Oil level 370 Cummins

[amber jj]

I had my 1st. try at a oil change on our 370 Cummins.I pumped out all the oil with the installed hand pumps,I had take the pump piston from the starboard engine and use it in the port pump as the leather piston cup had dried out.I have since ordered a new one.I prefilled and changed filters.I filled both engines with 12 liters of oil.The starboard engine came up to the low level which it is supposed to be,but port engine came about 3 inches above the high mark.I am sure I completely drained the oil.(maybe? I am 64).I am wondering if I dragged oil up on the inside of the dipstick tube and kept giving me a false reading.This tube comes from the far side of the engine so it easy to check oil.When I get back to the boat Saturday I will try again the tube should be dry.If that does not work I will pump the oil back out and remeasue the amount.If it comes out with the 12 liters I will remark the stick.

[Pitou]

Just some FYI from my experience owning that engine in my Albin 28 TE:

The capacity of the 370 6B series is 14 liters / 15 quarts. The difference in between the High / Low mark on the stick is 1.8 liters / 2 quarts.

I never had very good luck getting all of the oil drained with the mounted pump. I use a Jabsco oil change bucket with a 12 volt electric pump mounted on top using a hose down the dipstick tube to extract. It's better, but still must leave a little under 1 + quarts in the pan as I consistently use 15 quarts for a change including pre-filling the filter. It's practically impossible to remove all of the waste without using the drain hose coming off of the pan. I always dreamed of mounting a permanent Reverso Pump utilizing the drain hose for engine oil, gen-set oil and gear oil changes, but couldn't find the room.

[amber jj]

Keven thanks for the tip.I also would like to build my own oil extraction system.I have a hard time justifying the 4 or 5 hundred dollars for a 5 port pump.The beauty of the pump would to be able to refill the engines too.It is a real pain to refill these engines through the oil fill cap on the 31TE.The fill cap is about 8-10 inches under the cabin floor and with only about 8 inches of clearance,barely enough room to get a funnel in let alone to try and pour oil in.I have been using a 1 gal. oil picture jug with a 10 inch plastic tube clamped to the spout.

[amber jj]

Problem solved.
After checking the oil level again 4 days later it was still above the full mark.At least there was no other oil stuck on the stick above the high mark.Well I started from scratch again and pumped out the oil again and got just about 12.5 liters out,just enough to dirty the fresh oil.Well I measured up another 12 liters of fresh oil and put it in.I'm getting pretty good at this now.I checked the stick again only to find I am still above the high mark about a inch.It should be at the low level mark with the 12 liters.What had happened the dipstick tube had come loose and with the length of the tube over the engine,the top end of tube was about 2 inches low.So when the tube was pulled up tight and reclamped it brought the dipstick up too and gave me the proper measurement.
What a pile of messing around for such a simple fix.