Has anyone use MityVac for DIY oil change? How do you like it? Thank you.

 

I haven't used a Mityvac for this and wouldn't. It would take a long time and a lot of pumping to move the number of quarts of oil we are talking about (unless you are referring to a Mityvac product other than the hand pump they sell). I don't think you would be saving yourself any time and effort.

In any case, I don't think vacuuming oil out of the sump makes an effective oil change. When you change oil you want to get all the trash and metal out of the engine. That sort of stuff will settle to the bottom as the oil settles. Draining the oil out the bottom will pull that out much more effectively than vacuuming, IMHO.

 

I've used a Topsider pump to change oil on BMWs before. Works fine. Once you set it up, it actually only takes ~15 minutes for the oil to be vacuumed out (but you've got to get the oil nice and warm first). The appeal of doing this on BMWs is that you can change the oil without ever going under the car, because of the filter location. It makes changing the oil something you can do in a suit. Looks like the Mini's filter is a bigger PITA to reach, but it sucking the oil out is still better than crawling around under the car. Of course, you can't do it anymore because BMW stopped putting dipsticks in their cars.

As to the point about getting the debris out, that is a bone of some contention amongst the BMW community. But it's worth noting that this is how they change oil in marine engines.

 

There have been a number of threads where the Top Side Oil Changer have been discussed. The biggest complaint seems to be that if the engine is too hot, you can melt the plastic hose in the dipstick tube. If the engine is not hot enough, it takes too long to remove the oil.

With rubber gloves and the proper oil catch can, it isn't that big a hassle to do it the old-fashioned way. I considered adding a brass tube to a top sider, but I think I'll stick to doing it from underneath.

 

How can you fill the engine with the correct amount of oil if the new BMWs don't have dipsticks?

 

You have to measure it out in advance. The car has an electronic readout for oil level. In theory, this is fantastic. In practice, it's a bit of a PITA to get a reading--it sometimes takes several minutes.

 

I agree, Most of the heavy debris that is not caught by the filter should find its way to the bottom of the pan. I see the value of the use of these type of pumps in the marine industry but why in the world would you use one in the automotive? It reminds me of those spring loaded petcocks that some people use in place of their drain plugs

 

Are you talking about the Fumoto drain valve? What do you feel is wrong with them? They have a very positive locking mechanism - in fact, I can't remember ever hearing of one opening inadvertently.

And they're very convenient - you don't need a wrench to open them, and if you don't always do your own oil changes, it's nice to not have to worry about the drain bolt getting frozen in place if the dealer/oil change place overtightens it. Plus, you no longer have to replace crush washers as part of an oil change.

 

That would be more convenient than having oil spill all over your hand and wrench when removing the oil plug. Too bad the location of the drain on an R56 makes it too dangerous to use. It would stick down and be the first thing to get sheared off by debris in the road.

 

I can tell you that most dealers in my area now use the topside extractors because they got sick of people accusing them or stripping the oil drain.

For the E36 M3, there have been people who pulled out more than a quart using the extractor after a regular plug drain.

 

I suspect they use some sort of electric vacuum pump, rather than hand pumping.

Someone with a topsider should see what they can extract after a plug drain. It would also be good to see if anything drains out the plug after a topsider removal.

 

Does it really matter if it's electric or not. As long as there's negative pressure it'll drain the pan. The tube goes to the bottom of the pan

 

I use a MityVac hand pump to pull oil out of lawnmowers, brake fluid out of the m/c, remove p/s fluid, antifreeze from the expansion tank, etc. For oil I use a hard plastic Apple juice jug as a trap. The setup works reasonably well for these applications, but I don't think I'd want to use my particular setup to drain more than ~1.5 liters of any type of fluid. On the Mini I cahnge the oil the old fashioned way - from under the car.

On a side note, the MityVac is a pretty useful tool to have since it's also got a vacuum gauge. I've used it to test and/or calibrate a stock, JDM STi, and Forge BPV on the subaru. It was a great way to compare valves and see exactly what difference the various springs and shims made to the opening of the Forge valve. I've also used it to test vacuum brake boosters (takes lots of pumping for this), etc.

-my 0.02

 

Electric is faster and can probably reach/maintain a higher vacuum.

 

I have had two cars in my shop both BMW's that have caught the edge of that valve on road debris and tore a giant hole in the cast pan! I realize that it is only slightly bigger than the drain but I have seen it twice. I myself do not mind using a wrench and do not mind getting a little oil on me. Also drain plugs usually have a magnetic tip that to catch debris, And yes it must me ferrious I realaize that. In my opinion it is gimmick, Something I would see some guy with a british accent selling on a info-mercial late at night. An oil change is a 20 to 30 minute job lets not make this harder than it really is.

 

+1

Those valves scare the carp outa me. I'd never use one for the exact reasons dirkinoff has stated.

 

I just changed out the break in oil at 2,000 miles and 2 weeks with a MityVac. I can confirm it works great. Took about 30 minutes. I've used the MityVac on our other cars too and the secret is to run the engine for about 5 minutes so the oil is warm, but not up to operating temp. I extracted about 4 liters. To get all of the oil out of the oil pan you have to move the tube in and out a little when it starts to suck air. It feels like there is enough room in the oil pan for the tube to curl up on itself so don't keep feeding and feeding the tube.

 

I just did an oil change with the mityvac and have to agree that it's pretty easy. 5 mins of warmup and also jiggled the tube when it got to the bottom. Pulled a little over 4 quarts. Next time I'm gonna try draining excess through the bottom of the oil pan just to see how much comes out. Will report.

Happy motoring!

 

I used one when I owned an M Roadster, and it worked great. I haven't used it on a MINI, though.

If you do use one, just be careful and don't let what happened to this guy happen to you!

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=396346