Need oil changer pump recommendation

C

chesapeakedan

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I'm looking for recommendations for a good, reasonably priced portable oil changer unit. I have a Jabsco "economy" unit that I bought 4 years ago for $90 and have used it less than 8 times. It is powered by attaching wires to boat battery and small pump attached to 3-4 gallon bucket; oil drains via dipstick tube. The pump is a diaphragm type (not impeller type) and it really struggles to pump the oil. I warm the engine, but pumping the oil takes forever. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, portable, reasonably priced oil changer unit that actually works well?

Thanks
Dan
 
We've had this discussion many times and you will get several good answers.
I prefer the Oil Boy Extractor. It has a manual pump that you pump 8-10 times to create vacuum and you can then walk away and let the pump to its thing. No need to stand there and watch it so you can do other boat chores at the same time.
I believe the unit is in the $50-60 range.
 
Dan, are you attaching the drain tube to a threaded end of your dipstick or sliding a thin tube down into the dipstick?
 
Have you considered adding a Jabsco oil drain stub hose to your engine then using a larger hose to drain from it. You will get more oil out in the process.
 
Greg, the hose slides down into the dipstick.

With regard to the oil drain stub hose, I'm assuming this would attach to the drain plug on the oil pan under the engine, correct? If so, it would be extremely difficult to install one since access to the drain plug if virtually impossible. Do you agree?
 
OK, the reason I asked is that my Jabsco pump works faster if I slide the hose all the way into the dipstick as opposed to using the threaded fitting on top of the dipstick. That being said, the Jabsco unit I bought from Boatfix empties my 454s in a few minutes.
 
With respect to an oil pan drain hose, yes it replaces the oil drain plug in the oil pan. To install you pump out what you can via the dipstick, then get a small aluminum cake pan and contort yourself to get to the drain plug, remove it draining the remaining oil into the aluminum pan, then install the jabsco drain hose stub.

Basically if you can touch the oil drain plug, you can install the Jabsco. You need a helper to hand you tools and listen to your bitching. I slide my self down the side of my 5.7L Merc and installed it, I may have dented myself a little, but knowing it was a once only deal made me feel better.
 
Greg, Interesting fact I neglected to mention. If I test my pump out using water, it pumps fine. But it refuses to pump oil even after warming the engine. I've replaced the hose twice and made sure it was inserted fully.

ddurand, I'm heading down to Maryland next weekend to putz on the boat projects. Maybe I'll try the contortion stuff again to see if this old body can tackle that drain plug.

Thanks guys.
 
I've thought about installing a drain on a few boat engines in the past but my pump works well so I haven't been motivated.
 
But even if a pump works well, you normally miss between 1/2 an 1 QT of used oil when pumping through the dipstick.
 
You'd think so but when I change my oil, I must get most of it out because the new oil is so clean it's hard to read the dipstick for quite a few hours. How do you know you get it all out when you use the drain plug? Aren't most drain plugs in the forward part of the pan? Don't most marine engines (except v-drives) sit somewhat front high? It seems on my Crusaders that the drain tube gets to the bottom of the oil pan.
 
I too have the Jabsco pump where the pump is mounted on top of a plastic holding tank. With twin 454s, even when warm it takes about 15 - 20 minutes per engine to pump out.
 
Greg, you've been hanging around boats too much. It's a 5 gal bucket!
 
I recently changed the oil in my generator, fluid in the trannies, and oil in the Crusaders. Each oil drain was accomplished differently.
1. Generator - used drain tube attached at oil pan drain plug and drained into bucket.
2. Trannies - Used manual bicycle style pump into bucket.
3. Engines - Used electric "Reverso" pump into bucket.

Method 1 = slow.
Method 2 = slow, messy, and cumbersome.
Method 3 = Quick, clean, and easy. Flipped switch and drank a cold one.

Contemplating attaching method 3 to trannies.
 
I also have the Jabsco electric pump with the tube you slide down the dipstick. It's empties my Crusader 502's in less then 5 min. Couple observations. The oil must be HOT, not just warm or it takes forever. I let them high idle for a good 15-20 min before changing the oil. Also, make sure all the hose connections solid as any air leakage has a dramatic effect on the suction.

Also used the Oil Boy Extractor or a model like it, it works very well.
 
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