Oil Extractor Pump

[Acehood]

What's the current consensus on using an oil extractor to do oil changes, if you have an oil filter at the top of the engine? I found an old thread which was pretty much 50/50 on the idea of using one. Some people were die hard sump plug removers, others weren't bothered. An idea would be to add some clean oil to the remaining 'bad' oil at the bottom of the engine, then pump again to 'flush' out the dirtier stuff. This chap has done what looks like a reasonable test and found that almost all of the oil is removed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RakLAZIRgwU

I've got a pretty steep driveway which means I can't safely jack the car up and garages now seem to think it's OK to charge £100+ to do an oil change, even if I supply my own oil & parts. I would do it myself if I could find somewhere to let me rent a ramp but that doesn't seem to be a service on offer.

Therefore I was thinking that using an oil extractor pump would do the trick as I can leave the car on the road, which is level, and change the oil myself at regular intervals between services.

Thoughts?


Also on a side note can anyone recommend a torque wrench for a reasonable price. I don't have one at the moment and it would be very handy to own one again. For things like wheel bolts, oil filter, etc.

Edited by Acehood on Tuesday 18th February 23:15

[GreenV8S]

Using a pump is fine. The main point of the oil change in a healthy engine is to replace the oil and filter, not remove bits of dead engine from the sump.

[Lugy]

I bought one of the Pela ones last year (emergency purchase as the sump plug had rounded on the OH's car and oil level had risen due to diesel dilution), in the end I didn't use it at the time.
I eventually used it on my old 7 series as a 'test' and used it again last week on the OH's car, both times seem to have been very successful.
One thing I'd say, be meticulous in cleaning the pipes as I can see it becoming very messy, very quickly. Other than that, it's a very clean process.

[mickyh7]

I used one for the first time yesterday on my A7
Again a Pela 600, £10 of ebay but vgc
Very impressed 20 minutes to drain the oil replace the filter and refill.
The doom merchants say it doesn't all come out, but there will be some left in even from a sump plug drain.
Oil cooler,oilways, residual etc.
I got 6.5 litres out which is what went in last time. I put 6.5 litres back in and the MMI said level full.
Happy Days.
I bought 10 litres of oil and a filter for less than £60
God knows what the Dealer would charge £120- £150 ???

Edited by mickyh7 on Wednesday 19th February 18:18

[autohead]

I have a used a sucker and then drained the oil via the sump plug straight after, I found 1L of oil was left in the sump.

[mickyh7]

autohead said:

I have a used a sucker and then drained the oil via the sump plug straight after, I found 1L of oil was left in the sump.

Agreed, it doesn't work for all engines.
Indeed on some there is no access via the Dipstick route to the bottom of the sump.
And I feel it would be pointless if the filter is attached to the sump as your going underneath anyway.
But you would have known there was a litre short in the calibrated chamber ?
There may be a little thinking involved with the task !

[OllieJolly]

I have a 12v one (actually my second, I lost the first somehow) from amazon, used it on our Astra J 2.0 cdti many times now.

Most recently used it to drain before sump removal, and after it stopped sucking oil and I got the sump off, my estimate is about 200ml oil left over, plus a little bit in the filter.