CHANGING OIL

Rob Griem, #302

Go down to your local auto parts store and get what I call a "sucker". It is a metal container with a pump on it and some hose. All you do is pump the vacuum in the container, stick the hose in the dipstick tube, and wait about ten minutes. You will then have the old oil neatly sucked into the metal container. You can even wear a white shirt using this method.

Steve Cossman, Juno

I use the sucker pump method and it works great. I tried that siphon method and it was a pain in the posterior.

Couple of things here:

1) run the engine a bit to heat up the oil. It seems to flow better. Did not know if you did that already.

2) You never get out all the oil. There is always some in gear box.

Michael Lehmkuhl, Renegade #3, Athene

First run you engine for 10 minutes to get the oil good and warm. Moyer installed an elbow on the lower port side of my engine at the top of the oil pan. There is no long tube... but either way, just get a hose that

will fit over the tube and will fit on the other end of the Jabsco hand pump.

I use the Jabsco hand pump with the large hose provided instead of the tiny one. I use the piece of rubber included to convert between the two to attach to the tube on the engine. I get about 3-3.25 quarts (of the 4

quarts in the engine) out of the engine which is about as good as you could ever hope for.

Bill Meyer, #393

I got one of these at West Marine. The brand was "Big Boy topsider". Works great, and very easy.

Stephen

No matter what you use - run the engine Hot first to thin the oil. Then the cheapest way is to use a hand suction pump from an automotive supply store. They are used to get the oil out of differentials and so forth. Mine is metal and I think it was about $15.

There is also a special electric pump made for this - but they are about $50. or $75. As I recall.

Daniel McNeil, Evadne, #301

My A-4 is an old model (1962) and has that built in pump that sits on the carb side of the engine between the carb and the mechanical fuel pump. I found it by accident. It is a little hard to reach being so far down on the

block but works better than any of the other ideas I saw in this "stream". There was a rigid pipe attached to it which I removed and replaced with a flexible hose that tucks in next to the block. When I go to change the

oil I do so after the engine is warmed up and the oil flows out nicely. After I'm done I plug the hose with an old bolt to prevent leaks.

All of us A-4 owners should look for that little built in pump and try it out!

Figment, #78

#78 has the pump. Discovered when I accidentally pumped a squirt of oil out into the bilge whilst fumbling around on the engine on saturday.