Horizontal mounted oil filter on Northern Lights 6kw genset

[dhays]

Today I changed the oil in my genset. This was only the third time I have done it. I do it yearly and did it once when I first bought the boat.

The engine has a horizontally mounted oil filter so there really isn’t any good way to get it off without it puking oil all over. It just seems like there has to be a better way! Has anyone seen an adapter that would allow the filter to be mounted vertically?

 

[tiltrider1]

Today I changed the oil in my genset. This was only the third time I have done it. I do it yearly and did it once when I first bought the boat.

The engine has a horizontally mounted oil filter so there really isn’t any good way to get it off without it puking oil all over. It just seems like there has to be a better way! Has anyone seen an adapter that would allow the filter to be mounted vertically?

Form a funnel

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...targid=kwd-20901573759&ref=pd_sl_5ffa5l3uo3_e

 

[North Baltic sea]

Hi,


I also have an oil filter as Like you.


I put a small plastic bag mouth open to the filter part of the part under the generator, the oil pours pretty tightly into the bag and only I have to wipe a little from where the oil poured into the bag.


I think another possibility is the container (jar, plastic bac etc.) below and drill the hole in the filter under side to of the front side and the oil drains into the container.


NBs

 

[Simi 60]

This thread here has exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s6/easy-oil-drain-tap-37579.html

 

[dhays]

Thanks Simi60. That would work. I’d just need to find a decent place to mount it.

 

[Simi 60]

Get on eBay and search an10 hose and fittings
Lowest price and postage first.

5 ft of braided hose and fittings was about $30

 

[Conall63]

I own some heavy equipment where the oil filters are mounted upside down, so when the engine shuts off, they drain empty. CAT does this.

At first, I worried about air lock in the oil line, but after tens of thousands of hours without an engine failure, I sort of forgot about it.

Conall

 

[BIG CAT]

The only 90* adapter I have ever seen was made by ford motor sports for v8's. You could try the remote mounted setup. But personally wouldn't put that much effort into something you only do a couple times a year. An easier "fix" would be to use a sharp punch and make a hole and let it drain into a catch cup then spin in of once it's done draining.

 

[High Wire]

Form a funnel

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...targid=kwd-20901573759&ref=pd_sl_5ffa5l3uo3_e

X2. Also use it on CAV duplex fuel filters. Its compact for storage and easy to clean.

 

[helm]

I bought a Tempest Oil Filter EZ Drain Tool AA473 to drain the horizontal filters on our yanmar 6ly engines. You can find it on sky supply USA. They also have large filter sleeves you can use but they seemed expensive.
Good luck
Eric

 

[Maerin]

When changing the oil, first drain the crankcase, then break the filter loose; not enough to allow the gasket to leak, but enough to enable you to twist it by hand. Place a pad under the whole assembly, then a container under the filter. With a sharp awl, punch a hole in the shell of the filter at the upper most part, then with the container in place, rotate the filter loose so the hole faces down and drains the contents of the filter into the waiting container. You can punch another hole in the top to break the air lock. Wait till the contents drain into the container, then rotate the filter off the rest of the way, the pad should catch the drips from the gasket end.

My Westerbeke also has a horizontal filter, I've found this is the least messy, patience and slow moves helps!

 

[Ski in NC]

Second Maerin. I've got a similar 5Kw NL unit and have done about 10 oil changes.

Get it heated up and shut down. Stuff some oil zorb under the filter, like a 1/4 sheet. Loosen oil filter like a half turn or so there is a slight gap at the gasket, right on the verge of leaking. In that state it will drain partially, but not all.

I suck the sump a little different as I don't like the factory drain hose, it goes into the side of the sump and leaves a lot in there. I take the 10mm head screw off that holds the dipstick in and pull the whole dipstick holder. Then stick a sucker tube in with one of those pump suckers. Suck out sump, takes a couple minutes. Then unscrew oil filter. It WILL dribble, but be quick and you will catch most of it. Wipe up the rest. Don't loose the oring for the dipstick holder, and put it back in. New oil and filter, done.

Not worth it to me to add complexity of a remote filter. Clever use of oil zorb and rags and the mess is easy to deal with.

I go about 200hrs per oil change and don't worry about whether it is once a year or not.

 

[bayview]

Just punch a small hole in the low part of the filter and drain it.
You may find that it holds little oil after shuttdown.

 

[dhays]

Good suggestions. Big Cat, a 90 degree adaptor would be great on my Ford Explorer V8 for the same reason. I might check that out.

I have used the hole punch trick in the past with mixed results. I have a couple of cars (Ford) with this issue as well as the Yanmar on my C400 sailboat. I wonder about punching a hole in the filter and then using my Reverso pump. the hole in the filter would provide the air and maybe the oil will be sucked back into the engine?

 

[koliver]

Dave:

I too have horizontally mounted filters. Napa had a display rack on the counter in which I found a formable plastic/lead sheet that I put against the block, under the filter, over the stringer.
The Napa sheet is about 14" long by 8" wide, forms into a curve in either direction and holds it , so makes a ditch 1" deep easily.
The dribbles go into that ditch and flow into a paint tray on the floor. Easy wipe up when done.

 

[Rebel112r]

Dave You are getting fussy in your old age. I have a shallow Tupperware container, that slips between drip pan and motor, stick a folded absorb diaper in the Tupperware. Spin the filter off, with a little haste, wipe sealing surface and spin new one on. Wipe side of engine with rag and call it good, maybe a 1/4 cup of oil at most in Tupperware. Use a solvent of some sort on rag when wiping. Acetone , brake cleaner, or whatever is handy..That tiny filter does not retain much oil. Not worth the effort and expense for me to relocate filter. But this is coming from a guy, who in his early years as a heavy equipment Oiler, dribbled and spilled a lot of oil. Damn Cats with belly pans!

 

[Simi 60]

I am relocating the filter on the genset for no other reason than its hard to access.
Hard to access = blood and spillage and that leads to reluctance to change it which was clearly an issue for the PO.

 

[dhays]

I am relocating the filter on the genset for no other reason than its hard to access.
Hard to access = blood and spillage and that leads to reluctance to change it which was clearly an issue for the PO.

Yeah, I think Dan is right. I’m getting fussy. The filter is really easy to access on our boats. Sure, I don’t have enough room for my long legs, but the access is easy.

 

[Simi 60]

I have full standing headroom on the dipstick side but the filter and water pump are facing the hull side.
There is enough room there to easily work on them crouching but it means physically climbing over the genny to do it and it'd be a tight squeeze going over.
If the whole setup was rotated 90 degrees I would have easy access to both sides and belts which to me would have made more sense but not my build so have to work with what we have.

 

[BIG CAT]

Good suggestions. Big Cat, a 90 degree adaptor would be great on my Ford Explorer V8 for the same reason. I might check that out.

I have used the hole punch trick in the past with mixed results. I have a couple of cars (Ford) with this issue as well as the Yanmar on my C400 sailboat. I wonder about punching a hole in the filter and then using my Reverso pump. the hole in the filter would provide the air and maybe the oil will be sucked back into the engine?

I done oil changes on a lot! Of different engines and there's always those that are just a pain to do and always make a mess. You can't pull back through the filter like you're thinking unless you can cap the crank case breather and even then it maynot work. What we have done on bigger engines is use a hole slide hammer that hooks up to the pump and sucks the oil out . It works well but it's w lot of extra stuff for something you only do a couple times a year.

 

[dhays]

I done oil changes on a lot! Of different engines and there's always those that are just a pain to do and always make a mess. You can't pull back through the filter like you're thinking unless you can cap the crank case breather and even then it maynot work. What we have done on bigger engines is use a hole slide hammer that hooks up to the pump and sucks the oil out . It works well but it's w lot of extra stuff for something you only do a couple times a year.

Thanks for saving me the trouble of a failing experiment. Yet another example of how I really don't know how these loud things in the bottom of the boat really work. I think it is all just magic.

 

[BIG CAT]

Thanks for saving me the trouble of a failing experiment. Yet another example of how I really don't know how these loud things in the bottom of the boat really work. I think it is all just magic.

Lol no problem. But don't stop thinking outside the box. Some of the best stuff comes from the oddest places. My brother found some killer heavy plastic buckets at a kid's store. They lasted a good 5 years in my service truck.

This is the adapter I was talking about earlier.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-6880-a50

 

[BruceK]

I watched my mechanic remove the oil filter by punching a screwdriver through it to use as a lever to undo it.
If the screwdriver was punched through and withdrawn,could the oil in the filter be drained into a container via the hole punched in the filter?

 

[BIG CAT]

I watched my mechanic remove the oil filter by punching a screwdriver through it to use as a lever to undo it.
If the screwdriver was punched through and withdrawn,could the oil in the filter be drained into a container via the hole punched in the filter?

Most definitely. That's how i do it when there hot. On something that small you could make a hollow punch and connect it to a oil sample gun and suck it out also. I use goldpeak ice tea bottles when I suck out injector holes. They screw right in the gun and are plenty thick so they don't collapse as you put vacuum on it.

 

[Nomad Willy]

I tried the punching a hole routine.

Thinking the oil would drain w a hole at the top for the air to enter I had high hopes. But I soon had oil all over the place. The oil came out the big hole as soon as I unscrewed the filter. There must be a one way valve in the system to prevent oil from draining at shutdown.

Next time I change oil I’m going to see if I can rotate the filter 1/2 a revolution without opening the seal at the engine attach point. If so I can punch a hole in the top of the filter as I did before. Then I can rotate the filter 90 degrees so the hole is at the bottom and punch a hole in the top so the oil flows out the bottom hole. But I’ll need to hold something under the filter to collect the oil. And wait for it to drain.

Not perfect and more time consuming but far less mess.

 

[dhays]

I have used the hole punch method before. It works to a point. However, when you take it off, you now have a filter dripping oil from both ends... Still, it can help.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Dave on my repower I had hoses to a remotely mounted filter. Worked really great but I had leaking at the hose fittings and eventually removed them.

 

[BIG CAT]

I have used the hole punch method before. It works to a point. However, when you take it off, you now have a filter dripping oil from both ends... Still, it can help.

Rip a piece off a pig matt and force it into the hole. It will keep it from leaking out.

 

[BIG CAT]

I tried the punching a hole routine.

Thinking the oil would drain w a hole at the top for the air to enter I had high hopes. But I soon had oil all over the place. The oil came out the big hole as soon as I unscrewed the filter. There must be a one way valve in the system to prevent oil from draining at shutdown.

Next time I change oil I’m going to see if I can rotate the filter 1/2 a revolution without opening the seal at the engine attach point. If so I can punch a hole in the top of the filter as I did before. Then I can rotate the filter 90 degrees so the hole is at the bottom and punch a hole in the top so the oil flows out the bottom hole. But I’ll need to hold something under the filter to collect the oil. And wait for it to drain.

Not perfect and more time consuming but far less mess.

You just have to run your punch deeper and penetrate the center core. I did some services on Isuzu's that were the same way but they had the filter mounted upside down. Damn thing would make a mess no what you did.

 

[FF]

"There must be a one way valve in the system to prevent oil from draining at shutdown."

A check valve in the system is inside some oil filters.

Look in a filter crossover catalog to see if yours is designed for the valve.