I hate engine oil :-(

All my cars have their oil removed from above by suction. I haven't undone a sump plug in years.

Some people will tell you that this is bad because [a] sludge gets left behind, or [b] not all the oil is removed

This is complete bollocks. If you run the engine first to get the oil nice and hot, then let it drip back down for 10 minutes before sucking, everything is nicely in suspension. As for oil removed, I compared the qunatities removed by suction and draining, and they were the same in two different cars.

In short, get yourself a suction pump. Much more civilised than crawling around getting hot oil on your head.

I do crawl under my car and it is messy. But the oil filter can only be changed from under the car anyway. Since I'm not charging myself by the hour, I can let the oil drain for an hour or so while doing other things.

I've seen oil sucking pumps in use at service stations; it may work OK as you say, but also a chance that it isn't done properly if people are in a hurry.

Even better than Grunff's suggestion - take it to a National Tyres outlet. They'll do a semi-synthetic oil and filter change for £15, or fully synth for £20. It's cheaper than buying the bits and doing it yourself, and a damn sight cleaner! You can go and have a brew while they are doing it too...

Mike

Not on mu C900s ;-)

I'm never in a hurry, so it's always done properly. It isn't so much about time - I don't like doing something the hard way when there's a cleaner/easier way.

I spose many modern cars have the oil filter hanging underneath. Makes servicing easier for the dealer when the car is on the lift. And discourage DIY service :-(

But that's an invalid test, as you've used different vehicles and gthey may not have had the same amount of oil in to begin with etc etc.

Erm, no.

I compared the amount drained v. the amount sucked on my Saab on subsequent oil changes starting from the same level. It was the same. I did the same comparison on my BMW. Also the same.

I didn't spell it out before because I assumed my meaning was obvious.

Can't beat the feeling of hot oil as you fish in the catcher for the sump plug you've just dropped. ;-) Wearing gloves of course before someone reports to the HSA...

Mark S.

... just join the ever increasing number of Brit.s, who die of skin cancer. You know it makes sense.

Sounds like hard work to me. I just pop the container under, loosen the plug, whip it out and go back inside. I don't even get covered in oil any more, or cover the drive in oil, though admittedly it has taken 10 years to develop this high level of oil changing skill.

I think you're probably wrong about the sludge, whether or not the amount that comes out is the same, since I would expect it to settle at the bottom and not necessarily get sucked out by your pipe. Not that there should be any, and of course it gets strained out.

My filter sits in a little pot at the top of the engine bay. Hee hee!

Johannes> I spose many modern cars have the oil filter hanging Johannes> underneath. Makes servicing easier for the dealer when Johannes> the car is on the lift. And discourage DIY service :-(

I'd always assumed the positioning was to minimise the distance the oil had to travel when building engine pressure and to try and avoid emptying the filter when removing.

Now, on my car I can reach far enough under the car to change the oil without lifting anything.

AndyC

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As my boss says... dont think, thinking is bad, it leads to assuming and assuming is bad...

why not just whack a "rare earth magnet" on the oil sump plug then when you remove the plug all the metalic solids come out stuck to the sump plug...

You leave the magnet on all the stime of course,..... stops the solids wandering around the engine!

You can go off some people;-)

-- Malc

Bollocks

Not bollocks actually.

Presumably you have not seen inside a sump. The solids stay as a grey concrete-like mass which does not move about. You have to scrape it out.

I first encountered this in the sump of a Hillman minx (yes I know I'm showing my age now) It has not changed. Manufacturers and designers have not forgotten how to do it. They have taken into account that solids being picked up would be a bad thing.

Steve

Mmm. But there are still particles wandering around freely. I think you will find that you'r concrete like mass consists largely of burnt oil rather than the really damaging metal fragments.

Yes. That is why there is a strainer in the sump and a filter before the oil is pumped around the engine. If somehow all of the particles were magically amalgameted into one solid lump, there would be no need for this arrangement.

In any case, if oil was supposed to be sucked out through the dipstick tube, why is there a sump plug? Believe me, the motor manufacturers could save a lot of money by not providing them.

Robert

"Supposed to"?? What does that mean?

FYI, most Merc main dealers (or so I'm told by the two I know) suck out through the top.

Most boat engines have their oil changed from above.

Sump plugs are there because people expect them to be, and because people would object to buying suction gear to do oil changes.