Ez drain plug for mercruiser engine

[dlogvine]

Draining oil on my v8 5.0 1998 Mercruiser is a pain in the neck, since the pump I bought pumps it so slowly that it takes at least an hour to suck 5+ quarts of oil. Reaching the bottom and opening the oil drain plug is also problematic since I have to take apart at least parts of the separating panels in an engine compartment, which I did last time during the oil change. So I found an EZ plug that has a valve and attached hose that allows to drain oil immediately by opening valve and threading the hose through the boat water drain hole. My question is if anybody used it and which brand do you recommend, they come in several varieties. Thank you. Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[achris]

Been factory standard on Mercruisers for about the last 15 years...

Taking that long begs the question... Are you doing it with the oil hot?

Chris......

 

[dlogvine]

I run the engine for a couple mins before draining the oil. Also in Arizona outside temp.is around 100F and oolmis pretty fluid at the beginning. If the EZ drain plug is standard for 15 years, my engine is over 20 yo, so regular drain plug

 

[achris]

I run the engine for a couple mins before draining the oil. Also in Arizona outside temp.is around 100F and oolmis pretty fluid at the beginning. If the EZ drain plug is standard for 15 years, my engine is over 20 yo, so regular drain plug

"a couple of minutes" isn't anywhere close to long enough.

Everything you read about doing an oil change starts with "Bring the engine to normal operating temperature". And it matters little about the outside temperature, Arizona or not. You need to run the engine for at least 15 minutes to get the oil hot enough to do the oil change....

Chris.......

 

[Scott Danforth]

I added a few of the remote oil drain hoses to boats.

when you get done boating, and after you washed the boat and flushed it on muffs, then pull the hose thru the garboard plug and start the draining process.

grab a beer

start the cleaning of the vinyl, windows, etc

grab another beer

put away the boating stuff that needs to be stored

oil will have stopped draining.
cap hose
push back thru garboard
get plastic bag to change oil filter without making a mess in the bilge
change filter
add oil

grab a beer

re-start engine on muffs looking for leaks

put boat away.

 

[Tycer]

I will add that I always first remove the oil filler cap and put my car keys on top of the cap. Less chance of having a galling experience.

 

[Bt Doctur]

should be able to attach the pump directly to the dipstick and pump from there , thats why the threaded fitting is there

 

[wingless]

My oil is changed using my custom five-zone high-volume high-pressure oil change system, after using the boat.

The eight quarts of old oil is sucked from the sump in 10 seconds, for a five-minute oil change system.

These zones are plumbed to the existing oil sump drain plugs.

 

[dlogvine]

Thank you guys for multiple responses, I appreciate them all. However, my main question, should I get the EZ oil drain plug and if yes, what kind, is still there. So, is it better to get an EZ drain plug and if yes, what type? Thank you

 

[Bt Doctur]

Whats wrong using the dipstick?

 

[wingless]

Thank you guys for multiple responses, I appreciate them all. However, my main question, should I get the EZ oil drain plug and if yes, what kind, is still there. So, is it better to get an EZ drain plug and if yes, what type? Thank you

That EZ drain plug would not work on my boat, because the propeller shaft is immediately below the oil pan sump drain plug. Even the optional elbow fitting looks to drop too low. My solution replaced the OEM drain plug w/ a banjo bolt, w/ the hose fittings coming out the side.

It may be that the EZ drain plug w/ the optional elbow fitting would work fine on your boat.

If going this route, my preference is to prevent a single failure point from causing a problem. As applies to this change, if the lever accidentally toggles to open, to not permit the oil pan sump to quietly drain. That could be as easy as plugging the hose end.


https://www.ezoilchangevalve.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

 

[Cortes100]

Fumoto is another popular valve that people use on the cars/truck engines. No different than the EZ-drain and haven't heard anything bad about either one. Up here in Canada, I can find the EZ's locally, but the Fumoto is a US order. I've seen both but only used the EZ on one application. Don't see why it wouldn't work on a marine engine, as long as you can get to the valve. As for the accidently the lever opening, there is a little clip that gives it a positive lock. Again you still need access to the valve.

 

[Scott Danforth]

no valve needed with the remote oil drain hose. the cap on the end is the best "valve"

https://www.iboats.com/shop/sierra-...nfpogQcSJbZmXqr9Vc3nVRmQSjHV78tBoCvkEQAvD_BwE

most bilge applications there is not enough room to get your hand to the plug, much less a Fumoto valve or similar.

 

[wingless]

no valve needed with the remote oil drain hose. the cap on the end is the best "valve"

https://www.iboats.com/shop/sierra-...nfpogQcSJbZmXqr9Vc3nVRmQSjHV78tBoCvkEQAvD_BwE

most bilge applications there is not enough room to get your hand to the plug, much less a Fumoto valve or similar.

That setup looks safe and secure.

When I installed my system, the engines had a full sump of old oil. I put a newspaper sheet under the engine to collect any spills, unscrewed the drain plug and "immediately" stopped old oil w/ my finger, screwed in the banjo bolt w/ the ports plugged, repeating the process until I had a hose end above the sump level.

There was very little spillage.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I've found that a small $25 wet/dry vac from WallyWorld works really well. I duct-taped a length of garden hose to the end of the vac hose*, attach it to the dipstick after warming the oil, and it drains it in about 10-15 minutes tops. Works like a charm.


* I do this once a year and esthetics aren't important when I'm in the driveway, so duct tape it is! It works!

 

[Cortes100]

no valve needed with the remote oil drain hose. the cap on the end is the best "valve"

https://www.iboats.com/shop/sierra-o...BoCvkEQAvD_BwE

most bilge applications there is not enough room to get your hand to the plug, much less a Fumoto valve or similar.

Well the OP keeps asking if these EZ-drains are any good so I'm simply responding to his question, regardless of what other options are out there. :tennis:
FWIW, my last boat had the hose connection for the drain plug. It did flow slowly, but there was no work involved. My new boat I've been doing the suction pump thing. Not the greatest but probably cause I have a cheap little pump.

 

[dlogvine]

The reason I was looking at the drain plug valve is the ease of draining the oil from the engine. I did drain it via the dipstick for years, but I like to drain the oil completely, so often I used to crouch under the engine to open the drain plug and drain the remaining oil into a small flat container that fitted under the engine. It is quite a pain in the neck, and I know some will say not worth an effort, but... that is what I do. So the option to completely circumvent the dipstick pumping and just draining it immediately to the oil container outside of the boat looked like an alternative worth looking at. It still has a couple shortcomings related to this option, difficulty of reaching the valve, threading the hose through the garboard drain plug... that is why I posted this question. Thank you guys. Every post was very informative. Now I'll have to get in the boat and try to see and feel.how could these tasks be accomplished and then make a decision on whether I should change current oil plug or not

 

[achris]

As long as you warm the engine fully before sucking it up through the dipstick, you'll get 98% of the old oil out.

Seems to me you're looking for a way of changing the oil cold (a couple of minutes running is still cold)... Whichever way you do it, if it's cold, it's wrong.

Chris........

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

I have used both methods with good success and agree 100% that neither work well unless the oil is warm
( as in run on the muffs for 10 + minutes or drain after usage on the water.)

Adding the drain hose can be a challenge to get started depending on your plug & bilge setup ( 2 hands needed using my head against the floor as I lay over the engine / getting too old for that stuff ) and also the hose dia was larger than the 3/8 npt plug opening & a had ot add a 1/4 npt nipple and end cap. Its also 1 more place for a potential leak so I kept it well strapped when not in use.

In the end I think the $ were better spent on an oil pump // The pump works for the truck transmissions also as I like to change the fluid often & really only change the filter & pan gasket every other time.

To each his own I guess

 

[Catfive]

So my boat. 230 scorpion is being restored by me. I pull the oil line out the plug unscrew it and a teaspoon comes out. I realize the oil has water in it from abuse. Rain. Now i am going to pull off the oil pan and clean it as well as check the cylinders. Etc. Everybody knows how hard this will be. But the boat has to be right. I wanted to let someone know what happened if they hear about it on the news that I got my arm stuck. Lol