Volvo comes out looking like new. My Westerbeke oil turns black as soon as I put it in.
Oil Change Frequency
- Thread starter mlpayne
- Start date
Every year, regardless of hours. For me that's about less than 25 hours.
Every other year for both fuel filters. Best insurance policy you'll ever have. I base this on the fact that sitting oils lose viscosity and gain acids.
Your oil at 50 hours now is far from any where near cause for concern. A few more hours won't make a difference on an engine maintained as yours has been.
I know that's old school policy and learned from my days in my fathers Sunoco Station from the sixties. New oils are far better than those, but old habits die hard. I do the same in my antique car and that's been running strong since, 1952.
I look at it as a nice day on the boat, in the cool fall weather we wouldn't be out sailing, and that any day on the water is good.
I also include my impeller in the yearly routine.
Every other year for both fuel filters. Best insurance policy you'll ever have. I base this on the fact that sitting oils lose viscosity and gain acids.
Your oil at 50 hours now is far from any where near cause for concern. A few more hours won't make a difference on an engine maintained as yours has been.
I know that's old school policy and learned from my days in my fathers Sunoco Station from the sixties. New oils are far better than those, but old habits die hard. I do the same in my antique car and that's been running strong since, 1952.
I look at it as a nice day on the boat, in the cool fall weather we wouldn't be out sailing, and that any day on the water is good.
I also include my impeller in the yearly routine.
So, since this thread is petering out, let me open a can of worms. That engine has a horizontal oil filter, right? Tough to fill the new filter with oil before starting. So, you are running this engine at low or no oil pressure right after starting. The more often you change the oil, the more time running at low or no pressure.
Does this concern you?
Does this concern you?
Many engines do. IIRC you may have had one in your C36. Our mechanical guru on our C34 site recommends just turning the engine over a couple of times before starting to get the oil moving. I never have. I have owned this boat and this engine for 21 years of its 32 year life, and can report no issues. Sometimes over analysis doesn't really add to the conversation. These engines have been used in more tractors than boats, same horizontal arrangement. Not an issue at all.
Sounds like a Monday morning question for Phil to pose. Since new as in 10 hours on the Yanmar 3YM30, when I change my oil as per the maintenance schedule, it has been black.
I am not proud of this, but I had a Sears Craftsman lawn tractor that I abused for 14 years or so, and I never changed the oil once on the 2cylinder Briggs & Stratton motor.
I am in the railroad maintenance business and I should know better.
Greg
For the Yanmar 3YM30 one of the manuals states that if the engine hasn’t been run for a while, hold the engine stop button in while cranking to push oil up into the engine. I do this if the engine has sat for a week or two, and after an oil change. I crank for about 5 sec, rest for about 15 then 5 sec more.
Dan
I changed the reg oil last fall to rotella 15w-40 synthetic. Concerned that I had a head gasket leaking coolant into the engine, I sent the oil off for analysis a few weeks ago. While the oil still looked amber on the dipstick, it looked black in the sample bottle. So the analysis found no detectable levels of coolant in the oil (whew). The analysis estimated 40 hours on the oil because I didn’t send in the engine hours on the sample (had to look it up in the log book). The oil had 46 hours. I think they said they track the iron content accumulated in the oil. The analysis also stated that because several oil parameters were still well within spec, to put at least another 25 hours on the oil.
I did have a Yanmar parts dealer tell me to not run synthetic though. He just said the engine wasn’t made for it, and couldn’t explain. Well, that’s a thin answer. But I’m switching back to reg oil at the next change.
Dan
I did have a Yanmar parts dealer tell me to not run synthetic though. He just said the engine wasn’t made for it, and couldn’t explain. Well, that’s a thin answer. But I’m switching back to reg oil at the next change.
Dan
My filter is now vertical as I was worried about no oil at startup. I wrote about the install in the last MainSheet. All connected with AN fittings at $100. Looks great and for those looking to add a gauge, OP switch, or OP Temp it gives you two additional ports so you don’t need heavy T’s off the tap under the manifold, that break at just the wrong time.
Les
Les
I've seen this in person. It is a wonderful addition, done with superb craftsmanship and attention to detail. A good safety item, too.
I switched to Rotella T6 Synthentic 3 years ago. My drive engine is turbocharged and wanted as much temperature protection in the oil as possible for the turbo . Also use in my Fischer Panda generator which runs at 3,600 rpm. So far everything good. I always love when a so called expert (Yanmar parts person) has no explanation why something is good or bad.
The oil turns black as soon as it's put into is not exactly when it turns black. It's after it run because yanmar and other small diesels use the oil to cool the backside of the piston after ignition. It shoots a stream of oil or some old engines sling oil up inside piston to cool down that ref hot aluminum piston before rings seize. The black is burnt oil like burning burgers on the grill.
