Easy way to remove engine oil?

406 V6 · Post by **406 V6** » 05 Jan 2005, 17:53

Hello!
Fellas, i once saw a mechanic using a pump with a tube going into the oil dip meter or the oil filter assembly to remove the oil from the engine. How is it done and where do i put the pump?
I'm decided to do the job myself on the C5, as the warranty expires in July.
Only the new hidraulics seem a bit different, but perhaps i'll be the first C5 owner to DIY the system (i already do the spheres[:)])
In Novemeber i went to make the 25000kms overhaul, only to have a used polen filter inside a box (like they had it changed) and charged. This at the importer...[:(]
I went to the person who sold it to my mom, all filters were changed and i also cleaned up the MAF sensor. Still suspicious about the oil filter and oil...
[:D] she rides beautifully now.

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 05 Jan 2005, 18:25

Oil extraction via the dip stick tube is very common on marine engines - (try and get under one of them to get the plug out!) The only disadvantage is that you may have trouble getting the very last drops out - especially if the oil is a bit thick and if you have a magnetic oil drain plug, you don't get the chance to inspect or clean it.
Some petrol stations have an oil extractor (they recon you'll buy the oil from them!)
The extractor tube is simply stuck ALL the way down the dipstick tube - it's important that the oil is hot so that the pump can suck it out easily.
//NiSk

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 05 Jan 2005, 18:27

When you take the sump plug out of an engine, the oil runs out quickly carrying rubbish (soot metal etc) that is in the sump out of the engine, and you get close to all of the used oil out of the engine. With a vacuum pump, you have a vacuum pump and a pipe that goes down the dipstick hole into the sump. The vacuum pump will remove some of the oil, but not all of it, and definately not as much of the settled solids from the sump that taking the sump plug and draining does.
Vacuum pumps are primarily used on engines where it isn't practical to remove the sump plug, i.e. on boats where you can't get your tray underneath the engine. Using a vacuum pump on an engine that doesn't need it is lazyness, it doesn't do as good a job and is not a practice I'd recommend.

406 V6 · Post by **406 V6** » 05 Jan 2005, 20:25

But used in conjunction with the drain plug so as not to have a large amount of oil spilling out at home...could be a good thing, couldn't it?

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 05 Jan 2005, 21:23

Just put down an old blanket when you undo the sump plug to catch any over spill. Not a big job. Think of it like this, if you need to put in 5 liters of oil, the bottle ain't that big is it. Forget the vacume pump. Quicker and easier to remove the sump. Also when you remove the oil filter you'll have little oil left in it.

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 05 Jan 2005, 21:37

Assuming no one has botched the (probable) 8mm square inset in the sump plug (thoughts of the problems I had with my newly acquired '98 XM 2.5TD Break - ending up with me MIG-ing a 10mm bolt to the plug!)
//NiSk

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 05 Jan 2005, 21:45

I used a little electric one bought from a french hypermarket with some success for a while, It came with plastic pipe to go down the dipstick hole, once this was replaced with some metal pipe, slash cut at the bottom it did well at removing the oil until the fateful day.......I blithely poured the 4.5 litres in and drove off in what was to become MY LITTLE RUNAWAY, thank goodness it was before my BXs were turbocharged, it laid a smokescreen for a few miles with the ignition off! and foot hard on brake! That said I still use a little brass one on my boat engine. If you got the french one and measured the oil that came out you might be ok, however the pump and pipes become a very messy thing to store in the garage.
Stewart

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 05 Jan 2005, 21:47

These things are not cheap and are normally air powered so you will also need a compressor.............perhaps a drain can and sump plug key are a more economical option!!!

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 05 Jan 2005, 23:36

I found these things VERY annoying where I used to work.
The reason being that usually someone would plug it in, and leave it pumping. These were proper industrial commercial machines with all the various tubes to suck the oil out.
The other technicians would leave it plugged in and, disappear for their parts. So very regularly, because we had a lot of these pumps with attached storage tanks. You would find that the air leak you were investigating became impossible to hear, because of the sucking noise created as the machine drew the oil up the probe, placed in the dipsick hole. Also the machine driven by compressed air from the workshop made more noise as the ram/plunger inside it moved up, and down. Frequently the air line they used would not be completely air tight, and would be leaking air. So if you were looking for an air leak you were now f****d, and the guy who has put the machine on has disappeared, and does not have to put up with it. These b****y things would get in the way, and if I had to move them they always seemed to be full. I ended up hating the f*****g things.
As we were working on commercial vehicles with a lot of space to access the sump plug etc to me they were a waste of money. Later models of the trucks actually required tilting of the cab to access the oil filter. The filter was actually better when accessed from underneath, as it made it quicker to service the truck.
Gravity would actually empty the sump quicker, than these machines. Also if you had to go and find one, check it was empty, search for an air line, then rig it all up, then you have actually wasted time not saved it.
I have always drained the oil through the sump plug as it is the most efficient way of doing the job. You can also see the quality, and viscosity of the oil coming out.
To actually get the oil to flow through the sucking pipe it was common for the other techs to rev the engine up for a while, in the workshop creating more noise, and fumes.
I ended up hating this method of removing the oil, the drain plug will get more of the oil out, as it is at the lowest point on the sump. While the dipstick tube does not need to be.
I would be pleased having completed a service, that I had done a proper job.
Using these machines meant you were not doing as thorough a job, as the tech like me that does it the old fashioned, and more efficient way.
Easier way, NO ! 
More expensive way, and a waste of money, YES !