Best way to do an oil change?

[Dead_E23]

I think I have one of those somewhere, bought for squirting EP90 into my Land Rover diffs!

[Guest Hooli]

I think I have one of those somewhere, bought for squirting EP90 into my Land Rover diffs!

 

Ive got one for the same reason, it's perfect for squirting it out the sides & down the handle so about 50% goes in the intended location.

[DSdriver]

I've got one of those plastic jerry cans with a sump drain on the side. Its very useful except I always manage to drop the hot sump plug into the tray and it immediately falls down the hole into the container. For this reason I have a spare sump plug so that I am not having to fish the bloody thing out of all the waste oil but can wait until I tip the oil into the recycling unit which has a strainer to catch it when it comes out with the oil. It is then cleaned up ready for the next oil change.

I also anneal the copper washer.

 

There is no sump plug on the boat engine so that has to be pumped out through the filler. This invariably goes horribly wrong and waste oil gets spilled/sprayed everywhere. Last time I managed to drop a bit of plastic tubing into the engine. Hopefully it is just lying in the bottom of the sump or being gnashed into tiny pieces which are caught by the filter. Its a very low tech engine.

[320touring]

Years ago (the day after a 7500 mile round trip to Odessa in Ukraine), I plowed the 320i into a "keep left" bollard at a roundabout 1 mile from home.

 

This split the sump, and got 100% of oil out.Total drain time 5 seconds.

 

Sorting the sump plug was easily done by installing the new one plus washer on the new sump whilst on the workbench.

 

Installing the sump was less fun though

[Maurice Marina]

Has this been bought yet? If not how much would you like, it would be handy for a atf change on the wife's car with no drain plug

 

That’s the sort of thing they are good for. It’s just a tool like anything else. I use it where I can from cars to bikes and scooters. Engines, gearboxes and final drives

 

The only thing in my possession it hasn’t worked for is oil head BMW bikes and an LDV minibus. But with a bit of common sense I really wouldn’t expect it to work for everything

[chodweaver]

 

 

The smart* kids drop the sump plug down a council drain.

 

EFA

 

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

[Dead_E23]

If one thing leads to another during an oil change and you somehow manage to get a huge smear of oil on the sitting room wall, carburettor cleaner will enable you to wipe it off easily and feel like a winner. 

 

Unfortunately, the feeling may be short lived, as carburettor cleaner turns out to be equally effective at removing paint from walls.  

[mrbenn]

Sounds like the voice of bitter experience....

[bigstraight6]

As others have already said, avoid flushing oil. Many years ago I used this stuff on a perfectly healthy air cooled Beetle engine and few days later the engine blew. It did give me the opportunity to upgrade the 1300 engine to a reconditioned 1600 which turned into a real road burner, not...

 

When doing oil changes I always take the oil filler cap off after removing the sump plug to aid the oil flow, I stopped using an old oil container with one of the sides cut out for draining after a few messy disasters and invested in a proper oil drain pan and it’s been invaluable....

[Talbot]

This has just reminded me of the time that a friend used flushing oil on a 2.6 IOE Land Rover engine, and completely and utterly wrecked it. The bottom end was knocking like Police officers using their "universal key" on a drug dealers front door at 5AM, and even after new main and big end bearings, it still sounded like they were coming back for another try on next-door's house.

 

I care not for the 2.6 IOE engine.. it's an utter piece of shit, but it was running (relatively) well before the flush, and basically self-destructing thereafter.

[Wingz123]

Changed the oil and gearbox fluid in the cvt box that these Toyota Prius’ have....

 

Verdict...

 

Engine oil....pretty damn black

Gearbox oil....brings a whole new meaning to the word black....looked pretty thin and couldn’t get any blacker....we think it had never been changed...considering its supposed to be bright red!

 

Now the fluids have been changed... both engine and gearbox are lovely and smooth as well as quiet if a Prius can get any quieter!

[dozeydustman]

One thing I can't help noticing is a lot of people on here haven't said about checking engine breather filters and pipes. On some high mileage cars these may be clogged up, they're often forgotten about by home mechanics (and some service stations!). Can make a difference if your engine isn;t 100% oil tight and you get a bit of crankcase compression.

 

Flushing agents, never had an issue with using them even on neglected engines, provided I've changed the oil again within 500 miles. I've never used them on gearbox-in-sump engines on the advice of my granddad (motor engineer for 40+ years) and other old school mechanics who've said they damage some of the synchro components and the fine bearings in the geartrain - probably dislodged crap getting where is shouldn't go.

[artdjones]

Well, it's worth a try.My Chinese style vacuum sucker just arrived.£25 on eBay.Will let you know of any disasters.

[clayts450]

I've got one of those - needed it for the PT Cruiser as that had a significant sump. Works really well

[spike60]

I don't claim to know the best way to drain oil but I did discover one of the messiest. I work on plant which has Mercedes OM 906 6 cylinder diesels fitted and when changing the oil you unscrew to filter top to drain the filter head into the sump. A few years ago I started to service one then got called onto another job, when I came back it was too late to do the service so I dropped the cab down and drove it off the ramp. It was the noise that let me know I had left the filter head undone. It had pumped out about 20L of sump oil at pressure in a few seconds, mess didn't describe it.....

[artdjones]

I don't claim to know the best way to drain oil but I did discover one of the messiest. I work on plant which has Mercedes OM 906 6 cylinder diesels fitted and when changing the oil you unscrew to filter top to drain the filter head into the sump. A few years ago I started to service one then got called onto another job, when I came back it was too late to do the service so I dropped the cab down and drove it off the ramp. It was the noise that let me know I had left the filter head undone. It had pumped out about 20L of sump oil at pressure in a few seconds, mess didn't describe it.....

There are some stages in a job where you just don't want to be called away.For example when wheel nuts are only finger tight.

[twosmoke300]

No 1 rule on stuff like oil filters , sump plugs and wheels . They are either off completely or on and tight !

[Shirley Knott]

Well, it's worth a try.My Chinese style vacuum sucker just arrived.£25 on eBay.Will let you know of any disasters.

IMG_20190121_165844504.jpg

That looks exciting, my Pela's getting pretty tired these days... Any chance of a link?

 

EDIT to say no need for links, found them

[drewd]

Well, it's worth a try.My Chinese style vacuum sucker just arrived.£25 on eBay.Will let you know of any disasters.

IMG_20190121_165844504.jpg

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with this too. I have been considering buying a Pella for a while, but haven't because I'm a tight git. If these are any good I'd consider one.

[fraybentos]

I flush everything...not with flushing oil but with an additive before a change. It’s basically 500ml of kerosine which acts as a detergent. I run for about ten minutes at idle before dropping the oil, never had a problem and I think it really helps.

[fraybentos]

Ps I drain everything using the sump plug

[artdjones]

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with this too. I have been considering buying a Pella for a while, but haven't because I'm a tight git. If these are any good I'd consider one.

Will do my wife's Mégane this week sometime,so will report back.

I pumped it a few times in the living room,my wife thought it was the dog having a terminal style coughing/choking fit.

[artdjones]

I had a spare hour today,so I tried the cheap oil extractor out on my wife's Megane

As you can see,the suction tube is longer than the dipstick,so has enough length to reach the bottom of the sump.

 

I pulled the tube back out and compared it with the full mark on the dipstick.The tube obviously reaches much further down.

 

Here it is all ready to go,with the main suction tube pushed into the rubber fitting on the tube into the sump,and the other end connected to the vacuum tank.You have to be careful not to push the suction tube too hard when inserting it into the sump, especially when using the thinnest tube,as there is a danger of it bending into a U,and therefore sucking from above the bottom of the sump,leaving oil in.

 

Then pump away.The metal stirrup on the tank base can be stood on while pumping.

I found I had to top up the vacuum a few times, especially as I hadn't pushed some of the fittings together hard enough.

 

 

It stopped sucking at about 4.8 litres.As I knew that this car definitely takes 5 litres I withdrew the pipe and reinserted it until I just felt resistance,then applied vacuum again.As you see above it then sucked out the last 0.2 of a litre.

So it does it's job properly,though I would prefer to use it only if I know how much oil should come out.Then some manipulation of the suction tube will mean that I can be sure all the old stuff is removed.

 

Emptying it is very easy using the little metal stirrup on the base as a handle.It would probably need cleaning from time to time if used for diesel engine oil a lot,as carbon staining will make it hard to read the level in the tank.It would be possible to remove the top as it's held to the tank by nuts and bolts.Or a strong mix of bleach could be swilled around inside and poured away.

 

 

Overall,very good value for less than £25 plus postage.

[Maurice Marina]

That looks great. Much cheaper than my Pella

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Looks better than my electric pump from Lidl.  That was about £15 and I've used it a few times.  Works but it does take a while and makes quite a noise.  One of those manual pumps looks tempting.

 

I always drain into empty screenwash bottles.  As both of the cars have less than 5L sump capacity, they work perfectly.  Put the tops on and straight off to the tip with them.

[artdjones]

As the Mégane takes exactly 5 litres it's just a straight swop.The bottle arrives with 5 litres of clean oil and leaves with 5 litres of dirty oil.

[Shirley Knott]

Certainly looks good for £25, thanks for the pics.

 

I'd be interested to know if the suction tube has a metal inner lining to stop the tube folding or collapsing under pressure like the Pela?

 

My main fear on the cheaper ones has always been the quality of plastic on the tubing and it's potential for melting/getting stuck in the sump when coming into contact with red hot oil...

[artdjones]

Certainly looks good for £25, thanks for the pics.

 

I'd be interested to know if the suction tube has a metal inner lining to stop the tube folding or collapsing under pressure like the Pela?

 

My main fear on the cheaper ones has always been the quality of plastic on the tubing and it's potential for melting/getting stuck in the sump when coming into contact with red hot oil...

There's no metal lining on the tubes.I used to use something similar when I worked in the motor trade and the tubing on that lasted fine without a liner.I suppose you could push a length of cable inner up the tube to support it,but then there would be the danger of it dropping out.

[Squire_Dawson]

An old washing up bowl is ideal for draining the sump into.