Diesel inboard engines

[paulmac]

Hello, I have an Arona 185 single cylinder engine mounted in my H25. I've just changed the engine oil and oil filter. I opened the top of the gearbox to inspect the oil level and it was 'empty'. There is no plug on the side of the gearbox casing where you would normally check the oil level. A shipwright friend of mine said that some of these old Arona engines pumped oil from the engine sump into the gearbox as lubrication. this appears to be the case on my engine. (I put oil in the gearbox and it drained straight into the engine sump.) There is an oil line running from the engine sump, up to the bottom of the gearbox casing. Attached to this is something called an 'oil drain pump' which seems to consist of a round black knob that is accessible through the boat's thingypit floor hatch. My question is: does this mechanism automatically pump oil from the sump or do I have to manually do something to get oil into the gearbox? PS: clearly, I am not a mechanic! I've hunted the internet and I can't seem to find the answer to this question. I thought perhaps another Holland owner might know? Thanks.

[tgarland]

Hi mate,

I sold my H25 years ago but believe i had the same engine. In mine the crank turned a paddle in the sump which "flapped" oil up into the head.

Hope this helps,
Tony

[paulmac]

Thanks Tony,
That's reassuring. A while back, as a test, I returned from an overnight trip on my H25 'Impala'. After motoring into the marina berth, I shut down the engine and then opened the top cover of the gearbox. It was clear that the gearbox components were saturated with oil and so I finally realised that the gearbox is getting adequate lubrication from the engine oil. Thanks for your info.
Cheers,
Paul.