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Oil Change at End or Beginning of Season?


cooncesean

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I have an oil change that is very necessary (~90 hours since the last one). We probably have about 2 more weekends out on the water this season and I'm wondering:

Is it better to do an oil change at the beginning or the end of the season?

Does anybody have any experience either way?

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(Note to self: don't ever buy this guys boat) :biggrin: ...... :unsure: I change mine as part of winterization so that I can just hook up a few hoses and go in the spring and that old oil doesn't sit in there all winter. I would suggest you change it now before your last couple outings.

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Dirty oil=Acidic

Metal engine+Acidic oil=Bad

Math lesson over

:plus1: It has nothing to do with the oil being "used up" it has to do with not leaving all those contaminates that are suspended in the oil in your engine over the layup period.

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Dirty oil=Acidic

Metal engine+Acidic oil=Bad

Math lesson over

This is exactly true. You want to change it at the end of the season, not let it sit all winter eatting away at metal components.

Here is another one:

I'm at 49 hours on my current oil. I probably have 1-2 more outings this year, 4-5 hours max. Do I change it now, and again before I put it away. Or just change it in 2 more weeks. I think if I do 53 hours it should be okay :)

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Uhh...both, and it is concerning the rest of you aren't doing that.

At the end of the season, I remove the old oil and fill up with fresh off-brand stuff. I run the engine up to temp, fog it, then do my water draining and other winterizing stuff.

In the spring, I drain that oil, and change to a better oil and change the filter. This does a couple things:

This method does a lot:

- Ensures dirty oil isn't sitting in the motor all winter

- Any moisture that may accumulate in the oil over the winter is removed

- Any dirty oil that didn't get removed from the fall oil change is diluted with the fresh oil and removed in the spring, meaning the motor gets the freshest oil possible

This is cheap insurance, why not do it?

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Uhh...both, and it is concerning the rest of you aren't doing that.

At the end of the season, I remove the old oil and fill up with fresh off-brand stuff. I run the engine up to temp, fog it, then do my water draining and other winterizing stuff.

In the spring, I drain that oil, and change to a better oil and change the filter. This does a couple things:

This method does a lot:

- Ensures dirty oil isn't sitting in the motor all winter

- Any moisture that may accumulate in the oil over the winter is removed

- Any dirty oil that didn't get removed from the fall oil change is diluted with the fresh oil and removed in the spring, meaning the motor gets the freshest oil possible

This is cheap insurance, why not do it?

Because we use it all year, it doesn't "sit" for more than a few weeks or month a time so changing it would be a wom for me. I change every 50 hours and end of the season.

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Because we use it all year, it doesn't "sit" for more than a few weeks or month a time so changing it would be a wom for me. I change every 50 hours and end of the season.

That would mean you don't have the end of a season, and therefore would simply change the oil every 50. I was speaking about those of us that deal with winter.

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:plus1: It has nothing to do with the oil being "used up" it has to do with not leaving all those contaminates that are suspended in the oil in your engine over the layup period.

:plus1: " it has to do with not leaving all those contaminates that are suspended in the oil "

Take a small sample of your old oil and let it sit in a bottle for the winter. In the spring dump it out and see how much junk is left clinging to the bottle. Dump your old oil well its warm!

I also charge my filter. Take your new filter and fill it with your oil leave it sit for a short time 1/2 will soak into the elements you can fill a bit more and put it on to the boat. This will keep a steady supply of fresh oil at start up after a long off season.

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I recall reading on sites for classic car collectors that they do not recomend storing a car imediately after an oil change. you are supposed to put a some miles on it before storing.

With that said - I always pull mine from the water, change the oil and then put in the cave. Oh well.

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I recall reading on sites for classic car collectors that they do not recomend storing a car imediately after an oil change. you are supposed to put a some miles on it before storing.

With that said - I always pull mine from the water, change the oil and then put in the cave. Oh well.

I could subscribe to that theory, give the new oil a chance to get worked throughout the entire motor for the last outing of the season.

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I could subscribe to that theory, give the new oil a chance to get worked throughout the entire motor for the last outing of the season.

Actually I thought it heat would break down the oil. I get it changed when I winterize, and don't run the engine until the spring. Fire it up in the spring and change it if/when I hit 50 hours. If I'm a little over 50 at the end of the season (like 53 hours mentioned above) I'll usually wait until I get it winterized.

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Both.

I want to get the used stuff out before storing, and I like to start the season fresh with new.

And I rn the boat 5 minutes or so to circulate the new through the engine.

Very small investment for a $50K boat. :biggrin:

Edited by Soon2BV
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good gracious. Does anyone in this thread know of any boat that has had any sort of oil related failure because the fall oil was used for 50 hours in the spring? I'm all for overkill, but that just seems wasteful. But then maybe you guys are the ones with 7500 hours on their original motor?

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good gracious. Does anyone in this thread know of any boat that has had any sort of oil related failure because the fall oil was used for 50 hours in the spring? I'm all for overkill, but that just seems wasteful. But then maybe you guys are the ones with 7500 hours on their original

Definitely overkill in my opinion. Wasteful for sure. Funny part about it.... Almost no one would ever see the benefit of such a thing. Do you guys realize how long you would have to keep your boat? If you want the next owner of your boat to enjoy an extra 10 hours on the engine then by all means change the oil before and after winterizing.

And here's a thought. If your really that worried about oil sitting in the pan don't refill it until the spring. Tag out the steering wheel so you don't forget.

Edited by Ruffdog
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good gracious. Does anyone in this thread know of any boat that has had any sort of oil related failure because the fall oil was used for 50 hours in the spring? I'm all for overkill, but that just seems wasteful. But then maybe you guys are the ones with 7500 hours on their original

Definitely overkill in my opinion. Wasteful for sure. Funny part about it.... Almost no one would ever see the benefit of such a thing. Do you guys realize how long you would have to keep your boat? If you want the next owner of your boat to enjoy an extra 10 hours on the engine then by all means change the oil before and after winterizing.

My last boat had an oil pump failure, likely due to lack of proper oil changes from the previous owner.

Boat engines run high stress, high RPM's for long periods of time. The reason you end up seeing so many rebuilt is partly because of stress-related damage, and oil changes are the #1 preventative maintenance you can do to prevent that. Is it really that big of a deal to drain/refill the oil in the fall for $10-15 then do the full change in the spring? In 10 years, that's $150 tops in extra maintenance, and if it extends the life of your rings, helps prevent sludge in the motor, and extends the life another season or two, that's money very well spent.

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My last boat had an oil pump failure, likely due to lack of proper oil changes from the previous owner.

Boat engines run high stress, high RPM's for long periods of time. The reason you end up seeing so many rebuilt is partly because of stress-related damage, and oil changes are the #1 preventative maintenance you can do to prevent that. Is it really that big of a deal to drain/refill the oil in the fall for $10-15 then do the full change in the spring? In 10 years, that's $150 tops in extra maintenance, and if it extends the life of your rings, helps prevent sludge in the motor, and extends the life another season or two, that's money very well spent.

I certainly don't believe if you already change your oil every 50 hours that doing the drain fill routine you speak of will extend the life of the engine 2 seasons. Actually I doubt it will have any effect at all, but hey its your boat.

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good gracious. Does anyone in this thread know of any boat that has had any sort of oil related failure because the fall oil was used for 50 hours in the spring? I'm all for overkill, but that just seems wasteful. But then maybe you guys are the ones with 7500 hours on their original motor?

Not trying to poo poo anyone's routine, as I also change my oil every 50 hours, as per Indmar's recommendation, and use full synthtic and NAPA/WIX filters, as I do on all my stuff. As someone said, it is cheap insurance when looking at whatever it would cost to replace an engine. Doing it myself (to ensure it gets done correctly) since the local dealer is an hour away and wants $175 for an oil change.

But all our farm equipment, light diesel tractors (50-100 hp) is changed every 100 hours. (trucks are changed yearly, as they don't have that miles put on them) And these engines are USED/WORKED all the time.

It has never made any sense to change the boat oil at 50 hours, specially when comparing the boat's use to what our tractors go thru. Sure I know there are more rpms, more stop/start/etc. But a diesel with its higher compression and contstant load just seem to be under more stress that your typical boat engine. ANd same as the boat, I always install a new filter along with top grade oil....oil and filters are waaay cheaper than a new engine.

I wonder if the ole change the oil every 50 hours was the SOP for the older carburated boats, but now with electronic ignition and fuel injection, is it a tad overkill??

Has anyone had their boat oil analyzed? WHat were the results?

Edited by jkendallmsce
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