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Are Oil and Filters different for Ford Marine Engines

mrtmaag

Contributing Member
I am getting ready to change t

I am getting ready to change the oil in my engine and replace the oil filter. It is a Ford 302 or 351 and I was just wondering what type of oil I should use and if the oil filter is any different than a car engine oil filter? May be a stupid question.
 
"Mercruiser recommends their o

"Mercruiser recommends their oil but 15W-40 and 25W-40 are fine for most marine applications as long as the requirements are met (AJ, etc). The PH-8A is the typical filter but I (and a lot of others) don't recommend Fram filters. NAPA Gold, WIX and AC filters are usually better."
 
"PH8A is the same filter used

"PH8A is the same filter used on the 302 and 351 Ford car and truck engines, btw. What Jim says is true. However, my personal theory on filters is that if you change your oil and filters on nice regular intervals, you will need to be far less concerned with filter brand. Oil brand is the same but to a much lesser extent. Longativity of oil (given the same certifications) will be greater with a brand like Castrol vs something like private label brands. That said, it makes a big difference for more tempramental engines (4 cam Benz v8) for example, than the more durable American Chevy/Ford v8's - which includes marine engines. Just thoughts."
 
"There was a post in the Maste

"There was a post in the Mastercraft owner's forum that had a review of oil filters and while I don't know the guy who tested them, he wrote his own disclaimer so you can decide for yourselves. Fram was the worst one in all tests.

Here's the link: http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilters.html

I agree that frequent changes are best but why bother with a bad filter? I use AC on my Silverado (on the advice of a friend who worked at the GM Desert Proving Grounds for over 25 years but has his own shop now).

The private labeled oils have whatever additives spec'd in the order and that reflects in the price/qt. Most marine engine makers say that 50 hours of use is when they want the oil changed and while it's not a high number of hours, I have seen some really dark, tar-like oil come out of boat motors after this amount of time. At the point where the oil is black and opaque at the time of the oil change, I'm not sure the filter hasn't been bypassing the dirty oil for a long time and that's where problems start. I'll see if I can find the test results- there are quite a few filters made by Fram with other names on them."
 
"Interesting. No doubt. Not su

"Interesting. No doubt. Not sure oil color will tell you much about the state of the oil though, as color may be impacted by the mix of detergents in the oil, type of fuel used as well as existing sludge build up. But in summary... stick to decent oil and filters... but not a reason to delay changing both frequently."
 
"I want as much of the particu

"I want as much of the particulate matter removed. We all know what fresh and dirty oil look like. Totally black doesn't tell me that the filter is working. OTOH, it can also mean a tired motor.

Old oil/filter are bad. I had a guy come in for an oil change once and he sheepishly told me that it had been 3 years since the last one and his son tried to remove the filter (GM- 5.7L in a Malibu Response), which is the reason it was shredded. Unfortunately, the filter flange was below the floor and there was very little clearance to get in with hands or tools. Cut my hands to ribbons but I got it out and it was stuck, big time. Three changes later, the oil was clean. I told him in advance that I would need to charge hourly and scolded him on the 3 year interval. He was OK with it."
 
"okay... one more oil story. R

"okay... one more oil story. Running a garage in 1988, I had a woman drive in with some chevy wagon billowing smoke from under the hood. As i flug the hood open with fire extinguisher standing by she calmly said, "my husband told me that it needed oil but i didnt know where to put it so i poured it all around the engine figuring it would leak in where it needed it.""
 
I worked at a boat dealership

I worked at a boat dealership and a former major league baseball player came in one day. We were talking about a variety of things and he said he mentioned to his wife that the boat was low on gas. So she took it to the station and put the nozzle into the oil filler hole on the valve cover and filled it till it just came out the top.

Lovely woman.
 
"Hi there, i am living in holl

"Hi there, i am living in holland so mij english will be terrible but i am trying.I bought a Maxum 4.3 l 190 hp and it has 72 hours of running / use. the oil looks like it is new. now mij kwestion. Do i need te change the oil and filters or can it wait until next jear.
and if i have too change it what kind of oil and filters do i need.

Thanks and greets Tonny"
 
Keeping oil and filters change

Keeping oil and filters changed is the key to long engine life. Use oil that is of the viscosity (weight) recommended by the manufacturer. It is the same as automotive. The oil filter cross references to a GM (General Motors) V-6 automotive engine.
 
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