down side, when the engine is warm, wear a long sleeve shirt. It helps to locate and loosen the plug before the motor gets hot. Oh, one more downside, you don't get to consume as much of your favorite brew. Good luck, Harold
picture showing what Hodo describes above
Of note, if you have a scenario where the engine angle allows you to drain via the lower plug (really wonder if it would take an elephant on the bow ), you have the bonus of more easily seeing traces of metal, which while rare, can sometimes give you a heads up of what's going on inside if you catch it soon enough. Since the A4 doesn't have a filter beyond a screen on the oil pump pickup, I always liked having the warm and fuzzy of not seeing any sparkling glitter of metal in the last drips.
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
Of note, if you have a scenario where the engine angle allows you to drain via the lower plug (really wonder if it would take an elephant on the bow
), you have the bonus of more easily seeing traces of metal, which while rare, can sometimes give you a heads up of what's going on inside if you catch it soon enough. Since the A4 doesn't have a filter beyond a screen on the oil pump pickup, I always liked having the warm and fuzzy of not seeing any sparkling glitter of metal in the last drips. -David
Independence 31
Emerald
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David,
Not sure if an elephant would have done the trick or not , but i tell ya i sure felt stupid up there jumpin up and down on the bow. I was probably gettin one drip per jump. The other guys in the marina would have figured I was off my rocker had I continued that for another hour or two. I thought twice about asking the wife to come up and help, but decided against it as she would have assumed that was some sort of insinuation regarding her weight., and the oil change would have been the least of my worries.
Not sure if an elephant would have done the trick or not
, but i tell ya i sure felt stupid up there jumpin up and down on the bow. I was probably gettin one drip per jump. The other guys in the marina would have figured I was off my rocker had I continued that for another hour or two. I thought twice about asking the wife to come up and help, but decided against it as she would have assumed that was some sort of insinuation regarding her weight., and the oil change would have been the least of my worries.Hi,
Very prudent not to use your wife for ballast, and this leads me to an off topic story I must share. Years ago a fellow I was doing business with picked up on the gear head in me and asked if I had any idea why his car, which he had owned for many years and took on long road trips sagged to the right side. My immediate response was that it was not unusual to see older cars with high mileage sagging to the drivers side from years of being driven solo. There was a very long pause, he looked at me and said, "my wife is very large".:cartmann: I wasn't quite sure what to say at that point.
BTW, when I mentioned tying a case of beer on the forestay, I really was thinking of getting 5 or so big guys to stand up in the pulpit and put her on her nose. Wonder if it would work
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
Very prudent not to use your wife for ballast, and this leads me to an off topic story I must share. Years ago a fellow I was doing business with picked up on the gear head in me and asked if I had any idea why his car, which he had owned for many years and took on long road trips sagged to the right side. My immediate response was that it was not unusual to see older cars with high mileage sagging to the drivers side from years of being driven solo. There was a very long pause, he looked at me and said, "my wife is very large".:cartmann: I wasn't quite sure what to say at that point.
BTW, when I mentioned tying a case of beer on the forestay, I really was thinking of getting 5 or so big guys to stand up in the pulpit and put her on her nose. Wonder if it would work
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
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Quiet Magic
Member II
so thats how it works
Thanks for all the replies, I think im finally getting thisfigured out. I have one more question: is synthetic car oil ok to use or is there some specialty brand thats better?
Thanks for all the replies, I think im finally getting thisfigured out. I have one more question: is synthetic car oil ok to use or is there some specialty brand thats better?
Probably a good idea to stick with good old dynosaur oil as i believe a change to synthetic at this late stage may lead to leaks. If you do a search on the site you should find something related to weight/brand etc....I believe i used a castrol product 10/40, but dont quote me on that one.
I change out the oil once a year on both my Atomic and Triumph. I use them both about the same-maybe twenty or thirty hours annually.
Pulling the oil thru the dipstick will take you all of three minutes.
I use Quaker State because I like the smell of it. Reminds me of racing in the Vintage Car circuit.
I live in SoCal so I use straight 30 wt, because these are older engines 15-30 would be good for use in your climate.
Have a beer
John
Pulling the oil thru the dipstick will take you all of three minutes.
I use Quaker State because I like the smell of it. Reminds me of racing in the Vintage Car circuit.
I live in SoCal so I use straight 30 wt, because these are older engines 15-30 would be good for use in your climate.
Have a beer
John
Here's one of several specification pages from the service manual. You should be good with straight 30, 15-30, or 10-30. Run the thickest you can, e.g. if you are having a typical summer, the 30 should be fine. If you get into colder weather, let's say below 45 F or so, then start thinking about one of the multi-wieghts.
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
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Art Mullinax
Member III
JD oil
Somewhere in my reasoning I started using tractor oil I get at the John Deere place. An atomic 4 is always under a strain just like a tractor engine???
Somewhere in my reasoning I started using tractor oil I get at the John Deere place. An atomic 4 is always under a strain just like a tractor engine???
The gur that does all my machine work also does alot of tractor engines and he said he thought that when I brought my first engine in it was a tractor engine. He said that it was built almost exactly the same. Who am I to say.......
Pat
E29
'73
#224
Holy Guacamole
Davis Modlin Atomic4
Pat
E29
'73
#224
Holy Guacamole
Davis Modlin Atomic4
Hi,
There used to be a great history of the Atomic 4 out of a place in Canada with a name along the lines of Atomic 4 Service. Unfortunately, their website seems to be gone. In short, the Atomic 4 was a marine engine from the start, and traces its roots back to the teens (pretty sure it was between 1910 and 1920). Despite all sorts of information floating around out there, it has no relationship to any tractor engines or anything out of a Willy etc. That's not to say it doesn't have a similar look and feel to some of these old work horse engines, but there's only so many ways to make a mouse trap, if you will.
If I can find the history, I'll post back with a link.
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
There used to be a great history of the Atomic 4 out of a place in Canada with a name along the lines of Atomic 4 Service. Unfortunately, their website seems to be gone. In short, the Atomic 4 was a marine engine from the start, and traces its roots back to the teens (pretty sure it was between 1910 and 1920). Despite all sorts of information floating around out there, it has no relationship to any tractor engines or anything out of a Willy etc. That's not to say it doesn't have a similar look and feel to some of these old work horse engines, but there's only so many ways to make a mouse trap, if you will.
If I can find the history, I'll post back with a link.
-David
Independence 31
Emerald
Walter Pearson
Member III
Oil Changing
On the A-4 in my E27, that oil drain fitting on the port side is not very accessible. You can get a kit from Moyer that permanently connects to it and has a hose that can be led forward. If you combine that with a vacuum system like the Topsider, the oil can be quickly changed without any mess or drips to clean up.
The ultimate option for getting the most oil out is probably to install a bulkhead fitting of some sort on the transmission cover plate that has a dip tube attached underneath and a connection for the vacuum system. I guess that residual oil has never bothered me enough to go this route.
On the A-4 in my E27, that oil drain fitting on the port side is not very accessible. You can get a kit from Moyer that permanently connects to it and has a hose that can be led forward. If you combine that with a vacuum system like the Topsider, the oil can be quickly changed without any mess or drips to clean up.
The ultimate option for getting the most oil out is probably to install a bulkhead fitting of some sort on the transmission cover plate that has a dip tube attached underneath and a connection for the vacuum system. I guess that residual oil has never bothered me enough to go this route.
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KTAS_05_90.jpg
When I do the first oil change on any vehicle that is new to me (always replace all fluids right off on assumption that most POs are behind on maintenance), I often sacrifice a quart or two of new oil by pouring it in with the drain plug open, or to be pumped out or whatever to help flush out some of that residual old oil that likes to hang out.