A-4 Oil


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Posted by John (216.249.97.58) on October 07, 2004 at 21:30:47:

In Reply to: oil / impeller posted by Kim on 00:09:22 10/07/04:

Kim,

A great source of parts and information on A-4's is Don Moyer (www.moyermarine.com). He notes that Universal has always recommeded SAE 30 oil down to 32 degrees. However, he also says that 10-30 is acceptable. If you are running amongst the icebergs it may be best, but sounds like it won't hurt anyway.

Don can help with water pump impellers too, whether you have an old original gear pump or the more common later Oberdorfer rubber impeller pumps. Now he also has his own replacement pump. Note the change every year recommendation only applies to the rubber impeller pumps. They do harden with age and fail but every year is very conservative. Frankly in over 10 years and 2 boats I have only had one impeller failure on each. I only changed the impeller when it failed. What I did do is make it easier to change (one advantage of Don's pump and some aftermarket modification kits I have seen) but I made a significant improvement by just changing the original slotted head screws on the cover of my Oberdorfer to socket head cap screws. It is much easier to keep a hex wrench in the socket than a screw driver with the usual poor access we get to live with. At a minimum you should change it once to see how it is done and then keep a spare on board.

Changing the fuel filter depends mostly on the fuel quality you get. Overhauling the carb if it gets dirty is a real pain so I use a dual filter setup with a Racor primary filter backed up by a small inline automotive filter at the carb. (Don sells a kit to add the secondary filter too. Handy but you can do it yourself from the autoparts store.) Just remember that whatever filter you use needs to have a metal housing. The plastic ones are only safe (or legal) on outboards or diesels. Your own experience should tell you how often to change them.

John


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