This might sound a little stupid but i purchased the drill powered oil change pump from West Marine (Jabco i think) for sucking the oil out of the dipstick tube. I tried it last night and could not get the oil to suck (only little amounts). I did not run the motor first because it is a pain in the ass because i have a hull pick up. Does the oil need to be warm/thinner for the pump to work? Any tricks that i dont know about?

By the way i have an 88 454 block.

Thanks, MIKE

Yes,It works much easier when the engine oil is warm. I wouldn't even think about trying to change my oil before I ran it for a while.

I never really cared at all for the dipstick style oil changers. I just have a fitting on my oil pan drain plug hole with a 3ft hose installed and I just set my oil changer bucket in the bottom of the boat, connect the hose and start the pump. It gets everything quickly and efficiently and draws from the very bottom of the pan. Starting the motor puts a lot of oil in the engine so you need to let it sit a few minutes to drain back down into the pan. Warm is good.

Thanks guys, MIKE

Find a hose that will go on the outside of the dipstick tube. This will pull the oil out a lot faster.

Do you mean one that actually screws to the dipstick tube?

Depending on the type of dipstick tube you have you can either screw a garden hose attatchment to it or you can just slip a 3/8 fuel hose around the outside of the tube. Snap a picture of your tube and I will let you know if it will work or not. The small plastic tube down the dipstick tube will be painfully slow even if the oil is warmed up.

Will it actually suck all the oil out of the pan, up the dipstick tube without a tube actually in the oil?

I think the dipstick tube extends to the bottom of the pan.

Most marine engines the tube goes to the bottom of the pan. You will know real quick when you put some suction on the tube.