New initiate to OIL CHANGE CLUB

Yeah, I have the same generation Camry. Could there be any easier vehicle on which to perform an oil change? I can do the oil change faster than driving the vehicle to an oil change place. The city I live in has curbside oil recycling so all I have to do is to pour the used oil into a milk jug.

Reply to
SMS
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How long does it take to extract 4 qts of oil with one of those extractors?

Reply to
Ray O

You're welcome!

The trick to keeping the oil from spilling down your arm is to press on the drain plug while you are unscrewing it. When it is completely unscrewed, quickly pull the plug off. You shouldn't get more than a few drips on your fingers this way.

Reply to
Ray O

The grit is probably road debris that got washed down the side of the engine block by the oil that dripped when you removed the oil filter. The next time you change your oil, check to see if the grit is there after you have drained the oil but before you remove the oil filter. My guess is that the grit will not be there until after you have removed the oil filter.

Reply to
Ray O

Abut 5 minutes.

Reply to
Mark A

Try a toyota oil filter, one thing I could guess is a bad bypass valve opening when the motor is cold and run to hard. The grit is likely sludge and would indicate a shorter interval would be better and use a better oil.

Reply to
ransley

I cannot imagine what would cause extractor to suck more oil out than the drain plug which is put in the lowest point of the oil pan and where all the oil will flow pulled by the gravity force.

Sucking thick fluid through a very thin and long tube has to leave some residue on the bottom of the pan... Even if the tube can reach exactly to the bottom. Also, if you think about it, what is left on the bottom is really what you want to get rid of - all the sediments are there on the bottom and should be washed out by the force of the warm oil rushing through the drain hole.

Also, in the average do-it-yourselfer environment dealing with a storage of dirty suction hose will be harder than just drain the oil to the pan...

Maybe I am old-fashioned too much but oil extractor idea is not very apealing to me :-)

Reply to
Pszemol

Okay Ray O, you bet I'll be extra watchful next time I change the oil :-)

Ransley, thanks for the suggestions, but I'm on it. My car has always used OEM Toyota filters, and the oil is about the best synthetic you can get: Pennzoil Platinum (PP). The oil change interval was only 4,000 miles, which is 1,000 less than the 5,000 recommended. I did stretch the time to 7 months, instead of 6, but I don't think that made much of a difference. Thanks for the ideas, though.

Ray O, dunno if this is surprising, but I got much more oil on me when I removed the oil filter than the drain plug.

I think my next oil will be Amsoil ASL 5w-30. It's suppose to be even better than PP, and I want to hear how my engine sounds with it. I noticed a marked difference in engine sound when I switched from dino to Mobil 1 synthetic. Here's something new: It looks like the Amsoil web site now ships oil directly to your door instead of requiring you to contact a local distributor.

Reply to
Built_Well

Note that the Amsoil ASL 5W30 is not API certified. As long as you're out of warranty, and don't care about the effects on your catalytic converter, go ahead, but you really should stick with an API certified synthetic. The best one is probably Royal Purple, but it's very expensive, and it's highly questionable as whether it's worth the extra cost, especially since you're changing your oil far more than necessary already.

Reply to
SMS

For the most part, you're paying a premium for the marketing with Amsoil, although it seems to be a reasonable product, just overpriced.

This probably had a lot more to do with having fresh oil in there than what kind of oil it was.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

The Royal Purple actually isn't any more expensive than the Pennzoil or Castrol synthetics if you buy it in large enough quantity. There is a very substantial quantity break, unlike with the Castrol.

I have liked the Royal Purple gear oil as well... it seems to be as good as the Red Line for substantially less money.

For the most part, all the synthetic oils today are excellent, and if you are changing them regularly it doesn't matter so much which one you use. So there is no reason not to just pick the lowest bidder.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

========

Scott Dorsey, thanks for that idea, but in this case, I don't think the difference in sound was due to having fresh oil in there because I had had 2 or 3 conventional oil changes before switching to synthetic, and never noticed a change in engine sound until switching to synthetic.

Reply to
Built_Well

I don't blame you for being skeptical (I was also), but if you Google and read other people's experiences or some car manufacturer recommendations, you may learn something.

Reply to
Mark A

I bought one of these oil extractors and it didn't work on my 1999 4cyl. I think there might be baffles in the oil pan (to prevent oil starvation on curves) that interfere with the hose.

Reply to
Nobody Important

Latex or Nitrile gloves work well... ;)

Reply to
Hachiroku

May be easy for some, but I'm 6 foot 1 and I need to put the car on Rhino ramps to reach back that far. (Plus ramps make it easier to drain the transmission fluid too.)

Ditto that for curbside oil recycling!

Man, the Honda Accords put the oil filter in the toughest places to reach...

Michael

Reply to
mrdarrett

I've got an F-150 (300 I-6); '55 Studebaker with later Stude V-8, and a Porsche 944. All are cake easy to change the oil on and none require jacking, but the Porsche does have the filter mounted so that you invariably drizzle oil on the crossmember. Had a long string of watercooled VWs, all of those were pretty easy too. I think painful oil changes seem to be a Japanese trait; I changed the oil in a Sentra once and really don't care to repeat that experience.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Did you use a manual pump or one that uses an air compressor? I had trouble with the manual pump, sometimes it worked great, and sometimes it was lousy. The ones that use an air compressor do a much better job. But you do have to sometimes move the tube around a bit to make sure it gets to the bottom of the drain pan.

Reply to
Mark A

not only that, but on some cars, such as my Subaru, I can change the oil without jacking the car up. I like to use the 5 minutes while the oil is draining to have a look around underneath - look for leaks, check the CV boots, check the exhaust, etc...

Ray

Reply to
ray

Hmm, that is a lot faster than removing all of the bolts from the transmission oil pan in the Escort, which does not have a drain. I may give that a try next time.

Reply to
Ray O

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