I know it's really not "draining" the oil, but does anyone here use one of those systems that lets you remove your oil through the dipstick tube?

The idea makes sense, and I like the idea of not having to raise the car to mess with a drain pan, or worry about the drain bolt becoming stuck, but I'm a little concerned about getting all of the old oil out. It seems that if you don't get the pickup tube all the way down to the lowest part of the oil pan, you'd risk leaving some old oil behind and possible overfilling the crankcase as a result.

Any experiences/opinions?

Thanks,
Scott

 

I haven't done it with my MINI, but I used to with my TDI VW. You can actually get more oil out, it gets to the lowest part of the pan and you can get all of the oil out of the filter housing. Only negative on the TDI is that it was easy to get lazy about checking under the car. I plan on doing mid maintenance changes this way since the dealer should be changing the oil from the drain plug.

Michael

 

Thanks!
So, it is easy to tell when you have the pickup at the lowest part of the oil pan?

Scott

 

Don't know anything about sucking oil up through the dipstick tube but I got a valved drain plug so I could use a shallow pan and drain the oil without jacking up the car. Works quite well. See Randy Webb's oil change post.

 

I use this method on my New Beetle and I get most, if not all, of the oil out. I always get over the 4 liter mark in the reservoir and with the oil left in the filter, that's pretty much all of it. I once changed the oil in my mom's Accord and out of curiosity I pulled the drain plug and ZERO oil dripped out!

As far as leaving oil behind and possibly overfilling the crankcase, I fill except for the last half quart or so, start up, then check the dipstick. Then I top up to the full mark.

I haven't done it on my MINI but I will between dealer changes. I may pull the plug to see how much leftover oil is in there but I don't expect much.

 

I guess it depends on the car, but I've always read that taking the oil out throught the top tends to leave metal shavings and such in the pan.

 

Valcom gets the prize for first mention of removing metal particles.

Especially in the early miles (certainly the first 10,000) of the car's life, I would drain the oil from the drain bolt in the oil pan. If the car is on ramps, there is no way that the drain bolt location is not the lowest point of the engine. (Unless of course, the car is parked on an incline....)

 

Yes, the first few changes were done the conventional way so any metal particles due to break in were flushed out. Also if there was any metal that managed to make it up through the oil pickup, they would be trapped by the oil filter. If you have metal pieces that are too big for the oil pickup, then you've got bigger problems.

I've submitted samples to Blackstone at each change and there was no sign of abnormal wear detected.

 

I used this method for my last change. I suggest getting a magnetic plug. I will be doing a regular method oil change every 3rd change. It was a lot of pumping for me though. For some reason, I would pump it and it would suck some oil, then I would have to pump again...etc. It took probably 30 mins of constant pumping. I'm not sure why. It did get all of the oil though. If it wasn't for a piece of the oil filter being missing that I had to remove from the old one, I would have been completely clean!

I don't think it is safe to always use this method. It is important to look under the car every once in a while. Also to see what sediments are coming out of the engine. It is a good product. I will see how it works on my next change. Hopefully it will be easier.

 

run the engine for 5 minutes before using the siphon, makes things much easier. oh yeah, shut the engine off before you start siphoning

 

Being a sailor, I have had alot of experience with the gear that takes oil out this way. (no way to drain from bottom on sail boat). Most of the pumps do not work real well. I just helped a friend with one that has a large tank and develops a huge suction while pumping the tank. Worked flwawlessly. Sorry, don't remember the brand. But getting a good pump is key to this method.

 

I do use this method to change oil and the following product works flawlessly.

http://www.coopersport.com/usa/Maint...e-p-16288.html

 

I use this extractor unit with good success. It's well made and the price and service from this outlet was great.

http://http://www.wholesalemarine.co...-Change/Detail

 

To me, it appears that doing anything other than draining the oil via the stock plug is going to extra trouble and cannot be as good. The engine should be hot when you change the oil so that as much particulate matter as possible is traveling with the oil, not sitting somewhere, and the bottom of the oil pan is not the only low trap point.

Not all of the oil that is picked up from the pan by the pump is filtered. The filter is only one branch of the tree where the oil is sent. Eventually, by the laws of dilution and mathematics, all of the oil will get filtered, but only a small portion get filtered at a time.

What is desired is to have all the junk suspended in your oil, then open the drain plug (the larger the better) and get all of that oil and grit out of there as fast as possible before it settles anywhere. A Fumoto valve will restrict the flow somewhat. Pumping from the dipstick tube will restrict even more and there is no way all the sediment in the bottom of the pan will be sucked up.

Please remember that I'm speaking from a 'purist' point of view and actually enjoy doing maintenance properly on everything I own from oiling a door hinge to changing the furnace filters. I know that doing it properly will help keep money in my pocket in the long run.... and the long run is what is important to me.

If you change your oil early, via any method you want, it will be far better than doing nothing until the blessed OBC tells you to go see your dealer for your oil changes.

I challenge each of you who can to catch your oil from your next oil change in a clean container (a disposable aluminum turkey pan works well) and then filter it through nothing more than a folded paper towel back into the original container. Then take a close look and what came out. What you see has been circulating around in your oil (not caught by the filter).

Take the oil filter and cut it apart with a razor knife...or just look closely at it.... it filters from the outside in, so just carefully looking at the outside at what it caught just may surprise you. I changed my oil at 1000 miles and saw all sorts of tiny aluminum and copper turnings, like little fingernail clippings, along with just plain grit. None of this stuff is magnetic either.

I admit I'm a radical freaque about maintenance and I never intend to harass or annoy anyone, but this ongoing MINI oil change thing is like fingernails on a blackboard to me. I guess you young guns don't know what that is, hehe. I can't read these posts without making some sort of emotional comment.... please forgive me.

YD

 

Been using the same one that Griots sells for quite some time now on several bimmers and the Minis and it works great. I don't know how often this is true, but I've heard that even some dealers use topside oil extractors.

We use it for the 5k oil changes and then let the dealer do the standard job and it seems to work out well.

 

I believe the one from Griots is the Pela unit I use.

 

I got one of the Pela units also. Works great! You will know when you've hit the bottom of the pan as the tube will go no further. My first experience started out slow. I was a little worried but I just kept pumping it up every few minutes and eventually got about 4 3/4 quarts of oil out. I got one because my drain bolt is hopelessly rounded off. That's a problem for another day.