Anybody got any thoughts of what kind/brand/model of oil extractor to purchase? Compressed air or manual? Brand? Capacity? I've got a 330i that I'm tired of climbing under, and I'd like to give myself a really practical Christmas present. thanks, Frank
As long as you have an E46 with a dipstick and not an E90. It works well for me if you release the oil filter top first to let that quart of oil drain back into the pan. I have a Pella 650 I bought from Overtons.
+1 on the gravity thing. Pressurizing the oil to pump it out can't be a good thing. If the pressure to pump out the oil exceeds that from the oil pump, there stands a good chance of forcing oil into places it should go. There's a reason the drain plug is on the bottom.
I love my MityVac I have a MityVac MV7201 (available @ Amazon about $70). First of all you don't "pressurize" the oil sump to extract the oil. You "suck" it out. The MightyVac has a pump handle that you work like a bicycle pump to create lower pressure in the waste oil container. You stick a tube down the dipstick tube and pump it a few times then the oil just flows right out. So its not going to blow out any seals or anything like that. It is especially handy for cars with the underside all faired in like E39 M5 or my E46 330cic and cars that are really low to the ground, you don't have to get underneath them or lift them or crawl around on your back and have warm oil run over your hand and down your arm. Safer, faster, and in my humble opinion way better. Heck just getting one of my cars far enough off the ground takes longer than an entire oil change using the MityVac. I was skeptical at first so I used the MityVac then I put the car on jack stands and undid the oil drain plug. I got about an oz of oil more out of the crank case after 10 minutes, in other words the MityVac did a great job of evacuating all the oil in the sump. You can also add a brake bleeder attachment to it too. One more thing, my first MityVac broke (the pump handle separated from the plunger), I called their customer service and they sent me a new one, gratis, immediately.
FINALLY someone who has actually measured empirically. Thank you. Since I only change my oil about 1 per year (I only drive 3,500 miles / year) (I bicycle commute) I don't do it myself preferring to go to a joint that uses the dipstick vacuum-sucker-upper. Would rather that than have a gorilla over torque my drainplug. Leaving a few ounces of old oil is good enough for me and its good to hear it may be as low as one ounce.
Sounds like it works for ya so no need to change. My 07 550 , the wife's 08 RX350, and my Ford F150 all have the filter on the bottom side so I reckon I'm destined to crawl underneath all my cars for a while.
I too use a topside oiler -mine is from Griots and is probably just a rebranded Mityvac. It works wonderfully! I checked out what it was leaving behind by pulling the drain plug and got maybe 2 drips. So I put on a new drain plug gasket and torqued it for the last time. That was 110,000 miles ago. An added plus is you can use the oil sucker to completely vacuum out the oil in the filter well. The key to a successful oil change is doing it right after driving the car- the oil is super hot and stirred up so any contaminants are still suspended in the outgoing oil. Oil change time - 30 minutes, tops.
I have no idea what you mean by faired, but if you are referring to the splash guard, there is a either a small removal plate or the splash guard doesn't extend all the way to the oil plug. There is no problem getting to the plug. Also, I have found many issues with my car by getting under my car and doing a visual inspection (That is one of the main reason you do a gravity based oil change, an underside inspection). I have found numerous leaks and other problems by getting under my car during an oil change, taking a flashlight and doing a visual inspection. Why do you think dealers and indy's always encourage an oil change? They want to get under the car and do an underside inspection. What do you think I just sit their and let hot oil run down my arm? Only an idiot would do that. That is absolutely YOUR opinion. I doubt that. I'm curious just where did you pull an extra ounce of oil from?
I too was skeptical however a bunch of the Puget Sound (many whos judgement I trust very much) members use the MityVac and love it. Some said they did compairsons and found no more oil drain via the plug than with the MityVac (in other words the MityVac got it all). I plan to get one! It can be bought here: http://www.tooltopia.com/search.aspx?find=&category=3643
Oil Change Member 327350: I plan to buy a vac for oil changes. Since you have gone over 100K without removing the drain plug, do you think I should use some anti-seize? Thanks for the information.
I wouldn't bother with anti seize. I have never had a problem removing a drain plug except when the dealer does it before me because they crank it down so tight.
No, antiseize in not necessary.. More important than that would be to use a proper BMW copper gasket on the plug and torque it to BMW's recommended specs. Cheers!
