Universal M25 Oil Pan alteration

[sailme88]

So, if you've done your own oil changes you are aware that the oil drain hose is not located at the lowest point of the oil pan. With the engine tilting aft on it's mounts, and this angle exacerbated when on the hard, there will always be old contaminates in that low area.
With this I'm mind, my inquiry is: Have any of you contemplated the removal of your oil pan to have it modified by a machine shop where they would drill a hole and weld on a nut that would match up to the drain hose mounted forward ?

Thanks,
Rick

~~(\_~~

 

[RoyS]

I have a Yanmar 2QM15 with a similar problem that I have overcome. My solution may apply to your engine as well. The Yanmar manual suggests putting a suction hose down through the dipstick port to remove the oil. The oil must be hot for this to work. The dipstick port is correctly located in the center of the engine sump. That location gives an accurate reading of the oil level even with engine pitched but fails to allow for complete draining of the used motor oil. My solution is to insert the somewhat stiff plastic suction hose down through the oil fill port on top of the valve cover instead of the dip stick port. Then wiggle the hose toward the rear of the engine and down through the push rod channel in the engine block casting to the very rear bottom of the engine sump. At that location I can pump out every last drop of used engine oil. On my engine that procedure is simple and getting the hose down takes less than a minute of wiggling. It might work on yours as well.

 

[JoeWhite]

Roy, in terms of ounce, how much more oil do you remove?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Rick, I've had my 1986 C34 for 25 years, since 1998.

It is not an issue and just doesn't matter.

 

[Hayden Watson]

To me, the minor amount of oil that is not removed just does not rise to the level of concern to do anything about. I change the oil every fall and in 35-years this engine has had 2500 hours on the engine. That averages out to 71-hours per oil change.

 

[sailme88]

Roy, in terms of ounce, how much more oil do you remove?

I've vac'ed out 3 qts. The filter might have 3-4 oz in it... So I'm thinking 12 oz or so..Capacity is a gallon. If I pour in the entire gallon of oil, start the engine, let is cool and pull the dip stick, it would show a pint over +/-

 

[Tally Ho]

My Yanmar 2GM20F has no drain hose.
I always have to use a vacuum extractor through the dipstick hole.

I usually run the engine for a bit (typically to the fuel dock to pump out), then use my extractor to get the warm oil out.

I can pull a vacuum with the pump, and move the hose all around through the dipstick hole to try and get as much oil out as possible.

A little bit of oil left in the pan isn’t a big deal. The better the extractor, the better the results.

Amazon.com

Greg

 

[sesmith]

I also use a vacuum extractor on my universal m35b. Once I figured out the extractor took out all the oil and there was none left to run out the drain plug tube I never worried about it again. It's a lot less messy, too.

 

[RoyS]

Roy, in terms of ounce, how much more oil do you remove?

I never measured it accurately. I will guess at maybe 1/4 of the oil remains if you pump through the dip stick. The 2QM15 only holds 2.6 quarts. Some people using the dip stick port have advocated changing the oil twice by running the engine with the new oil to mix with the oil remaining in the pan and get most of it out that way. On my engine it takes me less than a minute to fish the suction tube down to the bottom rear of the pan and completely remove all of the oil. As a lifelong backyard mechanic I could not sleep at night knowing I left half a quart of dirty oil in there.

 

[dLj]

As a lifelong backyard mechanic I could not sleep at night knowing I left half a quart of dirty oil in there.

So not to be confrontational, but I have to ask why?

I'm not seeing why I would worry about it. Especially with modern synthetic oils. Particulates - which can definitely harm your engine - are removed via the filter. Does your engine not have a filter? I know my old YSB did not, in which case I'd agree. But in modern engines running a filter, it is the filter that really matters during oil changes. Diesel engines primarily contaminate the oil with carbon, which is what makes it turn black. But the carbon does nothing detrimental as far as I'm aware in terms of engine wear. Oil viscosity over time will degrade, hence oil changes, but with the modern synthetic oils that is a very long time compared to oil change intervals. Oil change intervals are developed with the filter degradation in mind, not the oil.

dj

 

[Ward H]

The most hours I've put on my diesel in a season is 48. Last year was a low of 12.
I'm lucky that I only motor about 15 minutes out and 15 back. The rest of my time on the water is with sails up.
This year I will probably end with 21 or 22 hours and half of those have been runs of an hour or longer at cruising speed.
I've often wondered why I'm changing the oil every 25 to 50 hours a year.
I never been concerned about the little left in the bottom the pan.

 

[dLj]

The most hours I've put on my diesel in a season is 48. Last year was a low of 12.
I'm lucky that I only motor about 15 minutes out and 15 back. The rest of my time on the water is with sails up.
This year I will probably end with 21 or 22 hours and half of those have been runs of an hour or longer at cruising speed.
I've often wondered why I'm changing the oil every 25 to 50 hours a year.
I never been concerned about the little left in the bottom the pan.

I feel you need to make sure you get the engine up to temperature when using it. Short runs where the engine does not have time to get up to full operating temperature is worse than running more hours.

Changing the oil every 25 to 50 hours seems a very short time interval. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably change the filter once a year and simply top up the oil as needed during that change. The most "fragile" part of a modern diesel engine oil system is the filter.

There are diesel engines used on remote pipelines where they are able to be serviced only once or twice a year. The engines run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire time between servicing. Those engines have highly specialized oil filtration systems that are designed to filter properly for the time period required between service intervals. In modem diesel engines running synthetic oil it's the filter you need to worry about.

dj

 

[RoyS]

So not to be confrontational, but I have to ask why?

I'm not seeing why I would worry about it. Especially with modern synthetic oils. Particulates - which can definitely harm your engine - are removed via the filter. Does your engine not have a filter? I know my old YSB did not, in which case I'd agree. But in modern engines running a filter, it is the filter that really matters during oil changes. Diesel engines primarily contaminate the oil with carbon, which is what makes it turn black. But the carbon does nothing detrimental as far as I'm aware in terms of engine wear. Oil viscosity over time will degrade, hence oil changes, but with the modern synthetic oils that is a very long time compared to oil change intervals. Oil change intervals are developed with the filter degradation in mind, not the oil.

dj

You ask why I prefer to remove all of the old oil and not just most of it? Strange question. And yes, I have a filter which I change at the same time. I use a straight 30 Wt. conventional diesel engine grade oil. You can have my used oil for your engine if you come and pick it up before I recycle it at Autozone.

 

[dLj]

You ask why I prefer to remove all of the old oil and not just most of it? Strange question. And yes, I have a filter which I change at the same time. I use a straight 30 Wt. conventional diesel engine grade oil. You can have my used oil for your engine if you come and pick it up before I recycle it at Autozone.

Thanks for the offer, but I use different grade oil.

dj

 

[Hayden Watson]

Thanks for the offer, but I use different grade oil.

dj

besides, it is a long way from Lisbon!

 

[twodzusfittings]

On my Universal M20, i also use the vacuum pump to get the hot oil out. But after that I put a paint rolling insert under the oil pan and open up the drain plug and let the last amounts drop out. Any thick sludge will drop out as well.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I am just glad that I have a banjo fitting on my drain plug and can pull form the bottom of the pan with a drill mounted pump.