Oil change???

[John316]

A guy wants me to change the oil on his 351 Cummins (he said that it was a 351, I don't know for sure). Is there anything "special" that I need to know about? I am assuming that it is the same, drain the oil, replace the filters, and then fill again, etc.

What do you guys think?

God bless,

John

[Dallas]

Not sure what the 351 Cummins is, but it's good practice to fill the oil filters with oil before installation. It's much easier on the engine, and limits the amount of dry run time without oil pressure.

[poppi]

 Maybe it is a 351 Clevland not Cummins.............

   Sorry couldn't help myself


My edit:
Ok ok.......Dallas is correct the only other thing that I do and it depends on the engine.
if it is an engine that starts as soon as I hit the starter.........I will leave the feul off
and run just the starter for 30 secs first.   Even if you fill the filters there is a
lag before the pressure takes off. With out filling the filters it can be longer and with
some engines they are already running......


Skip

[John316]

I don't know anything about Cummins. That is why I didn't call him on it (because for all I know it could have been legit). I didn't think that a "351" sounded like a model, but what do I know?

Thanks for the tip.

Poppi, I am positive it isn't a Clevland .

God bless,

John

[Dallas]

Good point Skip,
I've done so many oil changes that it's second nature to turn the engine over without starting it. I never think to tell anyone else to do it that way.

[DaveG]

FWIW, we've been changing oil and perfoming services here for 20+ years and do not fill the lube/oil filter, but we do fill the fuel filters.

There are plenty of 350 Cummins out there, some with a full flow spin on filter, and some with a full flow and a by pass spin on, and then there are the ones with a combo full flow and by pass filter...all service procedures remain the same.

[John316]

Do any of you guys have a rough idea how many gallons of oil it holds? I am just trying to figure out how to contain the oil as it's coming out.

Thanks.

God bless,

John

[DaveG]

About 9 gallons, maybe a little more.

[John316]

What do I catch the oil in? A typical oil pan won't work?

Thanks for the help.

God bless,

John

[Dallas]

John
I use a rubbermade tub with a black plastic garbage bag as a liner.
When I'm done with the oil change I put the lid on the tub, take it to the recycler and just pour it in their tank.
When I get home I remove the garbage bag and waa-laa, a clean spiffy tub.

Your mileage may vary.

Dallas

[DaveG]

At work we use a couple of different things to drain oil into, but the cheapest thing is a 55 gallon drum cut down to about 12" or so. If you really aren't set up to drain that much oil at one time, consider draining into 5 gallon buckets. Have a few of them ready, (top popped off) and pull the drain plug and fill the first one about 3/4 full then stick the drain plug back in (just catch a few threads) and then swap out the bucket with another, continue as before until the job is done. You can also just slide the second bucket under the draining oil as the first one gets full. Either way, you will have a bit of a mess to clean up, but you didn't think this was gonna be a clean job, did ya?!

[John316]

Thank a bus load guys!!! This is great. It helps to have a little "experience" helping.

God bless,

John

[DaveG]

Got filter wrenches?

[NJT5047]

FWIW, Tractor Supply has some watering pans for horses that are perfect for oil catch pans under buses.  Cheap too.   Buses are so low that changing the oil without making a huge mess (for us'n shade-tree mechanics) can be problematic. 
Your 351  is probably much easier to access than an un-aired bus.   I cannot air up my bus when it's inside...so gotta change the oil without inflating the airbags...!?  Bummer.

JR

[John316]

Got filter wrenches?

Yup.

Thanks for all of the info guys! This is great!

God bless,

John