Well as much as I told myself I wouldn't overfill it, I did. Not by much, maybe two or three quarts. I would like to remove some and get it in the middle of the full range. It's not experiencing any problems but I would just feel better about it. Anyone have any ideas how to remove a small amount of oil without dumping the whole 38 quarts? I don't have a drain valve. I tried one but I didn't like it. For one I could never get it to seal at the gasket so it was always leaking and two I'm super paranoid about how far down it hung and how vulnerable it would be to breaking off. I tried to siphon some oil out of the dipstick tube but the small tubing I was using didn't get down into the sump. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Get one of the vacuum pumps for changing oil in boats. Put hose in dip stick tube
Remove the filter, pour it out, re-install.
Harbor freight has a good hand pump foe extracting fluids from engines. Get enough tubing to reach the bottom of the oil pan.
I'll throw this into the mix.
When I went to install our no spill plug ,some on the forum had mentioned attaching a vacuum to the fill tube and turning it on. This is what we did an no oil came out of the drain when the plug was removed with the vacuum on.
So what would happen if you turned the vacuum off until the desired amount of oil came out?
I would imagine it would stop draining again but not sure.
Correct, if you turn the vacuum back on
Mike
Would it not take a few seconds build vacuum again. So put the oil in something clean cause you may be putting some back in ??
Removing oil filter is brilliant. If you had Frank & Daisy's No-Spill Compact drainer you could drain any amount, and it does not hang down like the valve model that you said you did not like (we also don't like the valve type)
Thanks for the responses. I love the idea in reply 2 to remove the oil filter. That's perfect and I don't know why I didn't think of it. Seems like that holds about two quarts. Thanks again all.
Prepare for some spillage if you do that.
Seems like the least messy approach would be to buy an inexpensive hand pump and go through the oil fill.
Absolutely, i have a boat and thats the only way i can change my oil, the little pump comes with different size pipes, works of 12 volt, i paid £14.99 for mine, they will pump diesel and engine, but dont do what my mate did on his boat, he tried using it to pump water out of his bilge, and it stopped working pretty quick,
problem is if you follow the oil fill pipe down, it enters the block from the side. Any tube sent down that pipe will not enter the sump. The dipstick tube enters at a downward angle but the thin tubing won't make all of the bends and so it just jams up before it hits the oil. Best method is to either drain all of the oil or drop the filter.
When coach had too much oil I removed through the dip stick. I measured the dip stick and inserted hose that distance into tube. I was then able to pull the extra 3.5 quarts out from the engine. It dip stick touches oil, so will a tube. Do it anyway you want.
must be the tubing that I'm using isn't rigid enough. I'm using clear vinyl tubing so it's sort of soft and pliable. Maybe polybutylene tubing would be more successful.
I got mine from lowes. I think it was marked to be used as water line for refrigerator. It is stiff. I had to straight out since it came rolled up.
I use the same as Turbojack. It's white and pretty stiff, use it for oil samples.
I'm happy to report that removing the oil filter is easy and I didn't spill a drop. Got about 1.75 quarts out of it so I may have to do it again after running the engine. Thanks for the helpful responses.
George,
Have you calibrated the engine oil dip stick so you know the full and add marks are accurate.
Easy to do when you change the oil. Just make sure to add the exact correct quantity of oil your engine calls for (starting with full minus whatever amount you want for the add mark) and then finish adding oil and mark that full.
The dip sticks on most all diesel pushers are NOT from the engine manufacturer and may or may not be accurate.
I will be doing that on my next oil change. I believe I read that the ISM takes 38 quarts.
George,
To be sure call Cummins with your engine numbers and they can tell you the exact amount of oil that engine needs.
Mike
Don't forget that our oil pans were changed by Foretravel for ground clearance purposes.
Your oil pan is marked on the bottom