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The routine of changing the oil on a sailboat is familiar, but how necessary it is is a good question. I seem to change the oil on my Universal 5432 four-cylinder diesel every 100 hours or so--which is a joke. The current recommendation for cars is 10,000 miles, to the despair of gas station owners everywhere. I doubt if any hard-working tractor diesel would have its oil changed every month. But then, a farmer doesn't wear white ducks. Neither do I, when changing the oil.
The oil and fuel filters are a different story, and often more or less neglected. More or less depending on how more or less bad the access is, which is a factor of how the factory managed to shoehorn an engine and its posse of wires and hoses so conveniently under our feet. On my E32-3 access was pretty good. On the E381, however, the gap between the sides of the engine and the bulkheads is measured with a feeler gauge in blood.
The Racor series 500 fuel filter makes things easy, compared to a so-called spin-on filter--the Series 200 Racor many boats are equipped with. The 500 filters are inexpensive, and lift out easily. This one has about 120 hours on it, and is now slightly brown in color. How hard the filter works depends on how much glop is in the tank, and since I installed inspection ports five years ago and cleaned the inside, it has had little work to do at all. We're supposed to change the lid gaskets, which are provided with each new filter.
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I'm using 2 micron filters for the primary, which few would consider necessary. Ten-micron or even 30-micron are more usual. But the previous owner left me five 2-micron spares, and in 10,000 miles I've never had to change one for cause.
The secondary fuel filter, the one on the engine, I had in fact never changed before. It's a Kubota spin-on unit without a micron denotation, and quite difficult to get to. On my boat it requires a long reach through the under-sink door (the door must be removed). Filters tend to be slippery, and even my filter wrench couldn't get a grip. Some sandpaper taped to the bearing surface did the trick.
Filters are naturally full of what they filter, and as we remove them in their awkward spaces a small spill results. It is easier to pack the space with absorbent material before, than to have to clean the bilge after. That's why I carry 50 baby diapers on board. Their tabs can often seal them in place around a filter. Remove any baby from the diaper first.
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Spin-on filters are to be installed hand tight,and they have a long thread path and a gasket to keep them from leaking. I don't know why they won't come off as easily as they go on, but every time I have to make use of two sizes of filter wrenches. Nothing but a dedicated wrench seems to fit and work. I've read that a screwdriver can be driven right through an old spin filter for ease of removal, and I guess if you want to make a mess, that'll do until the real mess gets there (a line adapted from the Coen Bros.' "No Country for Old Men")
The oil filter is usually fairly easy to deal with, but of course is filled with very black oil. A veteran diesel mechanic assured me that all diesel oil turns black almost immediately, and that's normal. Baby diapers again. Newspapers. Rags. I long ago gave up any semblance of elegance for this work, and now approach it with proven funnels and containers and rolls of paper towels as if the job were challenging, which it's not.
But why can't I remember to run the engine until the temperature gauge shows something. How long will it take me to learn that 10 minutes of idle isn't enough to warm the oil for easy extraction? Most home water heaters are set to 120F, and our diesels run at 180F, so the temp gauge should should at least move a little. The engine should at least be noticeably warm to the touch before extraction. How hard is that to achieve?
I use a standard WM "vacuum" extractor, with the pickup run through the dipstick tube. This time I was able to get out 8 quarts of oil, of the 8.2 quarts the engine is reported to hold. That's the most ever, and the result of patiently moving the pickup tube in and out to suck out the last bit remaining. Not sure it matters. The idea is to change most of the old oil, we'll never get it all.
The oil system doesn't need bleeding, we just add a little more after the initial charge to make up for filling the new, empty, oil filter. On the 5432 it is important not to overfill the oil pan, so I go slow, with frequent checks against the dipstick marks.
The fuel system does need priming after filter changes. If the engine has an electric fuel pump, turning on the ignition will usually do it. The Racor 200 series has a small pump which has to be pumped about 100 miserable times to do the job (so fill the filter with fuel before installing). My engine has a mechanical fuel pump, so the previous owner installed an electric fuel pump just for priming. I don't bother to add fuel to the Racor 500, the pump fills it almost immediately.
It may be necessary to bleed the fuel line at its bleeder valve, usually located near the injector pump. In fact I rarely find it necessary. There is no penalty for trying the start the engine and see what happens. Then bleed air as necessary.
Added:
Transmission fluid and pencil zinc. While crammed under the cockpit I changed the pencil zinc on the heat exchanger. It was rotted in half after one year. I was glad to feel the broken zinc fall into my hand, which almost made up for my headlamp catching on the overhead and pulling out some hair. I fully intended to be a good boy and change the transmission fluid again (after two years), but the level was normal. And of course we all know the trick of reading an invisible 3/8th of an inch of wet on a dipstick in the dark (Lay the dipstick against a paper towel, the red fluid instantly reveals itself). But I didn't change the fluid. Was that wise? What if a banana had somehow gotten into the transmission fluid? Or a rhinoceros? Well, I can tell you why. I didn't change the fluid because I was bloody tired of it all, that's why, and was bleeding from various points, and bent like a rusty nail, and suddenly aware of my own resemblance to a mole in a hole pushing his own dirt toward the darkness, not the light, and concluded that there is a limit to, or there should be a limit to, or at least I declared a limit to, my own compulsive maintenance.
The routine of changing the oil on a sailboat is familiar, but how necessary it is is a good question. I seem to change the oil on my Universal 5432 four-cylinder diesel every 100 hours or so--which is a joke. The current recommendation for cars is 10,000 miles, to the despair of gas station owners everywhere. I doubt if any hard-working tractor diesel would have its oil changed every month. But then, a farmer doesn't wear white ducks. Neither do I, when changing the oil.
The oil and fuel filters are a different story, and often more or less neglected. More or less depending on how more or less bad the access is, which is a factor of how the factory managed to shoehorn an engine and its posse of wires and hoses so conveniently under our feet. On my E32-3 access was pretty good. On the E381, however, the gap between the sides of the engine and the bulkheads is measured with a feeler gauge in blood.
The Racor series 500 fuel filter makes things easy, compared to a so-called spin-on filter--the Series 200 Racor many boats are equipped with. The 500 filters are inexpensive, and lift out easily. This one has about 120 hours on it, and is now slightly brown in color. How hard the filter works depends on how much glop is in the tank, and since I installed inspection ports five years ago and cleaned the inside, it has had little work to do at all. We're supposed to change the lid gaskets, which are provided with each new filter.
I'm using 2 micron filters for the primary, which few would consider necessary. Ten-micron or even 30-micron are more usual. But the previous owner left me five 2-micron spares, and in 10,000 miles I've never had to change one for cause.
The secondary fuel filter, the one on the engine, I had in fact never changed before. It's a Kubota spin-on unit without a micron denotation, and quite difficult to get to. On my boat it requires a long reach through the under-sink door (the door must be removed). Filters tend to be slippery, and even my filter wrench couldn't get a grip. Some sandpaper taped to the bearing surface did the trick.
Filters are naturally full of what they filter, and as we remove them in their awkward spaces a small spill results. It is easier to pack the space with absorbent material before, than to have to clean the bilge after. That's why I carry 50 baby diapers on board. Their tabs can often seal them in place around a filter. Remove any baby from the diaper first.
Spin-on filters are to be installed hand tight,and they have a long thread path and a gasket to keep them from leaking. I don't know why they won't come off as easily as they go on, but every time I have to make use of two sizes of filter wrenches. Nothing but a dedicated wrench seems to fit and work. I've read that a screwdriver can be driven right through an old spin filter for ease of removal, and I guess if you want to make a mess, that'll do until the real mess gets there (a line adapted from the Coen Bros.' "No Country for Old Men")
The oil filter is usually fairly easy to deal with, but of course is filled with very black oil. A veteran diesel mechanic assured me that all diesel oil turns black almost immediately, and that's normal. Baby diapers again. Newspapers. Rags. I long ago gave up any semblance of elegance for this work, and now approach it with proven funnels and containers and rolls of paper towels as if the job were challenging, which it's not.
But why can't I remember to run the engine until the temperature gauge shows something. How long will it take me to learn that 10 minutes of idle isn't enough to warm the oil for easy extraction? Most home water heaters are set to 120F, and our diesels run at 180F, so the temp gauge should should at least move a little. The engine should at least be noticeably warm to the touch before extraction. How hard is that to achieve?
I use a standard WM "vacuum" extractor, with the pickup run through the dipstick tube. This time I was able to get out 8 quarts of oil, of the 8.2 quarts the engine is reported to hold. That's the most ever, and the result of patiently moving the pickup tube in and out to suck out the last bit remaining. Not sure it matters. The idea is to change most of the old oil, we'll never get it all.
The oil system doesn't need bleeding, we just add a little more after the initial charge to make up for filling the new, empty, oil filter. On the 5432 it is important not to overfill the oil pan, so I go slow, with frequent checks against the dipstick marks.
The fuel system does need priming after filter changes. If the engine has an electric fuel pump, turning on the ignition will usually do it. The Racor 200 series has a small pump which has to be pumped about 100 miserable times to do the job (so fill the filter with fuel before installing). My engine has a mechanical fuel pump, so the previous owner installed an electric fuel pump just for priming. I don't bother to add fuel to the Racor 500, the pump fills it almost immediately.
It may be necessary to bleed the fuel line at its bleeder valve, usually located near the injector pump. In fact I rarely find it necessary. There is no penalty for trying the start the engine and see what happens. Then bleed air as necessary.
Added:
Transmission fluid and pencil zinc. While crammed under the cockpit I changed the pencil zinc on the heat exchanger. It was rotted in half after one year. I was glad to feel the broken zinc fall into my hand, which almost made up for my headlamp catching on the overhead and pulling out some hair. I fully intended to be a good boy and change the transmission fluid again (after two years), but the level was normal. And of course we all know the trick of reading an invisible 3/8th of an inch of wet on a dipstick in the dark (Lay the dipstick against a paper towel, the red fluid instantly reveals itself). But I didn't change the fluid. Was that wise? What if a banana had somehow gotten into the transmission fluid? Or a rhinoceros? Well, I can tell you why. I didn't change the fluid because I was bloody tired of it all, that's why, and was bleeding from various points, and bent like a rusty nail, and suddenly aware of my own resemblance to a mole in a hole pushing his own dirt toward the darkness, not the light, and concluded that there is a limit to, or there should be a limit to, or at least I declared a limit to, my own compulsive maintenance.
