Pela pumps for oil changes.

[Parky]

Stupid question:Can you suck out the old oil, pump something in (petrol?) to dissolve the sludge, them suck out the thinned out sludge?

I suppose in theory you could do that but the Pela does state not to be used with petrol. Not sure if that's an H&S fume issue or whether the plastic doesn't react well to petrol.

 

If you have such an issue you might just be better doing a few weekly/monthly changes with cheap oil to hopefully break up the sludge (if you have any).

 

Someone once suggested using turbodiesel oil for a while could help as it has more detergent in it - might be something to consider?

[Ghosty]

Richard spoke very well of the Pela before he had himself removed from the site.

[TataBobu]

Stupid question:

 

Can you suck out the old oil, pump something in (petrol?) to dissolve the sludge, them suck out the thinned out sludge?

 

The Lidl one is rated for diesel fuel also, so there's your answer.

[Zelandeth]

Pretty sure I recall someone I used to know who used diesel to de-sludge an engine.  They literally filled it to the brim of the oil filler, left it a week then drained, flushed and refilled as normal.  Think Fords were their usual marque of choice.

 

It does seem to dissolve a lot of crud, bit without the mega-flammable nature of petrol.

 

Guessing the issue with the Pela and petrol will be the issues with the vapour, vacuuming HVAC systems down can cause a lot of static on the lines (hence the use of ground clips if dealing with flammable refrigerants), imagine the same could be true here...petrol vapour plus one good static discharge = bang?

[Parky]

Could be - I think the fumes will be the issue as the materials used in the construction are pretty robust.

 

But then again the chance of a stray spark could be greater with an electrical pump?

[Captain Furious]

This is something that i'm potentially interested in, because I am thoroughly incapable of draining oil without it ending up in a category 5 environmental incident.  Last time, for example - I drained it with clinical precision and then the oil filter slipped out of my hand and into the drainer, splashing it everywhere.  The time before that I managed to puncture the oil filter with one of those mechanical removal tools trying to loosen it while it was cold. - Unaware of this I then ran it up to temperature to thin out the oil, when I noticed the growing pool of oil under the car I dived round to turn it off, and found that because i'd jacked it up to get better access, the wheel was off the floor and spinning, this made the car think it was being driven away and it had locked the doors...so I had to leg it inside and grab the spare key, which fortunately was exactly where I expected it to be.  So yeah, these seem ideal. 

 

Question though, don't you then have to clean out the pump after each use, and isn't that as much of a faff as cleaning the driveway?  Or do you just leave it full of old oil residue until the next time.

[SiC]

I imagine if it was pumping petrol and other highly volatile liquids it would be required to pass different, stricter safety standards. So they stuff that on the box instead.

[Parky]

This is something that i'm potentially interested in, because I am thoroughly incapable of draining oil without it ending up in a category 5 environmental incident.  Last time, for example - I drained it with clinical precision and then the oil filter slipped out of my hand and into the drainer, splashing it everywhere.  The time before that I managed to puncture the oil filter with one of those mechanical removal tools trying to loosen it while it was cold. - Unaware of this I then ran it up to temperature to thin out the oil, when I noticed the growing pool of oil under the car I dived round to turn it off, and found that because i'd jacked it up to get better access, the wheel was off the floor and spinning, this made the car think it was being driven away and it had locked the doors...so I had to leg it inside and grab the spare key, which fortunately was exactly where I expected it to be.  So yeah, these seem ideal. 

 

Question though, don't you then have to clean out the pump after each use, and isn't that as much of a faff as cleaning the driveway?  Or do you just leave it full of old oil residue until the next time.

Nope, you end up with a big ball shaped container full of oil which you can then decant into an old oil bottle for disposal. Or you could just take the Pela to the dump and tip the oil straight in the relevant recepticle.

 

Cleaning isn't a problem, a bit of oil residue in the container is harmless enough. About the worst thing that can happen is any old oil in the tube can drain out into the box/onto the floor. What I do now is hook the tube up to the garage door so gravity can do its thing while I clean up or refit the filter.

[SiC]

When handling fluids I get it everywhere. Last time I did an oil change through the sump plug, oil went on the floor, down my boiler suit arm and into my hair. Pela keeps it contained all into one place and comes with a handy additional nozzle to decant it into another container. I usually do it in a oil catch tray and pour it back into an old bottle to leave for the bin man to collect. Using the Pela, at most I have to clean out the oil tray and the side of the bottle from any spills.

[SgtWilson]

On one of my bikes - easier than cars for sure -  it needs fairly regular oil changes. I thought that there was a chance of jiggering the thread in the not very substantial engine case. So I fitted one of these.

Brilliant device. The cunning Germans even make the oil drain tube out of an oleophobic plastic so that it all runs off quickly.

 

http://www.stahlbus.com/info/en/products/oil-drain-valves

[Vince70]

Nope, you end up with a big ball shaped container full of oil which you can then decant into an old oil bottle for disposal. Or you could just take the Pela to the dump and tip the oil straight in the relevant recepticle.

 

Cleaning isn't a problem, a bit of oil residue in the container is harmless enough. About the worst thing that can happen is any old oil in the tube can drain out into the box/onto the floor. What I do now is hook the tube up to the garage door so gravity can do its thing while I clean up or refit the filter.

I normally use the old engine oil afterwards to paint my gate posts and the good thing is you can decide how light or dark you want to paint them by how long you leave the oil in the car.

[dollywobbler]

I'm also a messy sod, and am eyeing this up with some interest. Especially as I over-filled the Lexus when I did the oil and filter, and need a tidy way to get some back out...

[Zelandeth]

The Invacar was drained this way - basically because I applied sufficient force to the sump plug to make myself rotate on the driveway without moving it - so figured it can just stay where it is!

 

It's been running for probably an hour since it was changed and still looks brand new - so don't think it left any appreciable amount in the sump.  Was also useful for sucking the old sludgy gunk out of the base of the oil filter housing.

 

The box of the Aldi/Lidl electric pump I've got has a big capital letter bold warning that it must not be used with flammable liquids.  It's a LOT faster than the Pela, but makes an awful racket and obviously needs a power source.

 

One of the really useful aspects of the Pela is that it makes it a lot easier than it otherwise tends to be to see exactly how much oil you've drained - especially handy for ATF changes where you need to know exactly how much fluid to put in on vehicles with no way to check the level.

[3VOM]

[SiC]

Haha. Who's been secretly filing videos of me doing oil changes?

[320touring]

I have a pela pump.

 

So far, I've used it for numerous oil changes, and also to do the rear diff oil in my father's CRV. A top tool!

 

The only time I had capacity issues was on my dad's E60 520i - 7 litres of oil used, but the pela only has a 6L capacity.

 

I just used an empty milk carton to decant the first couple of litres into, then the final 5 went into the fresh oil container once empty.

[Skut]

Oil needs to be reasonably hot. Running the engine for 5 minutes as the Pela instruction booklet suggested wasn't nearly long enough.  Because oil was too viscous needed frequenting pumping to maintain vacuum.  Took well over an hour.

 

20180126_130337_Film2 by Giacosa1, on Flickr

[dollywobbler]

Takes a bloomin' long time to get oil up to temperature. I've only owned one car with an oil temp gauge but it's quite surprising! I generally aim for lukewarm with traditional methods, as otherwise, my cut-down oil bottle catch cans get a bit too floppy...

[twosmoke300]

That creamy oil always takes ages to suck out

[Captain Furious]

I normally manage just long enough that it’s far too hot to dip my hand in to fetch out the sump plug that I dropped in it.

 

An hour tho, starting to thing the Pela isn’t for me, I have nowhere near that amount of patience.

[Zelandeth]

If it's taken that long it's definitely not hot enough!  I admit that I ignored the "warm oil only" advice, and went out for a 10-20 minute drive, then started it draining.

 

Probably takes a bit longer to drain than it would into a pan - but not having to faff about makes it worth it for me.

[bub2006]

I had a hand op vacuum one which was a bit shite but I have a electric one now which connects to battery. 15 quid from Lidl I think and had it a couple of years. Works fine and no risk of rounded or stripped sump plugs. As already mentioned make sure oil is warm and it's fine. Regards not getting everything out of the sump I've got near on full capacity out of engines with mine. Seems to be better if you wrap a rag round dipstick tube to create a bit more vacuum. Also a bonus for folk like me who struggle to get on the floor. (mind you I can get down pretty quick, sometimes quicker than I want to. It's the getting vertical that's an issue!)

[Jewel25]

Torn between the lidl one and the Pela one. Once pumped can you simply leave the Pela to extract the oil ? How long does it take roughly?

[SiC]

Yeah just leave the Pela until done. Perfectly safe to. You'll know when it's done as it'll do a slurping sound. How long depends on quantity of oil to extract and thickness.

[Parky]

Five minutes of idling won't get the oil thin enough so I normally have a little blast up a nearby A road and back. Probably only five miles or so but gets a few minutes of high speed running to get the oil properly heated through.

 

Sump then empties in about ten minutes, maybe with an additional few pumps to keep the vacuum as high as poss. Gives me time to get the filter off so start to finish is usually 20 minutes (minus tidying up time)

[jonny69]

These look just the business and at £50 I can well justify one of those Pela ones. I absolutely drenched the drive last time.

[nebuchenezer]

I haz Pela

 

It is orsum

 

That is all

[Parky]

Just remembered - it doesn't work that well on PSA/Ford 1.4 turbodiesel engines.

 

I think there are some baffles in the sump that stop the drain tube getting to the bottom of the sump. That information is from Parky Senior who borrowed it to do his Citroen Nemo and the pump only got 2litres or about half of the oil out.

 

I reckon if he had j-j-j-jiggled it a bit it would have been ok and got past the obstruction but he was adamant it wasn't going any further into the engine.

 

Still meant less to drain (and therefore spill)

[Zelandeth]

Yep, unless you've got a massive sump or are running 50 weight oil, half an hour all in is probably about right for drain, filter change, refill and cleanup.

 

I inevitably seem to make more mess getting the oil into the engine than out these days. Especially with the Lada where the filler is right at the back of the engine bay.

[BorniteIdentity]

Worth checking that the tube will fit down the tube. I bought mine with the intention of using it on my land cruiser engined Granvia, and it won’t bloody fit!