Oil / Fluid extractors

[Parrot of Doom]

I use one, its excellent. Makes no difference if you suck or drain, there's still loads of old oil swirling around the inside of the engine anyway.

 

[S.Speed]

I use one, its excellent. Makes no difference if you suck or drain, there's still loads of old oil swirling around the inside of the engine anyway.

I agree with Parrot of Doom..
I have always used the oils extractor to errrr extract oil !
There is so much Cr*p talked about leaving pints of muck in the sump..Absolute Cr*p !!
I have used mine for years and will continue to do so.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Suck v Drain?

Kerbside motors could not operate if there were no suckers!?

 

[cocothecat]

I used an oil extractor on my last service, was a fair bit of hard work and took over 2 hours to pull the oil out. Although my bit of kit could have been naff!!

 

[Number_Cruncher]

I disagree strongly with those who are saying that vacuum extraction leaves dirty oil in the sump. This is simply not the case.

Sage nodding of the heads from the indie contributors of course is in full realisation that if people are sucking their own oil out using a Pela, they aren't the booking their car in at the garage!

There are a very small number of cars with saddle type sumps which do need to be drained, but, they are very much the exception.

On my car, using a Pela gets *more* oil out than I could ever get out without one!

>>took over 2 hours to pull the oil out.

It sounds like you didn't have the oil warm enough - when the oil is hot and thin, it comes out in no time.

 

[S.Speed]

Totally agree with Number Cruncher..
Once warmed up my extractor takes about 4 or 5 minutes to drain..

 

[television]

I use the pump from my fish pond in the garden, just fit a smaller tube and away you go, the pond filter cleans it all just great, then reverse the pump to flush it,, then suck it all out again

 

[Alex Crow]

ok, fair enough. the primary reason i have never considered using it for oil changes is that i have never had reason to. all the work i do is between the two posts of a vehicle lift, and on the rare occasions i need to lower myself to service a car D), i will also be checking brakes, suspension etc etc and will have it in the air. when i get chance i will use the vac first and see for myself what comes out. from what i have read above it will be very little. probably more important to make sure it is hot, and remove the filter while still draining/vacuuming. thanks for the tip guys.

 

[television]

Could not these pumps be adapted to drain the fluid from torque converters

 

[jibcl500]

I bought the sealey 6.5L pump sucker, I was that impressed I bought another for fuel.
I find they take out more oil than draining via the sump bolt.

jib

 

[grober]

The better vacuum pumps such as the Pela get the thumbs up from me also. Have used one for years with no ill effects. Many manufacturer main dealers routinely use the dipstick hole to remove the old engine oil during routine servicing since it saves time. Ask any motorboat owner with an inboard engine--its difficult to get access under the engine in fibreglass hull so extraction is often the only practical solution. The one time I would say draining is a better option is if the oil has not been changed for some time or in a car that's prone to sludge formation such as the SAAB turbocharged models. Otherwise if you keep a sharp eye on the engine oil quality and correct change intervals vacuum extraction is a good alternative.

 

[Alex Crow]

I find they take out more oil than draining via the sump bolt.

jib

how? did you drain by the sump, then put in the vac pipe??? even that will not prove it.....

and malcolm, that is one of the jobs i use mine for! it is powered by compressed air, so keeps sucking like a good 'un even when loads of air is coming through. i connect it to the pipe at the oil cooler and crank the engine for very short bursts - this gets a lot more out. i also empty the oil cooler, although this holds surprisingly little oil.

 

[Number_Cruncher]

>>i have never had reason to. all the work i do is between the two posts of a vehicle lift

Quite - during the time when I worked in a garage, the thought of using a Pela or similar would never have occured to me.

On a MB, using a Pela means you can do the oil and filter change entirely from above. On occaison, I've done my W124 straight after a long journey, while SWMBO is sorting out Number_Nipper and I'm still wearing my good clothes - the only concession to working on the car being a fetching pair of purple nitrile gloves!

I think that the ease of using a vac pump means that it's much more likely that owners will do oil changes on time, which, in my opinion trumps the "how many angels on a pin-head" question of exactly how many drops of old oil remain in the sump.

 

[47p2]

I've never used a pump, but sometimes I wish I had. However now that the 4 poster is fitted I never will use one

 

[Rory]

Are you, how can I put it, a little lacking in the stature department?

I've never used a pump, but sometimes I wish I had. However now that the 4 poster is fitted I never will use one

 

[47p2]

The garage was only finished a couple of months ago and the ramp fitted a few weeks ago. With no services due in the near future I am having a bit of a break before I start cutting away my nice new trusses, a job I'm not looking forward to

 

[teabag]

The garage was only finished a couple of months ago and the ramp fitted a few weeks ago. With no services due in the near future I am having a bit of a break before I start cutting away my nice new trusses, a job I'm not looking forward to

I hope you have fitted a height limit switch in the meantime.

 

[Rory]

The garage was only finished a couple of months ago and the ramp fitted a few weeks ago. With no services due in the near future I am having a bit of a break before I start cutting away my nice new trusses, a job I'm not looking forward to

Hopefully you have physical stops on the lift?

ETA in view of the above post: I used to work with machine tools and I wouldn't rely on a limit switch.

 

[teabag]

Hopefully you have physical stops on the lift?

ETA in view of the above post: I used to work with machine tools and I wouldn't rely on a limit switch.

Those beams look as if they would act as good physical stops

 

[47p2]

No limit switch, just keep a keen eye on it when raising it.
Once the trusses are cut I will fit a switch into the system, similar to the one at the floor which stops a few inches from the bottom and allow you to check there is nothing in the way that could get trapped