Oil Extractor Mishap

So, after owning 5 boats in my lifetime and changing the oil several times I make big mistake. My '13 MB Tomcat was ready for the first oil change by me and I was eager to get it done. Have pump extractor, went to lake before my family so I could get it all done and ready for the weekend. I have always put the tube in the dipstick to suck the oil out and did just that this time. Pumped maybe 1/3 a quart out and it stopped. Didn't think much about it and thought I will just start over. Decided to pull the tube out and it was stuck. Thought WTF..... continued to try to get it unstuck. Apparently I must have pushed it way way way too far in the oil pan. Somehow it is now stuck and for 8 hours on Saturday I struggled with it. I went so far as to try to lower the oil pan myself to stick my hand in and find the tube. No luck as the motor mounts won't let the pan drop.

Only found that out after struggling to take out 18 bolts. So, not only did I lose an entire Saturday, I lost Sunday too. Called friend of mine who is going to hopefully bail me out and help from his shop. But he is going to have to lift engine out to get oil pan to drop and get tube out. I have never ever been so frustrated with something. I thought for sure I could get it and save the weekend. Ugggg. So lesson learned! I will never ever ever go thru the dipstick tube again. Hell, I may even pay someone to change my oil now, even tho I am mechanically inclined and can do it.

After a lot of research there are a lot of mixed opinions on if I could have just left it in there. But 2 feet of hard plastic tube in my oil pan would have made me a wreck. So I delivered the boat 2 hours away on trailer this morning to my friend. Thank GOD for good people in this world, and just maybe I will have only lost 1 weekend. If you ever need to buy a boat, buy from Mark or Michael at N3 Boatworks in Indianapolis. Those guys are the best guys around. I don't even own a boat from them but he was willing to talk with me all weekend and offer any help to get it solved. Even to say bring it in and I will try like heck to get it done this week. I talked to my local lake dealership and they just looked at me. I went there for advice or help and they said it would be 4 weeks to even look at it.

SO lesson.... DON'T push that tube so far in it gets stuck.....

all boats come with a oil drain hose out of the engine for a reason.

Unfortunately you had to learn the hard way on this but you should really do it from the main drain hose that leads right off the pan. You can use the largest hose (1/2" I believe) your extractor comes with and buy a barbed fitting and a male brass hose end that you can screw to your drain hose. You can pump all the oil out and do it much faster given the larger diameter hose and fitting.

Sorry for your bad luck, but at least it's getting taken care of. Food for thought... Last time I changed my oil with an extractor I ran the engine around the lake for a bit to warm up the oil. Normally I do this on a hose at home but have not had great luck with impellers lately and was paranoid. Anyway, I w armed up the oil and headed back to the dock to change oil. Everything went fine, but when I went to remove the tube from the dipstick a good portion of it was melted. I guess the metal parts of the engine were so warm the plastic couldn't handle it. All the tube came out, but I won't be doing that again! Drain hose from now on.

You may have a similar issue I did, but it just melted so much that its stuck. Either way doesn't change the situation.

Man, that is some horrible luck! My oil drain hose was cut too short at the factory and doesn't reach the drain hole in my hull, so I've had to "drain" through the dipstick every time. I can totally understand how you could push the tube too far, especially since it was your first time with that motor. Sometimes the tube will hit the bottom of the pan and deflect but if you don't feel it hit you just keep feeding and feeding and wondering where the bottom is. If you try again in the future, just ease it down, very slowly, until you feel the tip hit the bottom of the pan, and then pull it back just a tiny bit. I hope you get back on the water soon!

Yeah learned hard lesson and my 4 kids were all up my butt about it. Hard lesson to learn. I have always done it this way and didn't even think there was another way. I will look and see if there is another drain somewhere I can use, but after being down there a lot I never saw anything. What I did learn AFTER was that I could just use a fitting at the TOP of the dipstick and never put anything down the dipstick. That seems brilliant. (From a post on some internet search I did) anyway, that seems smart. That way the dipstick is part of the tube and should suck all the oil up, or at least most.

Hate being stupid, especially when I feel like I can do a lot of things. (Put a complete new dash in my boat just 3 months ago and had to re-wire everything, a lot with switching out old switches to the new style....talk about trial and error...whoa)

So to do this on a damn OIL change about did me in. Losing a weekend on top of it, and having my kids up my ass about it nearly caused me to drink myself to death. HA.

Hope someone learns from this. I know I did.

The painful lessons are not easily forgotten. The tube got stuck on the windage tray no doubt as those things have really sharp edges. To ease your pain there is huge list of people who have gotten tubes stuck in marine transmissions attempting to change the oil. You better rest your liver for when the shop bill comes in though !! LOL.

Eric Scott: You can still do what I said. Get a fitting that attaches to your extractor hose. You don't need to stick the drain hose out the rear of the boat. The dip stick method is the slowest, worst way to change the oil. You can't even get all of the oil out using this method. If you can attach to the main drain hose on the bottom of the pan you will get the most amount of oil out. Most boats have the drain hose looped up and attached to something near the flame arrestor or under the engine cover....on a PCM anyway.

And if you didn't run your boat first to warm it up you really need too. I run it for a good 10 minutes. Helps thin out the oil and makes it easier to pump out.

Why give up? Buy the right tools. I use air compressor fittings and shut off valves to make any attachment for any boat/trans/v-drive for zero mess. I used a drill pump for years but these pumps make it so easy it's well worth it.

http://www.amazon.com/Jabsco-Change-.../dp/B00ITFCUIS

Ouch! Thanks for sharing, Scott!!

All,
Do all engines have oil drain hoses? I ask because I was just recently at the bottom of my engine for a couple days (motor alignment and then an impeller replacement with a couple dropped bolts) and didn't see a drain hose. I saw what looked like the drain plug, but it did not look usable due to its location. I replaced my oil using a similar technique as Scott (minus the drama part). I saw many videos online doing just that... like this one https://youtu.be/U7I3kWcIpQk

I wonder if Mercruiser's 8.1L doesn't have the oil drain hose. Scott, I assume you changed your Epic's oil through the dipstick without issues? Or did you not have them long enough to change the oil? LOL

Took a picture at lunch. If you do have a drain hose on the bottom you just need to buy these two fittings (hose barb and female fitting) to connect directly to your pump hose. Way faster and way easier.

Chris. Yeah I did both Epics. Lol. Didn't have either long. One summer each. Then new Mb. And now this MB. Don't keep much long eh. Hahaha

On my Mercruiser, which is one of many boats that do not have an oil drain hose out of the engine, the oil extractor seals on the top of the dipstick tube and no line needs to go down that tube at all. No chance for a tube to get stuck. This system works very well.
Scott, you made the right decision not to run with the plastic tube in the crankcase. Too much damage might be caused by shredded plastic and missing a weekend is better than missing an engine. It is so frustrating when some stupid thing happens while you are trying to prevent stupid things from happening. I have had frustrating experiences like yours, but with other parts of engines.
You have my sympathy.

Most inboard ski and wakeboard boats have them. I haven't run across many that don't. Most mercruisers and volvos don't have the oil drain line mentioned. So those you suck the oil through the dipstick tubing. I've never stuck any smaller tubing down the dipstick tubing to suck the oil out. I always look first for and oil drain line clipped somewhere on top of the engine. If I can't find one I'll suck the oil from the dipstick tube. It's not real hard. The small tube you stuck down the dipstick tubing and got stuck is for pulling fluid from transmission and vdrives.

Anyone own a MB that knows if our boats have the drain on the pan? Trust me when I say I was down there and never saw anything, but it could have been staring me in the face and being so mad I may have just missed it. Still this morning I am bummed and I know it will be fine once I get it back. The guys at N3 Boatworks are awesome and will have me back as soon as they can. But damn it still hurts my ego to do this while changing the damn oil. uggggg

Scott ~ Which engine do you have? I have a 2012 F21 with the PCM 343 and my oil drain hose is on the stern side of the engine.

Check it out....

if you look close you can see the mangled tube sticking out....

So you see your drain tube, yes?

the drain tube is right between your exhaust riser and spark plug wires.

Spotted... Now start kicking yourself for not knowing how much easier it is to change your oil...

Well, there you go Scott. Although you may take a few lashings people here on WW can still be of some help.lol. Now, go buy the fittings above that I pictured and rest easy my friend. Your oil changes will be much simpler and easier.

Dave ~ That pump idea is awesome! I usually run the engine up to running temp and just let the oil drain out. Maybe let it sit and drip for an hour plus at times, this can make it a whole lot quicker. Thanks!

No prob Josh. I run for 10 mins or so to do the same. Use the extractor to pull all the oil out. Go change the oil filter and then come back to get the rest of the oil that has settled at the bottom. Fill it back up and done.

That's how I do it! A barb in my pump and it's quick and easy.

omg.... that is what that is.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I didn't think I could feel anymore stupid. And now I know.... I can. ugggg

don't be too hard on yourself. mistakes happen. learn and move on.

I can't take credit for the drain hose fitting idea. Someone else much more smarter than I told me about it on the Tigeforums. I did the dip stick the first time around as well and this has made oil changes so much easier.

omg.... that is what that is.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It sucks dealers don't tell us about this stuff since they rely heavily on us taking our boats in for oil changes and charging way too much when it's so damn easy. With an extractor hooked to my hose I bet I can change my oil and filter in less then 10 minutes.
Winterizing my MB is even easier and I'm floored what the dealers charge to get your boats winter ready. Thank goodness I have a marine mechanic buddy that has shown me some things and avoid a lot of cost every year...

I'm not sure why everyone is making the dip stick method so complex. Just use the hose on the oil pump that will just barley squeeze in the dipstick tube. About 15 quick pumps and it will suck all the oil out in 5 mins while you drink a beer (or get the oil filter). Do it within 2 hours of coming off the lake and your oil will be plenty hot to flow.