Noob Maintenance Questions

[Joshua J Rowe]

2 seasons and less than 100 hours on a raw water impeller pushing it?

Anyone have any good tricks for changing the trans fluid at home without making a mess?

[Viper_Freak1]

Just changed trans fluid on my boat (2001 SAN 210) and used an oil extractor pump. No mess at all. Got the pump off Amazon for around $30 I think.


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[charlesml3]

Change the impeller at the beginning of every season, regardless of hours.

[Joshua J Rowe]

Just changed trans fluid on my boat (2001 SAN 210) and used an oil extractor pump. No mess at all. Got the pump off Amazon for around $30 I think.


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Are you saying you used that to draw the fluid out the fill/dipstick hole?

[Joshua J Rowe]

Change the impeller at the beginning of every season, regardless of hours.

Will do, thanks.

We used it quite a bit last year until we broke the tower. Would have easily done 50+ hours last season if that had not happened. Is the impeller reliable for than much use?

[charlesml3]

Will do, thanks.

We used it quite a bit last year until we broke the tower. Would have easily done 50+ hours last season if that had not happened. Is the impeller reliable for than much use?

Sure. They usually go bad over the winter when they sit. That's why I was saying to replace it every spring. I've done that for nearly 20 years now and never had one fail.

-Charles

[Joshua J Rowe]

Sure. They usually go bad over the winter when they sit. That's why I was saying to replace it every spring. I've done that for nearly 20 years now and never had one fail.

-Charles

Exactly why I ask what seem to be simple questions. That is a very valuable detail. Appreciate the experienced perspective!

On a side note, I have been changing my engine oil in the spring instead of prior to storage in the fall. Any opinion on that?

[Viper_Freak1]

Are you saying you used that to draw the fluid out the fill/dipstick hole?

Yep that’s exactly what I did


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[charlesml3]

Are you saying you used that to draw the fluid out the fill/dipstick hole?

This isn't the best way to do this. On the GT-40, there's a hose designed to drain the oil. It'll be clipped on the left side of the engine near the alternator. Take the brass cap off and insert your oil extractor tube into this instead of the dipstick tube.

The problem with the dipstick tube is where it attaches down at the casing. It'll often have a sharp edge there and the extractor tube can get stuck on that. Then you're in a bit of a pickle. It happened to my neighbor on his Mastercraft. It's better to use the built-in oil drain hose.

Plus, the oil drain hose is at the very lowest part of the oil pan and you'll end up getting more of the old oil out that way.

Here's a good discussion on this: https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...oil-drain-hose

-Charles

[Viper_Freak1]

This isn't the best way to do this. On the GT-40, there's a hose designed to drain the oil. It'll be clipped on the left side of the engine near the alternator. Take the brass cap off and insert your oil extractor tube into this instead of the dipstick tube.

The problem with the dipstick tube is where it attaches down at the casing. It'll often have a sharp edge there and the extractor tube can get stuck on that. Then you're in a bit of a pickle. It happened to my neighbor on his Mastercraft. It's better to use the built-in oil drain hose.

Plus, the oil drain hose is at the very lowest part of the oil pan and you'll end up getting more of the old oil out that way.

Here's a good discussion on this: https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...oil-drain-hose

-Charles

I was referring to the transmission and v drive for using the extractor pump. For the engine oil I use the drain hose. But for the transmission and v drive, it’s just too much of an *** pain to not use the pump unless there’s an easier way that I don’t know about.


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[Joshua J Rowe]

This isn't the best way to do this. On the GT-40, there's a hose designed to drain the oil. It'll be clipped on the left side of the engine near the alternator. Take the brass cap off and insert your oil extractor tube into this instead of the dipstick tube.

The problem with the dipstick tube is where it attaches down at the casing. It'll often have a sharp edge there and the extractor tube can get stuck on that. Then you're in a bit of a pickle. It happened to my neighbor on his Mastercraft. It's better to use the built-in oil drain hose.

Plus, the oil drain hose is at the very lowest part of the oil pan and you'll end up getting more of the old oil out that way.

Here's a good discussion on this: https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...oil-drain-hose

-Charles

With respect to the transmission,
I do not see how it was intended to have the fluid changed without one of those exchanger machines. Drawing a few quarts out and replacing with new sounds like the only option that I can do at home. Done that with steering pumps before.

[Viper_Freak1]

Another question, is there an easier way to get the strainer out of the v drive unit? The manual says that the strainer should be clean and magnetic plugs cleaned off as well. But after seeing how difficult it would be to get my hands down there I decided the **** with it. Anybody have any ideas on this or is it really even necessary?


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