Using a vacuum pump to change the oil.

[Speed addicted]

B'stard Child said:

Speed addicted said:

When you say you've emptied motorbike engines using it, can I ask how? The ones I have typically place the filler above the clutch so you can't get a tube in there!

It’s coped very nicely with all the old chod I run - K1200RS, GPz1000RX, GPz600R and YPVS

The small bore pipe bends very nicely round obstacles and it even drained a diif (what stupid idea designing a diff with a filler plug but no drain)

Hmm, another item for the shopping list then! My current fleet consists of BMW K100, GPz600R, Ducati ST2 and a Triumph explorer that gets serviced by other people so far.
I'm always worried about damaging (or finding previous damage) on the sump plug threads on the older bikes. It puts me off changing the oil as it's such a faff if something won't seal afterwards.

[Piersman2]

I bought the Sealey 6.5litre sucker pump extractor thingie a couple of years back.

Great for a quick oil change especially as the engine in my two cars is specifically designed to have the oil sucked out via a pipe inside the filler cap aperture. The oil filters are also placed on top of the engine so you don't even have to get under the car for that. Makes an oil change a quick 15 minute job.

The sucker is also used for emptying the toilets in the house so I can give the whole bowl and u-bend a dose of thick any-scaling bleach without it being diluted by the bowl water.

The neighbours lad topped up the oil in his Vectra a few weeks back. Being an idiot he tipped in about 5 litres to top up (I don't know why, 'cos he's an idiot). Thankfully his dad questioned him where the 5 litres of oil had gone and realised. Queue them spending over 2 hours trying to get the car jacked up in the drive, sump nut off and 4 litres drained back out again. apparently was all a bit of a mess. I told them that the next time to just come and let me know as I could have sucked out the excess oil in about 5 minutes!

[Skyedriver]

colin_p said:

I've had and used a Pela 6000 since the early 00's great bit of kit.

But about three years ago I bought one of these;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-TP6903-Operated-Va...

As I have an air compressor it would have been rude not to. By the time I have changed the filter holder 'o' rings and got the replacement cartridge filter ready the extractor has done its bit. All that is left is to pull the remaining oil out of the oil cooler.

As for oil remaining in the engine, that is always going to happen but in the case of say the VAG 1.9 PD TDI (or any other engine with a vertical oil filter and oil cooler arrangement) you can always get more oil out than via a gravity drain from the sump plug. The oil that sits in the cooler can be vac'd out where as with a gravity drain it just sites there. On the 1.9 PD TDI it is about 200ml of oil.

In early days when I first got the Pela I was also skeptical and took the sump plug out also to confirm what may have been missed and it was negligible.

Edited by colin_p on Tuesday 4th June 13:51

I have a smallish (Aldi style) compressor, will that be enough? Is there a smaller comp operated one, 9litre seems big.
Should I stick to hand op, either Sealey or Pela? Is there a lot of pumping required or is it just one long pull (oo er missus)

[B'stard Child]

Skyedriver said:

I have a smallish (Aldi style) compressor, will that be enough? Is there a smaller comp operated one, 9litre seems big.
Should I stick to hand op, either Sealey or Pela? Is there a lot of pumping required or is it just one long pull (oo er missus)

The sealey one I have is 10 - 15 pumps to build the vacuum up with the tube in the oil and then just leave it to do it’s job it’ll be done before you’ve prepped the new oil filter and removed the old one

[Skyedriver]

B'stard Child said:

Skyedriver said:

I have a smallish (Aldi style) compressor, will that be enough? Is there a smaller comp operated one, 9litre seems big.
Should I stick to hand op, either Sealey or Pela? Is there a lot of pumping required or is it just one long pull (oo er missus)

The sealey one I have is 10 - 15 pumps to build the vacuum up with the tube in the oil and then just leave it to do it’s job it’ll be done before you’ve prepped the new oil filter and removed the old one

Just ordered up the Sealey one, thanks

[B'stard Child]

Skyedriver said:

B'stard Child said:

Skyedriver said:

I have a smallish (Aldi style) compressor, will that be enough? Is there a smaller comp operated one, 9litre seems big.
Should I stick to hand op, either Sealey or Pela? Is there a lot of pumping required or is it just one long pull (oo er missus)

The sealey one I have is 10 - 15 pumps to build the vacuum up with the tube in the oil and then just leave it to do it’s job it’ll be done before you’ve prepped the new oil filter and removed the old one

Just ordered up the Sealey one, thanks

No probs - in fact I used mine last night to change the oil in the LC (didn't need filter change as I did that last time) 12 pumps and 6 litres removed while I dicked about trying to fix the recalcitrant CD changer................... (that was a fail - Looks like I need a new stereo for the Le Mans 24Hrs )

[pfnsht]

I think these are great for making oil changes so easy to do that quaterly/half yearly changes become a regular occurance. I still do the yearly oil change traditionally but 2-4 interims with this equipment can only do good in my eyes.

I have the Pella version. Great piece of kit.

[slybunda]

i only find it worth using vacuum pump if the filter is at the top of the engine. no point if filter is at the bottom and car has to be jacked up, may as well pull out the sump plug then.
but in experience id say the vacuum pump method does get 99% of the oil out.

[devnull]

I've used an 8 litre Pela pump for over 10 years between my various mercs to do oil changes. Even Mercedes themselves use extractor pumps. Don't see what the fuss is about. I over 300k miles between the cars, I've never had an issue, and believe me, when you're doing an oil change every couple of months, you don't to spend any more time than you need to doing them.

[ninjag]

devnull said:

I've used an 8 litre Pela pump for over 10 years between my various mercs to do oil changes. Even Mercedes themselves use extractor pumps. Don't see what the fuss is about. I over 300k miles between the cars, I've never had an issue, and believe me, when you're doing an oil change every couple of months, you don't to spend any more time than you need to doing them.

Would you have a link to that one as I can't find it and can't use the Sealey one as my car has 6.7L annoyingly. The bigger air operated Sealey is a bit pricey.

[richard sails]

I bought the 14L Pela vacuum pump a few years ago, I was a non-believer in such things and only bought it when I found my 5.7L boat engine did not have a sump plug.

After using it successfully on the boat I have tried it on most of my cars by sucking the oil out first and then removing the sump plug to see what’s left. With some cars there is a very small dribble from the plug, with many there is nothing at all. Indeed some cars sump plugs are positioned at the side of the sump in such a way that it is not possible to drain all the oil via the plug hole. Most of my cars have oil coolers fitted and so there is no way I could change all the oil, there will be some residual oil in the systems.

What I have found is that it’s important that the oil is warm otherwise the pump takes ages, I usually plan to do it about half an hour after the engine has been running to make sure it is still warm and there has been time for the oil to drop to the bottom of the engine.

I measure the pipe against the dipstick and ensure that it goes in a little bit further than the dipstick length, I can usually feel the pipe hitting the bottom of the sump.

When the sump is nearly empty the pipe begins to make noises (like a kid with his straw in a near empty drink), I then jiggle or reposition the pipe to make sure that there is none left, occasionally I manage it get it to suck a little more up.

Since I have had it I now do many more oil changes as they are so quick and easy. I tend to keep the filters on the engines for their recommended life (millage) but make one or two interim oil changes that I would have otherwise not made.

With mine being 14L I can do two or three oil changes before I need to empty it, it’s so clean on the outside that I just put it in the car and take it down the tip to dispose of, for some reason its strangely satisfying to pour all that old oil away into their recycling oil container.

Overall I think they are a good thing.

[ukkid35]

richard sails said:

Overall I think they are a good thing.

I have been using a Pela for the last 15 years, I bought it after attempting a sump plug oil change and missing the catch pan

Since I work in a shared garage I had to work out how to clean up about 5L of used engine oil before anyone found the mess - the answer was a lot of towels and hiring a carpet cleaner

That wasn't the first Exxon Valdiz type incident I'd had, previously I'd attempted an oil change in the open, to find a strong gust of wind cause a similar disaster

The Pela is a delight to use, and as Richard points out, they are very effective

I also remove the sump plug afterwards to check the magnet, and as he points out it is a much quicker process with a warm engine

The Pela isn't cheap, but there are a number of clones around now for about £25, worth every penny in my opinion

I'm considering buying another so I can use it to remove coolant, without having to wash it out first, as I have found I can get the thin tube to the bottom of the radiator using the bleed hole

This makes draining down the coolant far less messy as well, and is especially useful if it's fresh coolant that you intend to reuse

[Captain Answer]

I had a pela but never got on with it, could never quite get the syphon right then would end up hand pumping it all out

Bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004VEF1G4/ref... a few years back and never looked back, plug it on the battery, put the tubes in, turn it on and sip your tea whilst you watch it whizzing out the oil. Good for doing lawnmower, cars, used it to do the diff on my bmw also

[Noesph]

I'm really tempted to get one of these. Very soon due to moving house my annual mileage will be going from 6-7k a year to around 13-14k a year. I normally just get the car fully serviced once a year.

But I'm tempted to get one of these to change the oil in the middle of the year, but to leave the oil filter.

So say the car is serviced (all new filters), change the oil only at 6000 miles, and then full service again (new filters and oil) at 12k miles.

I could change the filter but I would need to buy ramps / jacks and all that stuff, and figure out how to use it. (I've never lifted a car, but I've done work like change a radiator, a horn, washer motors, wing mirrors, central locking motors, stereos, wiring speakers, new start button (half the dash out), a rear back box, changing spark plugs, air filters, coil packs etc but I've always had the 4 wheels on the ground).

So its between this or ramps.Or ramps and jacks, its guess its just being a bit nervous lifting a car and getting it wrong (damaging the car or myself).

[Arnold Cunningham]

I did the oil today on one of my cars, using ramps. I had just enough oil in stock, so cost to me was an oil and an air filter - £14.69 all in and it took les time than it'd have taken to drive to the local garage and back again.

[burnsdavies]

I usea suction pump for oil removal works a treat on my Honda 2.2diesel gets most of the oil out I took oil drain bung out to test it but tried it on a fiesta diesel it left at least a third of the oil behind so I guess it works better on some than others
Also good for bleeding breaks

[BertieWooster]

Noesph said:

I'm really tempted to get one of these. Very soon due to moving house my annual mileage will be going from 6-7k a year to around 13-14k a year. I normally just get the car fully serviced once a year.

But I'm tempted to get one of these to change the oil in the middle of the year, but to leave the oil filter.

So say the car is serviced (all new filters), change the oil only at 6000 miles, and then full service again (new filters and oil) at 12k miles.

I could change the filter but I would need to buy ramps / jacks and all that stuff, and figure out how to use it. (I've never lifted a car, but I've done work like change a radiator, a horn, washer motors, wing mirrors, central locking motors, stereos, wiring speakers, new start button (half the dash out), a rear back box, changing spark plugs, air filters, coil packs etc but I've always had the 4 wheels on the ground).

So its between this or ramps.Or ramps and jacks, its guess its just being a bit nervous lifting a car and getting it wrong (damaging the car or myself).

I use ramps when I do my oil changes. Makes it really easy. I'm also fitting a Fumoto valve to one of my cars which means I don't have to take the drain plug out of the oil pan each time I change the oil - I just open the valve and the oil drains out cleanly.