Oil change improvement?

[tdonoughue]

Howdy.

Did the annual oil change this weekend. I normally take the boat out for the oil change. Running it onto the lake heats the oil, making it easier to draw out. Being on the water levels the boat.

This year, weather was foul, so I decided to just leave the boat in the stall. In further laziness, didn't even put it on the hose to warm up the engines. As expected, oil took longer to pull (about 2-3x). But, when I removed the filters, they were nearly empty. One little drip where normally I have a whole filter of oil spilling out (yes, I put a pad under, but still...). And I used the time I was waiting for the oil to come out to do other work.

So this may be an improvement to consider in changing oil. Certainly less messy...

 

[tdonoughue]

And so I am now informed of anti-flow back valves on oil filters. Been changing my own oil for decades--never even realized that was a thing... When I first heard of it, I thought it was to make oil changes easier. Alas, they are not--they keep the 'dirty' side of the filter oil from flowing back into the engine. But that does explain why there is always so much oil in the filter. It is DESIGNED to not let oil flow back. Duh.

So then, the additional part of the story above that is needed: My boat has been basically sitting all winter in the stall. So, not only did I not start it, but apparently there had been enough time passed that whatever oil was in the filter could seep back into the engine. Now, certainly some of that would be dirty oil. But that had flowed back anyway. I (apparently) took advantage of the situation by changing the oil before starting it and pumping that dirty oil back up into the filter.

I learn something new every day.