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Old 06-23-2015, 01:30 PM   #21
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Thanks everyone! I spoke with my seasoned mechanic and, like others suggested on this thread, I was basically told not to worry about it at all. In the words of FF, I will "Forgetaboutit". It will come out if my oil pan gasket needs replacing or the engine requires an overhaul several years down the road. As advised by several members, I heated the tube until it melted into goo, which took far, far, far more heat than my oil will ever produce. The oil pan plug at the bottom of the pan is simply not accessible--no room what-so-ever.

I feel better now but can't help be a little annoyed. I will still change my oil changing habits and will use the oil pick-up tube at the pan (fitting the pump hose around the tube to form a seal) rather than into the dip stick tube. No more sticking plastic hoses down the dipstick tube for me!

I really do appreciate everyone's input and thoughts. Thank you!

I doubt you will get much oil out that way as I doubt the tube goes to the bottom of the pan. Before I installed an oil change kit I used to pump it out through the dipstick tube, but I had a piece of copper tubing that the pump hose attached to. The copper tubing is what entered the dipstick tube. It worked great.
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Old 06-23-2015, 02:17 PM   #22
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Most boat engine dipstick tubes go all the way to the bottom of the oil pan, or almost. How else would you be able to hook a hose to it and suck out the oil ?
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Old 06-23-2015, 03:24 PM   #23
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Most boat engine dipstick tubes go all the way to the bottom of the oil pan, or almost. How else would you be able to hook a hose to it and suck out the oil ?
You don't normally hook a hose to the dipstick tube. You normally insert a hose inside the dipstick tube and slide it down to the bottom of the pan. It would not make sense for the DS tube to go to the bottom of the pan. If it did you probably would not get an accurate reading on the dipstick.

It would be pretty easy to see how long the DS tube is. Just take a small piece of copper wire and put a small bend on the end of it. Slide it down the tube and move it around until you find the bottom of the tube. Hold your finger on the wire and pull it back out. Measure it and then measure the DS tube. That will tell you if the tube extends into the pan. My guess would be one in a thousand would get near the bottom of the pan. The other 999 will stop at the block.
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Old 06-23-2015, 07:08 PM   #24
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For years we have sucked the oil out of GM 454s using the dipstick tube with a hose clamped over the top of it.


If you don't get all the oil out....BIG DEAL.....we even leave some in the oil cooler....


The company I work for gets as many hours out of a gas engine as some here get out of their diesels because mothering, babying and low use hurts some engines way more than regular but less than perfect oil changes.

Some need to get a grip here.....
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Old 06-23-2015, 07:19 PM   #25
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I actually have a second tube on my Volvo MD2030, which is secured to the bottom of the pan where the drain bolt is located. It is hard to explain, but the tube goes from the bottom of the pan and to the side of the engine. It is meant for oil extraction. The tube is narrower than the dip stick tube, which is why I didn't originally stick the hose down that (couldn't fit). It has a flared end which is normally capped with a rubber stopper but can be used to attach a hose from an extractor.
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Old 06-23-2015, 07:36 PM   #26
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I guess I've owned about 10 of the "1 in a 1000" engines with dipstick tubes designed for oil extraction. Imagine the odds . Come to think of it, I've NEVER seen a Detroit Diesel in a boat that was not like that. All of the Mercruiser inboards I've changed oil in were like that. Only recently has the "hose down the DS tube" became THE way to do it, mostly due to the proliferance of 4 stroke outboards, where that is the prefered way of doing it.
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Old 06-23-2015, 07:41 PM   #27
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I have a pair of Perkins Prima diesels in my shop that have there own little hand pump on the side of the oil pan just for changing oil. Thats the only endearing feature of that particular engine. The engines are dissassembled and in boxes if anyone needs parts. I have thought about adapting the hand pumps on to a generator oil pan, that would be real handy.
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Old 06-24-2015, 05:47 AM   #28
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:You don't normally hook a hose to the dipstick tube. You normally insert a hose inside the dipstick tube and slide it down to the bottom of the pan. It would not make sense for the DS tube to go to the bottom of the pan. If it did you probably would not get an accurate reading on the dipstick."

This is probably true for car or lawn implement transplants , but not for marine or industrial based engines..

Our 6-71 has a 1/2 inch tube that with a rotary pump can get the oil (6 gallons) in a couple of min.

Cars . pick up trucks and the rest are normally drained with pulling a plug.
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Old 06-24-2015, 09:15 AM   #29
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Glad it all worked out ok for ya! Thanks for keeping us posted!
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Old 06-24-2015, 09:48 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FF View Post
:You don't normally hook a hose to the dipstick tube. You normally insert a hose inside the dipstick tube and slide it down to the bottom of the pan. It would not make sense for the DS tube to go to the bottom of the pan. If it did you probably would not get an accurate reading on the dipstick."

This is probably true for car or lawn implement transplants , but not for marine or industrial based engines..

Our 6-71 has a 1/2 inch tube that with a rotary pump can get the oil (6 gallons) in a couple of min.

Cars . pick up trucks and the rest are normally drained with pulling a plug.
I can see where some engine manufacturers would be thoughtful enough to design this feature in but I would not assume it to be so. We have an FL120 and although I am not at the boat right now to check it, a quick check of the manual shows that the tube stops at the oil pan. If you hooked a suction hose to the outside of the tube all you would get is air. I used to stick a hose down the dipstick to change the oil. After I installed an oil change kit to the drainplug from AD I was able to get almost another full qurat of oil out.

Some don't think it is a problem leaving a quart of oil. Personally the reason I change the oil is because I want new oil in the engine. If I did not have a choice but to leave a quart that would be one thing, but for $23 for a kit I did have a choice and I choose to change all 12 quarts.

Vashon Trawler says he has a sperate tube that goes to the bottom of the pan and is designed for changing the oil so I doubt (I could be wrong) that his dipstick tube goes to the bottom of the pan, but as I said before easy to verify.
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Old 07-11-2015, 07:20 PM   #31
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Well, that darn broken tube was driving me nuts... call it obsessive compulsive disorder but I went ahead and had the engine removed. In addition to dropping the pan and replacing the gasket, I replaced the original circulation pump and thermostat. I figured it was best to do it now while the engine was out because I am unable to remove these parts with the engine in (no clearance). I also replaced the exhaust riser.

My wife said I wasn't going to relax on our next long trip--she knows me well!
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Old 07-11-2015, 07:21 PM   #32
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Smart move, I would too.
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Old 07-11-2015, 07:27 PM   #33
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Did you recover the offending object? Where was it?
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Old 07-11-2015, 07:33 PM   #34
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Did you recover the offending object? Where was it?
I did; it was located at the bottom of the pan. Would it have caused a problem? Probably not--at least not in the short term I believe. I couldn't dismiss images of degrading pieces of plastic tubing clogging the pickup screen. Oh well...

The riser was showing signs of "atherosclerosis" and replacing the original circulation pump and thermostat was simply preventative maintenance. Also, I painted the bilge and had the valve clearance checked/adjusted.
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Old 07-11-2015, 09:28 PM   #35
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Great news . I know it was a lot of work but now you can move on.
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Old 07-11-2015, 10:34 PM   #36
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I guess I would have done the same thing, but I'd have been cussing the whole time. Well, at least you got a clean bilge to show for it.
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Old 07-11-2015, 11:27 PM   #37
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I hope you took the opportunity after all that time, money, and trouble, to obviate the possibility of it happening again, by having one of those nifty oil draining attachments put in the sump pan to allow oil changing without sticking a suction line into the dipstick…tell me you did…please...
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Old 07-12-2015, 12:05 AM   #38
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I hope you took the opportunity after all that time, money, and trouble, to obviate the possibility of it happening again, by having one of those nifty oil draining attachments put in the sump pan to allow oil changing without sticking a suction line into the dipstick…tell me you did…please...
Trust me, no hose is EVER going inside my engine! Instead of using the dipstick tube, I will be using the engine's oil draining pipe instead, which is connected directly to the bottom of the oil pan (see schematic). I have a larger diameter extractor hose that fits around (not inside) the draining pipe--nothing goes inside now.

In hindsight, I should have done it this way; but I've never had a extraction tube break off in a dipstick tube.
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Old 07-12-2015, 07:57 AM   #39
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Lucky fellow. I have to still stick the sucker down the dipstick tube, and sincerely wish someone had put a drainage system into the sump pan drain, but reaching it now is impossible.
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Old 07-12-2015, 08:00 AM   #40
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Installing an oil drain pump to both the engine and genny makes oil change a clean simple process. The pump will run in reverse to fill them as well.


I even added a valve to mine to do the trannys as well.
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