Changing oil by extracting it from the filler tube
 

I once saw an ad for what claimed to be a similar system to what Milton Bradley used to change oil at their dealerships, except everybody knows motherboards stopped having dipsticks! It seems great--if you can remove your oil filter without lifting your vehicle. The Humble Mechanic said that it would be silly to use if you still needed to get under your car, but I often have difficulty catching both the stream from the oil pan and the one from the filter port without spilling.

However, they say it takes ten minutes. I imagine many people would claim that is far longer than they spend changing oil, but both of my cars have Fumoto QuickValves, and those drain much slower.

Also, Volkswagen now puts plastic oil pans on their cars.

Do push-ups VW!

Yeah, so... what do you guys think?

And miss out on all the fun of shimmying around on the ground?

Seriously, the point of changing the oil is to get as much of the old goop out as possible. IMHO sucking it out the top will leave a layer of icky sediment on the bottom of the pan, if there is one because not all of it is in suspension. That's just my theory as no, I haven't ever dropped the pan to see for sure. But I'm going to keep on with that anyway as it's also a good opportunity I use to look at the general state of affairs elsewhere on the undercarriage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAtsZPmjExo

Them Duke boys...

If you don't remove the drain plug there is no opportunity to wipe the metal shavings off the magnet.

Probably cheaper & more effective to buy (or make) a couple of ramps to lift the car a bit. Though with a couple of mine, draining the oil isn't the problem, it's getting to the $@#! oil filter.

Do them one at a time, and move your catch pan.

My TDI VW has a huuuge dipstick tube...sticking a pneumatic brake bleeder tool down it would be simple, and the filter cartridge comes up and out. There are probably other vacuum devices that would do the same thing. No real reason to go under it, if you don't want to.

Oil change by suction, as it's known in Brazil, is not so uncommon back here. Even though many places use the more conventional gravity-based method, some offer both. I have only seen one gas station that resorted exclusively to the suction method, in Rio Pardo city (I don't remember how many miles from Porto Alegre to Rio Pardo).

This

I use ramps made out of 2x4s for oil changes. Screw 3 together on their 2” side and then cut them down with a big saw on an angle. Dad made them years ago because of needing to put my sister’s Camaros on ramps just to get a jack under it. We have since added 1” pads of solid PVC to the bottom to get a little more lift. Either way, they work awesome and make oil changes a breeze and even make working under the hood easier by not having to bend over so far.

I'm going to have to do something like this...only 1 of my cars has enough front bumper clearance to get up the typical steel ramps I have!

Shouty Kilmer says that low-profile jacks are perfect for low cars like Civics. When I had a grill block, I still did not have an difficulty lifting that car, except the lift point is off-center, so I needed to have an elephant sit on one side.

I saw several videos and posts of people who made their own ramps, usually just to get their riced-out cars high enough for a low-profile jack. I thought it was cool and tried to figure how I wanted to make mine, but I decided they would not do anything for me that I could not do better with jacks and stands. I bought ramps first, but for some reason, they liked to slide back when I tried to climb them, and often I got on one ramp while the other moved out of the way.

Checking the undercarriage should be performed regularly, although I do not have any idea when the last time I got under my Civic was. Aside from the off-center jack point, yes, I can lift her just fine, but I can just reach under, open the Fumoto QuickValve, pop the hood, and remove the filter. I can also reach under and release the F QV on my Accord, but I cannot reach the filter without lifting the car.

I did purchase a low-profile jack, though, but only because it actually lifted higher than the normal ones. Otherwise I cannot put the back of my car on jacks without multiple 2x4s, which always put my spider-sense on edge.

By the way, everyone says to do top-down oil changes on hot engines, which would have the bad stuff all mixed up. If there were sludge on the bottom, I am not sure it would drain out, being viscous and all.

I haven't been able to simply drive up my ramps with the 'Coupe since I lowered it so I slide a short 2 x 4 under each ramp only on the entrance end such that first I drive on the boards and then up the ramps just like that.

My Impala is too low so it pushes the ramps or screws up the air dam, a nice floor jack & jack stands are better IMO.

I'm thinking of the grease pit in the movie California Kid.

If you lay a 2x4 across both ramps you gain lift and the ramps won't slide. The front of my Superbeetle is so low it's like the 'dark' side of the Moon. I made extension wedges from 16" lengths of 2x8 that had lag bolts on the under, upper side that slot into holes in the ramp. If I was serious about it, I'd make metal wedges that hinge 180° for storage. Not time for that.

Not that there is oil to change under the front of a Superbeetle, anyways.

On the plus side, anything that doesn't drain out after a good drive is unlikely to pose a threat.

I have always wanted a grease pit since I saw one the dad of one of my friends had in high school, I just did not know the name.

I guess that digging out concrete is easier or at least cheaper than installing a lift.

They have roll away lifts now but are only medium height (think sitting on the ground under the car). And those “quick jacks” things that look like really long scissor lifts.

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=...e335aa.jpg&f=1
https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F4f%2Fd1%2F78%2F4fd178ed45e cfe51c601b2d368e335aa.jpg&f=1

You guys think this method is silly?! What about this idea?!

Castrol Nexcel

I don't mind the old-school way but for example if I wanted to change the oil now it's dark out and -20F so it does look like an attractive option. Also it would almost certainly result in a higher recycling rate so that's good. The thing for me would be what is the cost penalty?

I use an old fashioned "squeeze bulb" style siphon on my ZNEN-50 scooter every 2500 miles or so, then let my mechanic do a $50 "full service" every 10000 miles (oil change, battery check, tire check, wires, plugs, cvt clean and check etc.).

Mind you, I could only get away with that on a 50cc motor with 0.75 pint oil capacity and a wire strainer instead of a filter... :o

This would work to change the oil in Mom's lawnmower: https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...tor/543344_0_0

I just need to purchase an air compressor.

Here's a manual at less than 1/4 the price: https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...tor/547010_0_0

And here's what I use -Dirt cheap, but takes a little longer (as in."pump to prime, go brew a coffee and come back in a half hour") : https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...ump/574855_0_0

Sorry, I was joking. That pump costs a couple of times as much as Mom's mower did brand-new and then I would need the compressor. Since it did not have a drain plug, I ended up turning it upside-down, so a bulb siphon would definitely be better. I think I sucked on a clean tube until it started draining.