Changing oil by extracting it from the filler tube

[Xist]

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?

[Frank Lee]

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

[freebeard]

Them Duke boys...

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

[jamesqf]

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.

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by Xist

but I often have difficulty catching both the stream from the oil pan and the one from the filter port without spilling.

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.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

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).

[spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I use to look at the general state of affairs elsewhere on the undercarriage.

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.

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

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!

[Xist]

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.

[Frank Lee]

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.