I bet your engine will run great and you will feel much smarter for changing that filter.

Thanks for sharing your confession of humanity.

Ok, if it's time to admit our boat lessons, here is my most recent one.

I decided to change the oil and fuel filters, and of course the oil.

Now I have done this on all my cars, misers,etc, so I did not think it would be too hard.
I warmed up the engine, removed the stairs and engine cover and pushed the oil extractor down the dipstick tube. The first two litres of oil came out quickly, but the it was very slow on the rest. I then got to work on the oil filter. It was positioned so that the filter wrench I had was useless, and at 6'3"" crammed into the space available made it hard to get a good grip on the filter.
But I ot the filter off and screwed the new one on. What puzzled me was the two engine oil filling points. One was next too a plate that listed the spec's for the gearbox oil, so all of a sudden I thought I might have filled up the gearbox with 4 litres of engine oil. And the manual was not much help.
But of course I looked at the engine and realized that the oil was ok.

Then it was the fuel filters turn. This was easy to get too, but surrounded by hoses, so it was hard to remove it. And then the manual said to bleed the fuel system. But the manual showed a different version. But after cranking it a few times, the fuel got through, and all was good.

Catalina make a big deal about the little inspection port that allows you to check the oil without removing the engine cowling. But the dipstick is so far down the side, that putting it back in when the engine is hot can only been done while burning your arm.
A better idea would be to have a side mounted inspection door.

I pulled the fuel filter off the first time I tried to do an oil change. Smell tipped me off pretty darn quick though.

I change my oil at least twice a season.... cheapest $20 fix you can ever do.

I've heard people say they wait and change it in the spring.... that lets the internals of the engine sit in all sorts of acids all winter and eat away at it, or , worse, I've actually been told "I don't use the engine much so I change the oil every couple of years" (that was from a power boater so he can be forgiven for being inherently stupid).

[quote=pierview;9062]I change my oil at least twice a season.... cheapest $20 fix you can ever do.

I've heard people say they wait and change it in the spring.... that lets the internals of the engine sit in all sorts of acids all winter and eat away at it, or , worse, I've actually been told "I don't use the engine much so I change the oil every couple of years" (that was from a power boater so he can be forgiven for being inherently stupid).[/quote]

+1 on all that! Especially the last line! ROTFLMAO!!!

Don't feel bad, Bill. So, last week I decided to change the oil and filter for the first time, now having owned this 23 year old boat for 1 full year. Carefully packed paper towels around the filter to catch oil, carefully unscrewed the filter and then released diesel onto the towels. Great. So, I actually started reading all the engine manuals and learned that I actually have 3 fuel filters! 1. Strainer inside the fuel pump 2. Racor filter/separator right before the pump and 3. the infamous screw-on filter on the engine. So, before I take off on my long-awaited month long sailing voyage in July I'll try to replace all 3 filters, just in case. Now waiting on Catalina Direct to ship me the pump strainer....

Something I learned a couple of years ago from a mechanic regarding the electric fuel pump filter on my 84 C36. First I had no idea there was a filter in that thing. I bet it had never been changed seeing who would ever think there was a filter in there? Now here's the catch; there is a small flat round magnet on the bottom of the filter cage for the fuel filter. Do not accidentally throw this out with the filter. Without the magnet the pump will not work... and there are no replacement magnets. You have to buy a new pump...

Chris

[QUOTE=pierview;9062]I change my oil at least twice a season.... cheapest $20 fix you can ever do.

I've heard people say they wait and change it in the spring.... that lets the internals of the engine sit in all sorts of acids all winter and eat away at it, or , worse, I've actually been told "I don't use the engine much so I change the oil every couple of years" (that was from a power boater so he can be forgiven for being inherently stupid).[/QUOTE]

I change oil at the end of the season, but do wait to do the fuel filters and impellor just before the start of the season.

I also started unscrewing the fuel filter thinking it was the oil filter the first time I serviced the engine on our "new to us" 1991 C36.

I changed my oil yesterday and noticed that the accessory belt was almost completely parted in two places. New item for the spares list!

[QUOTE=Nimue;9078]I changed my oil yesterday and noticed that the accessory belt was almost completely parted in two places. New item for the spares list![/QUOTE]

The dealer at the place I go to to get parts for my motor gave me the wrong belt for my M35B - a couple of inches too short. He showed me in his book that it had the wrong listing. It can be real annoying when you have everything laid out to find that you have the wrong part, so for those of you with the Universal M35B, be sure to bring in your old belt when replacing it.

And, yes, the first time I changed my oil filter I was surprised to see diesel oil running out when I unscrewed it. Or what I thought was the oil filter.