Remote oil filter for M25XP

[Hayden Watson]

I had a Catalina 30 for about 10 years. It had an M25XP. I do not recall having any particular problem accessing the oil filter, though I sold the boat about 11 years ago and so my recollections of the oil change specifics may be fuzzy. The access to the top of the engine, not shown in your photo, is really good with the cover underneath the settee cushion removed. I'm pretty sure I accessed the filter from above. Can you provide a picture of the top view of the engine? Here's what mine looked like (when I first bought the boat). Worst case, it would seem that simply removing the (stock) alternator would give plenty of room, though I do not recall whether I had to do that.

I have never tried to access the filter from the top, but I do not have as much access as you did. When my Ample Power 108A alternator was installed by the PO, all of the primary wires to the alternator and starter were upgraded to 2/0 and they are very stiff and go through the middle of that space. My engine space has full sound insulation on all four sides so there is a wall to port of the alternator.

Also, not shown in these photos, I have moved the engine blower 3"ø intake hose to directly above the alternator. This duct comes up next to the muffler and forward just below the engine space cover. I then added a cool air blower that is mounted to the port insulation wall and has another 3"ø duct that runs to directly behind the alternator to an elbow which blows the cool below floor air directly onto the rear of the alternator. Yah, it is really crowded from that side.
I have a 560Ah LFP battery bank that works my current AP 108A alternator really hard. In the spring I am going to retire it to the spare parts compartment and install a 250A large frame alternator. In my case, moving the oil filter completely out of the engine space just makes a lot of sense.

 

[StanleyJ]

I have the M12 engine with a horizontal filter. I save old pink antifreeze jugs (1 gallon) and cut off a section of the jug opposite the handle and fit it snuggly against the engine and drop the filter into the jug. I never have had a spill nor a mess since I began using this method.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I have the M12 engine with a horizontal filter. I save old pink antifreeze jugs (1 gallon) and cut off a section of the jug opposite the handle and fit it snuggly against the engine and drop the filter into the jug. I never have had a spill nor a mess since I began using this method.

That sounds like a good idea for some installations. But clearly there is nothing close to that amount of room available in the particular case we are considering.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I finally found and purchased a remote filter kit for my M25XP. The chalange was finding one that had a small enough o-ring to fit fully on the engine flange. The OD of the gasket for the filter is only 2.5" and every filter kit I had found was 2.75". I had one of those [Hayden brand for obvious reasons] but the O-ring blew out and drained my crank case into the bilge one day.

The kit I got has two O-rings and the inner groove holes a 2.5" O-ring.

ALUMINUM 20MM MALE FITTING ENGINE OIL FILTER/COOLER RELOCATION PLATE ADAPTOR KIT | eBay