anyway to use a mityvac on a 3800 engine

[EvanD]

I love my mityvac. I want to save time changing oil on my grand prix. I tried all the tubes not a one will fit down to the pan on my car.
Has anyone on here had any luck in using it???

 

[Trav]

Try slash cutting the end very slightly.
If the tube is too big you may be able to find one that is smaller at HD and fit it to the larger one with some vacuum hose.

 

[Donald]

So if you hold a Mityvac tube against dipstick to see how far down it should go, does it not go that far down?

In my Cummins diesel, there must be some sort of insert in the oil dipstick tube that only allows something flat past. So I cannot get the Mityvac or UOA sample pump tubing down.

 

[Merkava_4]

I have a 3800 engine in my Buick and it's about the easiest car I've ever changed oil on. Drain plug and filter are easy to access. It would be even easier if I had ramps.

 

[Touring5]

It may be different, but on a '87 Century with the 3.8l V-6, using the Mityvac was a bad experience. I think the dipstick tube makes a sharp bend and has a rather sharp edge. I could feel that resistance when inserting the plastic suction line. When I tried to remove the line it wouldn't budge. It took a good bit of finessing (rotate, push/pull gently) to finally get it out.

 

[sciphi]

It won't. I tried changing oil with it on my old 3800-powered Buick. Never again...

Now for all the other fluids on the car, it's the cat's meow. ATF drain/fills without spilling 6 quarts of ATF everywhere? Burping the lower intake manifold when draining/filling coolant? Or, draining/filling the PS pump? Not a better tool has yet been invented.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Using Mityvac to siphon oil depends on how the dipstick tube was designed in a particular engine. Mercedes design the dipstick tube to use it as an extractor tube, most if not all MB dealers use fluid extractor to change oil in MB engines.

Since the cartridge oil filter is on top of the engine, you can change the oil filter in an MB while the Mityvac doing its job, all can be done in less than 20-30 minutes without jack and jack stands or ramp. No chance to cross-thread drain bolt and no gasket replacement either.

Some engines with a short and unusual designed dipstick tube can be very difficult to use Mityvac to change oil.

It's clearly that Mityvac and similar fluid extractors are the best tool to change oil in an MB engine and some other European engines.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Touring5
It may be different, but on a '87 Century with the 3.8l V-6, using the Mityvac was a bad experience. I think the dipstick tube makes a sharp bend and has a rather sharp edge. I could feel that resistance when inserting the plastic suction line. When I tried to remove the line it wouldn't budge. It took a good bit of finessing (rotate, push/pull gently) to finally get it out.



I notice that even one year to the next they changed dipsticks and tubes for some reson, its the same block.
The plastic part with the 0-ring broke on mine and i figured just get one from the yard, it turned out to be a fiasco and i ended up buying one from the dealer.

Mine has a straight shot right down to the pan but some of them seem angled and use a different stick. It seems to hang on the windage tray/gasket plate.