[epirate]

Alright--my battery has been sent back for replacement so until I can get it replaced under warranty, I'm basically dead in the water--no pun intended!

My question is, I have one of those oil changing things that uses the battery in the ski for power and pumps the oil out of the engine. Since I have no battery at the moment, can I still change the oil in the ski and just bring like a car battery and use that to power the oil change thing? Or, do I need to run the jetski first (and after the oil change)? Obviously, running the ski off a car battery probably wouldn't be a good idea but I didn't know if I could take advantage of the time to change the oil w/o actually running it---
thanks in advance

btw, I have an 05 FXHO Cruiser

 

[Ernest T]

Best to warm up the ski on the hose before you change the oil. The FXHO is a dry sump system, so if you try to change it cold, you will not get as much out (you should be able to suck out around 2.5 quarts). Also, running the engine helps suspend the particulates that you are trying to remove with the oil change anyhow. If you change it cold many of the bad things remain laying on the bottom of the oil tank rather than being suspended in the oil.

Any 12V battery with enough amps will work both to start the ski and run your oil extractor. You could borrow the battery from your car. Remember only to put back in as much oil as you remove (plus a little more if you replace the oil filter). A common mistake is to overfill the oil on the FX models.

 

[Ernest T]

Best to warm up the ski on the hose before you change the oil. The FXHO is a dry sump system, so if you try to change it cold, you will not get as much out (you should be able to suck out around 2.5 quarts). Also, running the engine helps suspend the particulates that you are trying to remove with the oil change anyhow. If you change it cold many of the bad things remain laying on the bottom of the oil tank rather than being suspended in the oil.

Any 12V battery with enough amps will work both to start the ski and run your oil extractor. You could borrow the battery from your car. Remember only to put back in as much oil as you remove (plus a little more if you replace the oil filter). A common mistake is to overfill the oil on the FX models. You should also only check the oil level with the ski warm (right after it has been run for at least 5-10 minutes to get an accurate reading.