FL 120 Smokes more after oil change.

So I changed my oil for the first time last week and it seems like it smokes a little bit more. Pretty good at changing oil. Used Delo 400 30WT and also did the Simms pump. It just seems like it smokes a bit more on startup. It is not horrible and goes way down after it heats up. Just wondering if there is some correlation.
Thanks,
Jeff

Greetings,
Mr. J. Could be a slight change in atmospheric conditions whereby there seemed to be more smoke. Unless further enlightened, I can't see that changing oil would change anything.

Overfilled it? Did you put in a quantity or use the dipstick? Has your dipstick been re-marked? Tip the engine back like you do when you mount it in a boat and the oil level reads incorrectly. You will notice your engine will use some oil and then stop at some level it is happy at and won't use any more.

The FL-120 takes 12 qts. The manual describes the remarking of the dip stick. My PO used 13 qts and thought he had problems because it burned a qt in 10 hrs.

Jbear said:

So I changed my oil for the first time last week and it seems like it smokes a little bit more.

Click to expand...

Psychological on your part perhaps? Or slight over fill.

I wouldn't worry about it

Mine did this too for a while. Seems fine now. I did use the correct volume and it does not come up to the Min line on the dipstick I have.

I did put 14 quarts in it.... Ha ha, JK! I put 12 and the dipstick was "re-marked" so that was cool. Ok, I'll just keep an eye on it.

BTW, went to pump out today and the wind was up when I was coming back. I seriously "drove" this boat into the slip. Single screw with no thrusters. I saw it was now or never and put the heat on it. Slid right in. The wife was seriously laughing at that maneuver. She asked me how I knew to do that. I of course lied! Chicks dig good drivers...and lucky ones!

14 quarts is too much. You can blow a main seal (steady Firefly!) and get a lot of blow by as the crank will be splashing it about a lot - I recommend taking some out. Burning a lot of oil with the breather is not good. Next time, get it all out and measure the correct amount and remark the dipstick.

You will never get all the old oil out, especially if you're sucking it out through the dipstick tube so putting "X" quarts in will overfill the engine. Too much oil can cause problems in an engine. Fill it to the level marked on the dipstick unless you have a good reason to believe the dipstick is incorrectly marked.

Is straight 30 weight the rec. oil for a Lehman. I use 30w in my DDs, not because I like it but because they will burn a lot of multivis. If I could use 15w40 I certainly would. I cant imagine why anyone would voluntarily use 30w if its not required.

I agree with kulas44,,, strait 30 is not a diesel wait oil. 15w40 is the best wait oil for all diesels.

I used 40w oil in Lehmans for years and years. As I recall 30w or 40w was what was called for in the old Leman owners manuals. And straight weight oils most certainly can be diesel oils.

Shell Rotella® Products - Shell Rotella

It's the way the oils are formulated not their weight that determines whether they are diesel rated or not.

These days most diesels call for 15-40w and running that in a Lehman is not going to hurt anything. But there is no reason not to run a straight weight either.

Greetings,
As per the Lehman manual, straight 30 weight is the oil to use. Straight 40 weight in some cases.

Sure would be nice to have a newer engine so you wouldn't need to guess how much oil to put in.

If you don't have a turbo and warm your engine up straight wt oil is better. Why have something in your oil that you don't need and displaces oil that you DO need. Multi-vis is for cars and trucks.

Bob Smith said they screwed up the dipsticks. Remember the Lehman was a combine motor and when they marinized them and tilted them in boats the dipstick is marked wrong. You get virtually all the old oil out if you use a drill pump and the difference is immaterial. Fill it with fresh oil (I used 30 wt Delo) as per the manual, remembering that these old Fords were made in the dark ages when oil was oil and live pampered lives, so measure the oil and use the dipstick as a comparison measure, or go crazy and re-mark it. Don't forget the Simms pump, EVERY 50 hours with the same oil. A Lehman in a genset will go 30,000 hours or more, although I can't imagine owning one and changing the Simms oil every 50... Gawd.

Greetings,
Mr. X. Bob Smith told me the 50 hrs oil change on the Simms pump was a misprint in the manual and the interval was 100 hrs. Annapolis Trawler Fest I think.

Is straight 30 weight the rec. oil for a Lehman. I use 30w in my DDs, not because I like it but because they will burn a lot of multivis. If I could use 15w40 I certainly would. I cant imagine why anyone would voluntarily use 30w if its not required.

Most older engines were BUILT for single weight oil , the multi weight is to give a tiny better fuel burn , as the rings have to work less in scraping it down.

DIESEL OIL is defined by its additive package , not by its weight.
In some, 40% of the oil will be chemicals to improve dirt carrying , avoid rust or to neutralize acid in the blow by.

Every can of oil will have a code , look for it , learn what it means , and use what the engine builder thought was proper when the engine was built..

On older DD 2 strokes they started with 30 wt and soon learned the engines lived far longer with 40 wt.
DD requires CFII oil only,, most 4 strokes can use any DIESEL oil that will be on the shelves today.


Most if the oil improvements were forced by the EGR choking the engine with dirty exhaust .

Thanks EPA,

Monograde oils have better lubricity, hence why they are used in DDs which load load the big end bearing for every revolution rather than every 2 revs. Multigrades retain more constant viscosity over the temperature range allowing for better lubrication in cold engines.

Jbear said:

So I changed my oil for the first time last week and it seems like it smokes a little bit more. Pretty good at changing oil. Used Delo 400 30WT

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If a new boat to you, what oil was in it before? When was the oil last changed?

For an old diesel, it is not uncommon that a lighter weight or different brand oil than previous can lead to some "smoke" that wasn't there previously.

Or maybe the PO knew it was a smoker and used 50 weight, just guessing lacking facts of course.

I was told, by an OLD dd mech. (hard to find these days) that the polymers used in multivis oil get broken by the rings sliding past the intake slots in DDs and the oil gets less ("cohesive" ?) causing it to loose its "adhesiveness" and get past the rings. I know from personall experience on numerous occasions on lets of DD engines in industrial (oilfield) applications that multivis oil is a no no for DDs. No other engine has this design, therefor multivis should be much better than straight weight oil. Can anyone on this list define what multi viscosity oil is and how it is rated ?

Greetings,
Mr. k. Yahoo (or ugh, Google) is your friend:
What Is Oil Viscosity? | eHow
Motor Oil Viscosity Grades Explained in Layman's Terms
Motor oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
7.7 million results

I know what it is and how it is rated, however, most dont. Theres lots of misinformation around.

Wow Jeff,

You really set off a lot of discussion. I cannot contribute as I am new to Lehman's too. But....next week we can ask Bob Smith in our Lehman class in Anacortes.

Greetings,
Mr. k. "Can anyone on this list define what multi viscosity oil is and how it is rated ?" (your post #20) Well, if you know all about oils, why ask the question? I would hope any member REALLY interested in the factory recommended oils could get the specs from a manual somewhere and if they decide to deviate from the recommendations, so be it. As I stated previously I use straight 30W (Rotella T) oil as stated in the Lehman manual. Heck, I used Walmart 30W in the last Lehman.

http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity

This was on an old post and I thought very good. Amsoil isn't my favorite but the information (as I recall) was very good.

Better to find information about engineering (like oils) from an engineering source, not a mechanic. A mechanic's job and expertise is to troubleshoot, repair and or replace defective components. They are not scientists or engineers. They are a great source of what they think including old wives tales.
If a book was to be written about the advantages and disadvantages of various kinds of lube oil it would probably be written by a lubrication engineer .. not an engine mechanic.

Did multigrade oil exist when the Ford Dorset was "launched"?
Always thought multigrade oils were made as an improvement on single viscosity oils, maybe not. I use multigrade, but add snake oil to the genset oil. Spoilt for choice with snakes here, but catching them, and then extracting the oil.....tough gig.

BruceK said:

Did multigrade oil exist when the Ford Dorset was "launched"?
.

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Answering my own question. The "Lehman Operators Manual", p23, recommends a range of single and multi-viscosity oils depending on Fahrenheit temperature (presumably ambient).
Multigrade:
<32 deg F --5W-30
-10 to +90 --10W-30
-10 to 90 or above -- 10W-40
Above + 10 -- 20W-40
Single viscosity:
-10-32--10W
10-60--20W-20
32-90--30
Over 60--40
For sustained high rpm --20W-20
The Manual covers 4 and 6 cyl engines. Non turbos use API Classification CC, Turbos API Classification CD.
Hope that helps with what to use.

Well there's the rub. MY Lehman manual dated June 1986 lists only single weight oils and it also states the 50 hour oil change interval on the Simms pump. See table copied from the manual below.

Hi all,

First and formost, I WAS JOKING that I put in 14 quarts. That was what the ha ha and JK were for. I will be more careful in the future. Additionally I also stated that I knew about the dipstick needing to be re marked and it is and it did match.

I have no info from the PO as he had dementia when I bought the boat and I believe he may have passed now. I did buy the boat accordingly.

I read all the info available and notes from the PO that I had. The manual called for 30wt oil for my temp. range. Since I don't have a degree in Diesel engine oil I went with what the manual stated.

I have read many threads on the forum getting into what the best oil is. I didn't mean to go down that road. There are a lot of really smart people here from that industry and I'm sure there could possibly be something better now. I will talk with Bob Smith in a couple of weeks and find out.

I am getting ready to haul out tomorrow morning to swap out the prop, stuffing box tube, and packing. I may have to change the cutlass bearing but will find out once hauled. I have read multiple articles and threads on how to do this. I also have some people helping that have done it several times.

Thanks for all the info, this forum is a great place to learn about all the things you need to do on a trawler.

Jeff

Oh, and the oil change system on this boat is real slick! There is a hose coming from the oil drain plug going to a fluid transfer pump. You have to hold two switches on as a fail safe but it pumps the old oil into 1 gallon water jugs. We use the very clear ones so you can actually see what is coming out of the engine. It takes about 30 minutes to get everything out but it was right at 12 quarts!