Oil extractor pump - a warning

[thinfourth2]

Bugger

Plan B


Buy some cheap and nasty oil. This will come in later.

Pour a couple gallon of diesel into the engine

Remove sump plug and see if this drags the end of the pipe out.

Try it a few times and if it works then you are laughing.

Once done throw in the cheap oil and run engine for a bit to clean out the diesel.

Then do an oil change with some proper oil

[B'stard Child]

MrLou said:

B'stard Child said:

I really don't get it*

• I get the poly pipe bit (look on the side of the sump for a level sensor that and a pick up grabber tool (old coat hanger with a hook made on the end is an alternative) should help you fish it out)

When all the rubbish in the sump is designed to end up by the plug at the lowest point you chose to suck it out from a random location using a tube and pump when it takes litteraly 30 secs to undo the sump plugh and drop the old oil into an old washing up bowl

How chuffing hard is it........

Yes, yes

I contest your 30 second claim though. By the time the car is lifted up on stands to allow access to the panel that allows access to the sump plug...

None of my cars require to be lifted to drain oil

I have a similar container to one of these

http://www.difflock.com/buyersguide/newproducts/oi... and it slides under

The ones that have undertrays have small/medium sized inspection flaps to access the drain plug

One of them has an oil filter that is in a cow of a place so if it's oil and filter I do need to get the front in the air but not for a straight oil change

For that I have a set of ramps and some extenders so I can drive straight up onto them

[B'stard Child]

Anyway back to the task in hand

Does the sump have a level sensor?

Reason I ask is with the oil removed they provide a nice porthole into the sump

I once dropped a torx bit down the front of an engine when on the last stages of a timing chain change (ie all the hard work done just putting the last bits together) on my LC I could here where it landed on top of the baffle plate in the sump - I removed the level sensor and grabbed it with a magnetic wand and then replaced the level sensor and finished the task

[MrLou]

B'stard Child said:

Anyway back to the task in hand

Does the sump have a level sensor?

Reason I ask is with the oil removed they provide a nice porthole into the sump

I once dropped a torx bit down the front of an engine when on the last stages of a timing chain change (ie all the hard work done just putting the last bits together) on my LC I could here where it landed on top of the baffle plate in the sump - I removed the level sensor and grabbed it with a magnetic wand and then replaced the level sensor and finished the task

I don't know if it does or not. My plan is to refill the drained oil, drive it the half mile to the local garage and as them if I can use the ramp to remove the sump and fish it out that way. If I'm unsuccessful then the sump will come off and then it's all done. I get on well with the guy there and, with enough grovelling, he should let me use his kit to fix my mistake. I will probably owe him a few beers and no doubt he'll mock my incompetence.

I do have a cheap jack and stands set but, frankly, the idea of getting under the car when supported by £20 of el-cheapo kit doesn't fill me with any desire, I have no interest in being crushed to death by my own car

What I have learnt is that I should invest in better quality tool and equipment.

[chrisxr2]

Oh loads, recently the bottom of the dipstick snapped of and fell into the sump on my kit car. Not my fault but still a pain to sort.

MrLou said:

Never made a mistake Chris?

Anyway, FWIW, I'd do it again but only with a 1 piece extractor. I really can't see why they designed it with two pieces that just hold together by friction, intrinsically unsafe IMO.

[Oilchange]

Therein lies the solution. A one piece pipe such as the one on a Pella. (Get your friendly mech to fish it out, he will have an idea how to).

All those who would shy away from this method probably don't realise half the garages use it and it may well have been done on their cars...

I use the Pella all the time, its clean, safe and quick and saves money. Can't really say farer than that!

[chryslerben]

MrLou said:

I don't know if it does or not. My plan is to refill the drained oil, drive it the half mile to the local garage and as them if I can use the ramp to remove the sump and fish it out that way. If I'm unsuccessful then the sump will come off and then it's all done. I get on well with the guy there and, with enough grovelling, he should let me use his kit to fix my mistake. I will probably owe him a few beers and no doubt he'll mock my incompetence.

I do have a cheap jack and stands set but, frankly, the idea of getting under the car when supported by £20 of el-cheapo kit doesn't fill me with any desire, I have no interest in being crushed to death by my own car

What I have learnt is that I should invest in better quality tool and equipment.

So what your saying is if you'd done the job properly int the first place you wouldn't' be in this situation

[iva cosworth]

MrLou said:

I don't know if it does or not. My plan is to refill the drained oil, drive it the half mile to the local garage and as them if I can use the ramp to remove the sump and fish it out that way. If I'm unsuccessful then the sump will come off and then it's all done. I get on well with the guy there and, with enough grovelling, he should let me use his kit to fix my mistake. I will probably owe him a few beers and no doubt he'll mock my incompetence.

I do have a cheap jack and stands set but, frankly, the idea of getting under the car when supported by £20 of el-cheapo kit doesn't fill me with any desire, I have no interest in being crushed to death by my own car

What I have learnt is that I should invest in better quality tool and equipment.

I doubt any garage would lend you a ramp to remove your sump.Its not a 5 minute job .

I dont know whats involved on an A3 to do this but on many cars you have to also remove crossmembers and exhaust front pipes[broken exhaust studs anyone]

[MrLou]

chryslerben said:

So what your saying is if you'd done the job properly int the first place you wouldn't' be in this situation

More or less, yes.

But thanks for pointing it out in such a friendly manner!

By the way, the possessive pronoun is spelt 'you're' not 'your'. If you'd paid attention in school in the first place...

[bigjobbo]

I would take the level sensor out the bottom of the sump. Removing the sump would be my last resort.

If you do decide to remove the sump don't forget the gasket sealer. Good luck with this.

[GPT]

Out of interest, could you let us know how much oil is still in the sump when you take the plug out?

[bencollins]

Deva Link said:

chryslerben said:

Still not keen on the extract idea, infact I'd go as far to say if I knew a car I was looking to buy had been serviced in this manor I think twice about buying it

You'd rather have one that was serviced further away?

[MrLou]

GPT said:

Out of interest, could you let us know how much oil is still in the sump when you take the plug out?

Won't help you I'm afraid.

To get the car to the garage (less than a mile) I will put the old oil back in, so no way to know how effective the pump was.

[freecar]

MrLou said:

GPT said:

Out of interest, could you let us know how much oil is still in the sump when you take the plug out?

Won't help you I'm afraid.

To get the car to the garage (less than a mile) I will put the old oil back in, so no way to know how effective the pump was.

Ye of little imagination! Empty it again once you get there, it only takes a couple of minutes then fill with fresh for the return journey!

[Puddenchucker]

freecar said:

MrLou said:

GPT said:

Out of interest, could you let us know how much oil is still in the sump when you take the plug out?

Won't help you I'm afraid.

To get the car to the garage (less than a mile) I will put the old oil back in, so no way to know how effective the pump was.

Ye of little imagination! Empty it again once you get there, it only takes a couple of minutes then fill with fresh for the return journey!

On one of my cars (Skoda Octavia) when I have used an oil extractor, and then removed the sump plug, I've had no more than a couple of teaspoons of oil dibble out.

[MrLou]

freecar said:

MrLou said:

GPT said:

Out of interest, could you let us know how much oil is still in the sump when you take the plug out?

Won't help you I'm afraid.

To get the car to the garage (less than a mile) I will put the old oil back in, so no way to know how effective the pump was.

Ye of little imagination! Empty it again once you get there, it only takes a couple of minutes then fill with fresh for the return journey!

But I won't be using the oil extractor to empty it (the pipe is in the sump!), it's coming out via the sump plug.

I could refill it and then use the pump to empty (if the pipe hasn't been destroyed) and then take the sump plug off and see what's left but life's too short!

[Hitler Hadrump]

Surely the message to take from this thread isn't "the old ways are the best" but "beware of cheap tools".

[MrLou]

Hitler Hadrump said:

Surely the message to take from this thread isn't "the old ways are the best" but "beware of cheap tools".

That's what I thought.

I'll freely admit my skills aren't the best but the fact that the pipe is 2 piece means that failure is possible where it's not possible with a 1 piece pipe.

[pimpin gimp]

An hour ago I was firmly in the "extractor pumps are awesome" camp, now I'm not. Why? you might ask...

I bought one, and the thinnest tube it came with won't fit in the dipstick hole on my 2.0TDI Audi engine! Never mind, I'll do it the old fashioned way instead...

Anyone want to buy a 4l Silverline extractor? 2 different tube diameters, neither of which will work with a 2005 Audi A6 2.0Tdi. Never used.

£18 posted? Still not registered with silverline so when you get it you can register for your free lifetime guarantee.

[MrLou]

doogz said:

So, you've driven the car, with this section of plastic pipe floating about in your sump?

Wouldn't have been me!

Car was driven less than a mile.

In any case it's a 10 year old A3 with around 110k on the clock, so even if the engine had somehow seized it's hardly the end of the world.

I don't think I had many other choices anyway, recovery via flatbed or towing seems rather overkill nevermind expensive.

I'd be interested to hear what you'd have done in my place, perhaps there's an obvious solution I missed?