Changing oil through dipstick tube

I have looked with interest at those electric pumps that you can use to change the oil through the dipstick tube. Would it do a good job? It is just here in the winter time I do not have a real good place to do it and to be frank about it dont like crawling under the car.

It does seem as though these pumps would not be able to drain the oil as completely as a drain plug. What are your opinions?

Reply to
Don
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You're right, it won't drain as completely. Plus, it's more of a hassle.

Put in a Fumoto oil drain valve & buy a couple of car ramps. Oil changes become very easy & non-messy.

-Jeff Deeney-

Reply to
Jeff Deeney

If changing the oil the right way is beyond your skill level. Take it to iffy dude. Opps Jiffy lube. That pump will leave the harmful sediment in the pan. Draining it normally drags most of it out

Reply to
TOLYN9

I leave the car in the garage most of the winter so don't have to change the oil. When I do change the oil I prefer to throw an old rug on the garage floor to lie on instead of taking the effort to run the car up on the ramps.

Because I don't commute and only do a bit of driving I'd like to find a long lasting oil that doesn't break down just from sitting. As it is I often only change the oil every 4 months instead of every 3 and even then its nowhere near the 3k km.

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Reply to
William R. Watt

I used to pump the oil out via the dipstick in boat engines years ago. As far as I know the pump removed just about all the oil. I guess the pickup tube would have to reach the lowest part of the pan though. Good luck. jor

Reply to
jor

I agree with the Fumoto valve, it is a good product.

However, I have used both and I am not sure the fluid extraction leaves any additional oil in the pan. A pretty good article from "Ray & Tom aka Click & Clack" .... "whichever method you use, you're only going to get about 95 percent of the old oil out".

I have actually found the fluid extraction method to be very easy and non-messy....although, the oil filter is still a pain.

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Reply to
Curtis Newton

Opinion??? If you don't like getting under the car, then take it somewhere for the LOF, hand them the $15 and have it over with.

Reply to
Steve Barker

And I guess that's your opinion. Very helpful. jor

Reply to
jor

Go for it. You have to get under the car for the oil filter though. If you do as I do, and only change the filter every other oil change, you'll stay off the floor if the filter is staying on.

I suppose there will be some who cry foul at not changing the filter. "But $3 is cheap insurance," or "You are leaving a quart of dirty oil in the filter!" Yes, on both counts, you're right, but I've not had an engine failure in 30 years, and everything I own has over 100K on it, except the motorcycles.

Actually, two of my vehicles have self-changing oil systems. They use it and leak it, and require a new quart every few weeks, so I can go a LONG time between oil changes on those. (Can you see the purists wincing?) Oh, and I also use the absolute cheapest oil I can find at Sam's Club, less than $1/quart.

AND I use that same cheap car oil in all my motorcycles. Motorcycles guys will fall off their chairs at that one. Never had a problem with bikes either, either air-cooled or water-cooled.

Fresh oil a couple of times a year is all most vehicles need, if you're not putting 20K on it every year, you'll be fine. KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Reply to
KHanawalt

Oil doesn't deteriorate just from sitting, the reason for the time recommendation as well as mileage is just that short trips tend to not warm the engine up enough to burn off some of the contamination that gets into the oil.

Reply to
Robert Hancock

I suck my tranny fluid out with an electric pump and get nearly everything but the filter. Plus I do it often enough to keep the system clean (5000 miles). I wanted to try the same with the oil and made a suction pump and tank so there was no need for the electric pump, more of an experiment than anything. I found the oil dipstick tube allowed only a small diameter tube to be inserted. It tool a long time to suck the oil out. And in the end it only got half the oil out because of the placement of the dipstick tube on the engine. You might get lucky. It can be a really clean way to do it in the winter for those who work outside. But I would not be even trying it unless I had problems with the pan and were looking for options.

Reply to
MaxAluminum

comfort, convenience, and low cost?

BTW The oil filtre can be removed from my Festiva from above. By strategically placing the plastic bowl the filtre can be gently dropped into the drained oil with nary a splash.

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Reply to
William R. Watt

sounds good. I use the car for drives in the country as well as running a few errands in town. Putting 2,500 km per year on the car makes is some kind of special case which they don't consider in the general recommendations. I also think the car should be exempt from pollution testing because it isn't driven enough to pollute anything. :)

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Reply to
William R. Watt

I was changing the antifreeze in my car today, and I was lying down on a carpet remnant. Works quite well.

The following is merely a suggestion. I have no idea of whether or not it will work with you car's warranty requirements, if the car is old enough that you don't have to care about warranty requirements, or if you even care.

You might try a heavy-duty diesel motor oil, such as Shell Rotella T, Chevron Delo 400, or Mobil Delvac 1300. The ones you're most likely to find in parts stores or Wal-Mart come in 15W-40 weight, although a few come in 10W-30 weight. These all meet at least the API SJ grade for gasoline engines. They're designed for extended drains in diesel tractors, and their additive packages are designed to last longer. If it's 15W-40, it might be too cold to run it in Canadian winters unless you use a block heater. There are also synthetic versions of these diesel engine oils.

Of course if you're leaving the car there for a few months, it helps to keep the tank full and use a gas stabilizer (like Sta-Bil).

Reply to
y_p_w

Well, oils don't break down from just sitting, at least over the timeframes we're talking about. The questions are twofold: how effective they are at neutralizing or isolating contaminants, and how well they stick to cylinder walls, bearings, etc. during periods of non-operation.

I wouldn't sweat changing the oil every four months instead of every three, where you haven't gone over any mileage gate. Heck, I have an antique car that sometimes doesn't see an ignition key for two weeks at a time, though I try to give it some significant exercise weekly, and I only change the oil once a year as long as it looks and smells good.

The additional consideration is how long you run the car when you *do* drive it. I'd suggest a minimum of five miles at a crack, preferably more. Aside from lubricated systems, this heats up the exhaust system to where condensation is not a problem (exhausts in lightly used cars can rust away from the inside out!). Helps keep the battery happy too, spending a nontrivial amount of time recouping the power it expended on those cold starts. For sure just letting the car idle in the driveway or maybe taking it around the block in first gear is not enough.

I'd go with synthetics. They perform better and offer a wider viscosity range, with both 5W40 and 0W30 (depending on just how nasty a winter we're talking about) readily available at reasonable prices these days. That way you don't have to fret about turning over your engine through pancake syrup in the morning at this time of year *or* have to ditch an overly light oil in the summer -- a couple bucks extra per quart and you have the best of both worlds. However, even the dino squeezin's are pretty good these days, and your application doesn't strike me as *that* extreme, just wanting a bit more thought and attention than does normal use.

Best of luck,

--Joe

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

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Reply to
KG

That's a key point -- "in suitable engines." Knowing how fast your engine dirties its oil is a key to establishing and surviving extended oil-change intervals. Factors include engine design, duty cycle, and individual wear/aging.

A fleet manager might use oil analysis as well as eyeball and nose to keep tabs on these things, but at, what, $25 a pop, private individuals are often reluctant to do so unless they're really into their car as a techno-hobby as well as a means of getting around.

There's only one car in the family armada that I'd push as far as

10,000 between changes in typical mixed-use driving no matter how good the oil. Most of them make the oil kinda ooky by six or seven thou if I let it go that far, and a couple of the more senior vehicles definitely want an oil change by three. If the mileage consists mostly of a long vacation trip, of course, the oil stays cleaner longer.

The trend, though, is toward engines that are built to closer tolerances, keep their mixtures closer to stoichiometry during more of the warmup cycle, and use fuel more efficiently, all of which (on a broad average with individual exceptions) mean less contamination in the oil. And meanwhile, the ability of oils to withstand heat and neutralize or isolate contamination gets better.

So *if* the manual suggests it; and *if* operating experience suggests that your vehicle, at this point in time, still lives up to the specs; and *with* an oil and filter of top quality, it isn't implausible to me that you can save money and reduce pollution by changing your oil less often than in days of yore.

For what it's worth, one of my cars (an '89 Toyota) I purchased with

190 on the clock, a gamble that is paying off nicely. I know the first owner well and knew that (as a particular case of a general old-school attitude about taking care of machinery) it'd had fresh Castrol and a factory filter every 3k. That car drives a lot younger than it is. Just an example of why the argument that oil changes are a lot cheaper than overhauls, let alone new cars, is still pretty persuasive to me...

Cheers,

--Joe

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

European specs are a very different beast. I understand the ACEA motor oil requirements come with these longer drains in mind. In addition, Europeans don't typically keep their vehicles longer than maybe 60K miles.

Of course oil analysis is the way to go if it costs $75 to change the oil, and the down time to boot.

There are some hints that the reduction in zinc levels for the latest API SL rating has meant that current conventional motor oils may not protect as well. The jist is that with higher allowable levels, the oil manufacturers were exceeding the anti-wear standards by a bunch, but now they may just be meeting it by a little.

Certainly. Many US spec'ed German luxury/performance cars come with built-in computers. One of the things they do is recommend when to change the oil based on driving habits, elapsed time, and ambient conditions. I've heard that BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche computers are sometimes telling owners to change the oil at 15-20K intervals. I believe BMW and Mercedes engines have largish oil capacities of about 8 quarts (US/Japanese cars are typically For what it's worth, one of my cars (an '89 Toyota) I purchased with

Preventative maintenance never hurt.

Reply to
y_p_w

WHAT?!

Reply to
Stephen Bigelow

Did some surfing. It comes with 16 gallons of *gasoline*, and 10.25 litres of oil.

Yeesh.

Reply to
Stephen Bigelow

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