How often do you change your oil?

chaser720 · **Joined:** Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:31 pm **Posts:** 90

steveA20 wrote:

Today I had my 50 hr service on my 16 A20 and was 2 quarts low since the 25 hr service. I hadn't checked it and hadn't got any alarms. I talked to the service manager and the master tech and was told by both that the PCM 350's are consuming oil due to high RPM's and heavy loads. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about burning 2 qts in 25 hrs. I only run around 2500k ballast and wakeboard 99% of the time. Engine runs between 3800 and 4k RPM's. I guess I'll be packing some oil with me on the boat for now on. Over here in AZ my dealer uses Castrol 20w-50. They told me I could switch to straight 40w. What is the exact amount of oil the 5.7 holds, 5 or 5.5 qts?

I have about 60 hours this season since my last oil change. I've burned a minimum of 4 quarts this season if not more. We board 50%, surf about 30% and cruise unloaded the rest. Never run more than 3K lbs. I just check my oil level at the beginning of every weekend and add accordingly. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a steady leak somewhere but I've never seen it in the bilge. I'm going to ask the dealer to look at it at the end of the season but don't expect to find anything.

r33pwrd · **Posted:** Tue Sep 13, 2016 5:29 pm

shawndoggy wrote:

vanamp wrote:

SomeYeahoo wrote:

Dealers could charge less if the hired people with the same skill set as a Walmart mechanic but do you really want that? It sucks but in The grand scheme of things there are not a ton of these boats around making anyone who works on them a little more valuable of an employee.

That'd make sense if my dealer had people walking around in white lab coats who were verterans with a long list of certifications. Fact is that in my neck of the woods boat repair is very very seasonal with a summerization peak in May, strong work in June/July/August, a winterization peak in September, and then dead from October to April. "real" mechanics will go work on cars or big rigs or whatever where the work is steady and plentiful. That leaves basically sub-par mechanics at exorbitant rates.

Honestly I'd trust the oil jockeys at walmart who see 25 cars a day, everyday, more than I'd trust the guys at the boat dealer who see .5 boats a day for most of the year and then see a huge peak where they are slammed with 50 a day for 2-3 weeks.

Not to mention that changing oil on these motors is about the easiest possible mechanical service any person with all his teeth could ever do. You certainly don't need someone with special skills to pump oil out of a drain hose and replace a remote-mounted oil filter.

Honestly if you don't like the rates just do it yourself and move on.. no big deal. Some of us prefer to pay someone else to do it (I'm busy as hell in summer and prefer to not spend lake time changing my oil) but that's just me..

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shawndoggy · **Joined:** Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:19 pm **Posts:** 263

r33pwrd wrote:

Honestly if you don't like the rates just do it yourself and move on.. no big deal. Some of us prefer to pay someone else to do it (I'm busy as hell in summer and prefer to not spend lake time changing my oil) but that's just me..

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No I totally get paying for convenience. For me, I can spend 5-10 minutes at NAPA on the way home from work and then the half hour or so it takes to change the oil (yeah I'm slow, I admit it), or I can spend 45 minutes each way pulling the boat out to the dealer and wait a week. Doing it myself is definitely a time saver that insures I don't lose valuable time on the water. Add another 20 minutes for the tranny fluid change.

r33pwrd · **Posted:** Thu Sep 15, 2016 8:45 am

shawndoggy wrote:

r33pwrd wrote:

Honestly if you don't like the rates just do it yourself and move on.. no big deal. Some of us prefer to pay someone else to do it (I'm busy as hell in summer and prefer to not spend lake time changing my oil) but that's just me..

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No I totally get paying for convenience. For me, I can spend 5-10 minutes at NAPA on the way home from work and then the half hour or so it takes to change the oil (yeah I'm slow, I admit it), or I can spend 45 minutes each way pulling the boat out to the dealer and wait a week. Doing it myself is definitely a time saver that insures I don't lose valuable time on the water. Add another 20 minutes for the tranny fluid change.

I guess I'm lucky I live 5 minutes from my dealer and I drive past them every day so dropping the boat off takes a few minutes at most

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JohnnyBravo · **Posted:** Thu Sep 15, 2016 11:37 am

With the new PCM engine when is the best time to check the oil? When the engine is cold before you get going or after you run engine and then let it sit for a few minutes or?

And, when dipstick says add oil, how much oil does it take at that mark to get it to full? 1/2 quart, one quart?

thanks

get_sum · **Posted:** Thu Sep 15, 2016 12:28 pm

I check when cold and add until top of the hatched area. I can't really say how much it takes from bottom of hatched area to the top. I usually add oil anytime I check it and it's below the top. I add a little at a time, 1/8-1/4 quart at a time if I'm close to full.

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kellerman · **Joined:** Thu Nov 19, 2015 2:30 pm **Posts:** 49

If you change your own oil and something goes wrong with the engine later on does it void the warranty?

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shawndoggy · **Joined:** Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:19 pm **Posts:** 263

kellerman wrote:

If you change your own oil and something goes wrong with the engine later on does it void the warranty?

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Sure probably. If you put your own gas in and you accidentally fill with diesel that's probably not covered either. Most peeps can live with that risk. Other than our friends in Oregon and New Jersey who have to pay someone to pump their gas too.

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r33pwrd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 16, 2016 4:55 pm

shawndoggy wrote:

kellerman wrote:

If you change your own oil and something goes wrong with the engine later on does it void the warranty?

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Sure probably. If you put your own gas in and you accidentally fill with diesel that's probably not covered either. Most peeps can live with that risk. Other than our friends in Oregon and New Jersey who have to pay someone to pump their gas too.

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Actually I belive as long as you can prove it was done they cannot void your warranty. Now if you use the wrong filter or oil you are sol. If doing yourself I would buy the stuff from the dealer so you have a trail of what parts and when you used them.

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shawndoggy · **Joined:** Sun Jun 16, 2013 11:19 pm **Posts:** 263

r33pwrd wrote:

Actually I belive as long as you can prove it was done they cannot void your warranty. Now if you use the wrong filter or oil you are sol. If doing yourself I would buy the stuff from the dealer so you have a trail of what parts and when you used them.

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"As long as it was done" is different from "as long as it was done correctly." I am saying that if you leave an oil pan drain plug out or use the wrong filter or fill with tranny fluid instead of oil or do something equally wrong, there's probably no warranty for a failure caused by your incompetence. Just as there's no warranty for failure to winterize, etc. I'm not sure even using the "wrong" oil could void a warranty (i.e. using 10/30 instead of 15/40) -- PCM for instance has varied recommendations based on how you use the boat, recommending straight weight for high load applications but 15-40 for normal use. but it's not hard to read the manual and just use the right kind.

But heck yeah your warranty is still good if you actually change the oil. As long as your oil change doesn't do something to cause the problem, you've got a warranty. You certainly don't lose your warranty by competently doing your own oil changes.

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How often do you change your oil?

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