Oil Level in Fischer Panda Genset?

[wspitler]

Have a 330 Express with the FP 4200 Genset. The FP operation manual says not to fill the oil above the "max." They recommend "2/3." My dipstick has two very small lines near the bottom tip and no "max" indication per the manual. If I fill between the bottom two lines on the stick the oil will only be about 1/2" on the dipstick when the generator is perfectly level. Bought the boat used and the level before I changed the oil was about halfway up the dipstick. Well above the top mark near the tip. The marks are only about 1/2" apart and maybe 1/2" from the bottom of the stick. I've run the generator abour 15 hours with no trouble (70 hours total time) with the oil level higher than the small marks. Anyone have an idea about the correct readings on the stick? Thanks!

 

[ElyseM]

those two lines (as with any dipstick) are the "max" and the "min". stay between them. staying a little lower than max allows for expansion when running. good luck, ron

 

[wspitler]

That's what I thought, but it sure seems low to be barely on the stick.

 

[ElyseM]

i can't remember exactly where the markings are. the upper one closer to the cap plug is the max; lower one close to the end of the stick is the min. you have to push the stick all the way back in to take a reading; don't just lay it in. ron

 

[wspitler]

The lower one is only about 1/4" from the end of the stick pushed all the way in. The max is about 1/2" higher. The spec says it holds 1.25L which is about 1.32 qts. I drained it completely (took a long time) and added about 1.3 qts and then had to drain what seemed like another 3/4 qt. to get it at the proper level. All of the oil coming out and on the stick is clear and clean, so I must have gotten out most of the old oil. I guess the flushing can't hurt. I'll be monitoring it closely. Its level with the higher mark now. Thanks!

 

[ElyseM]

yes, you don't get all the old oil out. i was using a vacuum pump and still didn't get everything. the "flush" is probably not such a bad thing. i was thinking of doing something like that next change. ron

 

[HMBJack]

What I did was use the dip stick pump out method, filled with ~1,3 quarts, ran the genset for a bit, then repeated the process. This way I sort of flushed all the bad oil out. Need to do this over the holidays along with an oil and filter change on my F250's.