vacuum oil extractor

[Len]

Hey all,

I would like to know what you think about oil extracting (when warm) through the dipstick hole by a vacuum oil extractor. I saw a post here in the maintenance forums that showed a sort of a hand vacuum pump with a container from PELA that did the trick for one of the members in Italy.
I ask this because I think the ease of changing oil without crawling underneath my car is preferable. I would like the quality of the oil change to be about similar to draining the sump through the oil plug. So if using a vacuum extractor doesn’t evacuate almost all of the oil but still the majority, I am thinking of buying one………….

Anyway, what do you all think of such a contraption in combination with car oil changes.

Sincerely,

Len

Topic

[Kevin Criswell]

The problem I could see is you likely won’t get the bulk of the contaminates out. Alot of stuff like to settle on the bottom of the pan and draining it through the pan causes the oil to rush out carrying alot of trash with it. Sucking through the top is much slower and is less likely to get the containmentants out. The other issue is knowing that there is a good amount of oil that the suction can’t get out.

Just for giggles we used our vacula on the oil in my S-10. Sucked as much as the extractor would get and than put the truck in the air and pulled the drain plug. I got almost a quart out through the pan drain.

The idea started with inboard motors to prevent oil from contaminating the bilge water, but in those systems the suction tube goes into a elbow threaded where the stock drain would be. So you are drawing oil from the lowest point in the pan, with a hose you really have no way of knowing if you are in a low enough area to ensure you get all the oil.

[Grayfox]

They are a waste of time and money in my opinion.

You have to jack the car to replace the oil filter so why not kill 2 birds with one stone?

[Rudy Wilmoth]

🙂 You may want to google your subject of oil extraction from the dipstick. Some of the newer German makes require the oil to be changed by suction from the dipstick. There may be some forum listings from other makes that may provide some educational information about this method of draining oil. Now everyone is correct, you will need to change your oil filter, and most are underneath the car. If removing the oil drain plug is unpleasant for you, you can replace the oil drain pug with a Sumimoto oil drain plug that consists of a moveable valve that drains the oil and keeps your hands clean. A lot of people use the valve, but I believe it is slower to drain than the original oil plug The choice is up to you.

[Kevin Criswell]

[quote=”slotcar” post=77017]:) You may want to google your subject of oil extraction from the dipstick. Some of the newer German makes require the oil to be changed by suction from the dipstick. There may be some forum listings from other makes that may provide some educational information about this method of draining oil. [/quote]

I still disagree with sucking the oil out. Those German engines are DESIGNED to have the oil drawn out through the dipstick, their oil pans have guides and an indention to ensure the tube is in the lowest point of the pan.

Plus, like I said earlier the dipstick tube in a modern vehicle is small and the draw hose would be smaller. So either pull the plug or hook up a gadget and wait 10 mins to get the oil out.

We found a nice shade tree on a Santa Monica side street, parked the Lotus and went to work. We opened the cover of the midengine car and inserted the thin flexible tube down through the dipstick opening. We connected the other end to the extractor, pumped the handle about 15 times and the hot oil began flowing. It took about 8 minutes to drain the engine, which holds 5 quarts.

The oil extractor we used, a $63, 5-quart Moeller Fluid Extractor, has an automatic shut-off. Since Takahashi had topped off the engine, he had more than 5 quarts, causing the extractor to stop draining. We had to pour some oil out into another container and continue the procedure, a minor delay. After refilling the engine with new oil and double-checking all our work, we finished the whole job in about 20 minutes.

$63 for a device that takes 8 minutes to extract 5 quarts. In the time it took them to insert the tube, pump the handle 15 times and wait 8 minutes, dump the oil, reinsert the tube and pump the handle 15 times again I would have had the oil drained already and on my way to doing the service inspection. Plus not going under the car means not looking at the underside of the car.

I have a vacula, it is only used for pre-draining transmissions prior to removing the pan or drawing fluid out of the power steering system prior to repair.

[Len]

Thank you all for your advice and comments. My mind is not yet made up.

Sincerely,

Len

[Len]

Hey All,

I decided to go for comfort.
I bought such a vacuum extractor which sucks the oil from the engine sump, through the dipstick hole. Yes I know the majority is in favor of the thorough way of draining the sump by way of releasing the plug and let it drip for some time. Well, I have arrived in an age category that minimises crawling under a car as much as possible. This also in combination with the normally rainy weather conditions in Holland. I will take the calculated risk of leaving some of the oil with carbon residue in there.

Anyway,
Thank you all for contributing I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Len

[Author]

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