First Oil Change

We made the first engine oil change yesterday, about 12 months after the installation of the engine and with 73 hours of running.  (The specification calls for a change at 12 months or 500 engine hours, whichever comes first.)

I allocated the entire day for the job, determined to work deliberately and methodically with plenty of time to deal with snags.  It's just as well I did, too, and just as well that I did it on a weekday when all of the shops were open.

I started off by running the engine for 20 minutes - long enough to warm the oil but not long enough to make the engine too hot for my work.  Then I put together a cheap plastic pump that I had purchased for the job and inserted the thin flexible tube down the dip stick pipe.  But try as I might I couldn't get the pump to work.  I pumped so hard that it got hot.  I soon confirmed that the problem lay in the pump and not leaky hosing.  By then the plastic handle on the plastic pump had cracked and I knew that I had a cheap piece of junk in my hands.  All I had asked for was one oil extraction to see me through to Australia, but it couldn't even do that.

I then dug out the sturdy all-metal Fynspray pump that had done such a good job in evacuating the Sabb's engine oil and went to Seamar to find something to reduce the Fynspray's hose diameter to take the thin plastic hose that goes down the dip stick pipe.  Roberto worked hard and found something, and for 43 pesos I got the part along with 100 pesos worth of his time.  Unfortunately this pump failed too.  I took it apart and established that the check valve is working fine but it needs a new seal.  By then the site was getting messy due to oil dripping from the various hoses.

I changed clothes and was about to leave the boat to buy another pump somewhere when Bob Carroll once again displayed his knack of showing up at just the right time.  He had come to show me his new controller for his solar panels.  Bob then made a special trip to his boat anchored at the Mogote and returned with his "oil boy", which looks like one of those garden sprays with a built-in tank but sucks in rather than sprays out.  Bob connected it up, I shoved the thin hose down the dip stick pipe, then gave the unit 5 or 6 pumping strokes as he directed.  Like magic oil started to flow from the engine sump into the unit's holding tank.  We extracted 4.4 liters of oil, which was unexpectedly low because the engine takes a total of 6.5 liters.  True, the filter holds some oil, and the oil level had fallen to between the dip stick marks during my earlier abortive attempts.

I then put a few pads under the engine and managed to remove the oil filter without too much trouble, though it was tighter than the prescribed half turn past snug and I was forced to use a tool.

We put in about 6 liters of Chevron Delo 400LE SAE 15W-40 (standard API CJ-4), taking our time about sneaking up the the top mark and running the engine to charge up the oil filter. 

Afterwards we had a pleasant light lunch at the restaurant over two non-alcololic beers.  It was close to 4 PM when we finished our lunch.  I had cost Bob the better part of his day but I was very grateful for his help. 

I then walked over to Arjona and purchase two 1-gallon container (7.5 liters) of Delo 400LE oil for my sail to Australia.

In Australia I'll set myself up with one of those pumps.