Reuse engine oil in the engine?
 

If I drain engine oil with only about 1400 miles on it, can I reuse it? What would be necessary to keep particulates and dirt out? Clean drain area and clean receptacle only? I have to redo the oilpan gasket, and would rather not waste the 4,000 miles still in the current engine oil.

Clean around the drain plug and drain it into a clean container. The oil goes through the filter before it is distributed to the engine. Leave the filter on. Any minute particles that get reintroduced into the engine will go through the oil pump and the filter before they go anywhere else.

regards
Mech

If you have patience, you could use some thin toilet/kitchen paper in a funnel, then slowely poor the oil in.

No we are all for saving money and the environment, but oil is the engines blood. Id take it to the recycle place and use new oil. In addition to particles in it, you got PH, additives and such too.

If that's the case then I'll just wait with the gasket fix. It is a fairly slow leak that has been there at least a year, maybe two. It's my last known fluid leak (of four). I need to fix the leaks for the sake of the belly pan I am making right now, but I could just finish the build and keep the front uninstalled until my next oil change.

I just reused my trans fluid after my timing belt swap. I replaced the axle seals and needed to drain it. I used a clean pan and tried to keep the brass synchro dust from going right back in the transmission.

What's the worst that can happen to my 107,000 mile transmission? It wears out faster?

I'd probably reuse the engine oil. Just keep it clean.

What color was it?

You might find out. You also might want to ask what rebuilding a transmission costs.

It was still clear. It only had 11,000 miles on it. I think the manual says to change it every 100,000-120,000 miles, but can't remember exactly.

I know what the parts cost and I can rebuild it myself. The 7th Gen Civic's are known to have their inputs bearings fail. The input bearing race is plastic. Mine is on it's way out. When I changed the transmission fluid out at around 95,000 miles, there were some plastic pieces that came out. When I drained that fluid at 106,000 miles, more plastic came out. I put the old fluid back in and topped it off with some fresh fluid. I can hear the "can of marbles" sound in first gear, which means the input bearing is already at some level of failure. The trans still works so I am in no rush to fix it. By the way, a bearing kit is $150 and a synchro set is $200. If the input bearing goes, I may just go for an HX transmission and refresh it before it goes in the car.

If Honda thinks that fluid can stay in the transmission for over 100,000 miles, it should not be a problem to reuse newer fluid, as long as it was kept clean.

I reuse old motor oil as bar oil in my chain saws.

If the oil is still light colored and you take care to keep it reasonably clean it is reusable in the sump. If you are nervous about reuse, wait till have more miles on it.

It's not really "reusing" the oil. You'll need a clean container, though. It might end up being more of a hassle to do it properly than buying fresh oil will be.