Do This V. How To Do This...

py26129 · Sep 23, 2015

Hi Tom

First off, welcome to the forum and boat ownership.

While I do not own an O'Day I think that most decommissioning steps are fairly generic.

What specific questions do you have? What sort of engine do you have?

Starting with that, I'm sure the forumites will be able to help out .

As far as the oil extractor is concerned, the Pela extractor is a nice one and makes for clean and easy oil changes. Just maje sure the oil is warm before you start.

http://www.amazon.com/Pela-PL-2000-...443018246&sr=8-10&keywords=Pela+oil+extractor

Cheers

Matt

py26129 · Sep 23, 2015

We change the oil and filter at the end of every season. The transmission fluid and anti-freeze got changed as soon as I bought the boat. After that, I am following the recommended intervals of the manufacturer, Yanmar, in my case.

Here is a link to a good page to get you started: http://www.marinedieseldirect.com/universal/200157/universal-owners-manual-winter-storage.html

We also make sure to suck antifreeze through the raw water side of the engine prior to the possibility of freezing temperatures (we are stored on the hard over the winter) to make sure there is no frost damage in the engine.

As preventive maintenance you might also want to change the raw water impeller once every 1 or two years. Buy two and keep a spare in your tool box.

Cheers

Matt

Davidasailor26 · Sep 23, 2015

We had an '85 28 until a couple years ago. Welcome to the club - I think you'll enjoy it.

We used to use HD oil - something like http://www.castrol.com/en_us/united-states/other-fluids/monograde-oil/castrol-hd-30-40.html. I can't remember whether we used 30 or 40 weight.

Practices vary as far as intervals for changing the antifreeze and transmission fluid. Probably can't go wrong following the book recommendations though.

Our engine had a hose run to the bottom of the pan for sucking out engine oil. We had a fancy hand pump for many years that progressively leaked more until it finally lost all suction. I got a cheap hand pump from an auto parts store, adapted it to the existing hose, and didn't regret it. I figure I could've bought about 10 of the cheap pumps for the cost of a new fancy one.

Definitely be sure to run antifreeze through the raw water side of the engine, and decommission the potable water system. Leaving water in those would be an expensive mistake. Propylene Glycol Based antifreeze works well for both.

py26129 · Sep 24, 2015

Tom

Some of the yanmar filters have an anti flow back valve incorporated in the filter, which may not be present in non OEM filters. Usually I balk at paying inflated OEM prices as much as the next guy, but being sure that I get the right filter by using the OEM stuff is worth it, in my book. It's cheap insurance.

Matt

centerline · Sep 24, 2015

Jtcf78911 said:
Sorry Matt. Missed your Pela recommendation - will follow that up. Back to instructional resource - I've seen a text "This Old Boat, Second Addition" by Don Casey that gets very high marks on the basic instruction front. Maybe worth putting down the $25 for this guide?

Tom.

there are several good books on the subject of boat care... Don Casey and Nigal Calder are arguably the two very best authors on the subject... interesting and helpful. they each have more than one book about boat care... whichever titles you choose, get the updated versions

in my opinion, you should get books by both authors and read them thru a couple times, as it will give you two expert opinions from different points of view, which may help you understand the big picture better, where it pertains to boat maintenance..

even though they say "ignorance is bliss", and personally know some who practice it, I have found one can never go wrong with having more and better knowledge to accompany them thru life

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