Draining oil too well is bad

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"Yep, you are creating air pockets when you leave the plug out overnight. The air introduced has a crusting affect on the oil. The most i would let my oil drain is 30 minutes. Especially in winter when its cold in the garage, I wouldnt want to drain overnight. Before someone FLAMES me, this is just an opinion."

I think you had too much New Year's cheer my friend.
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I remove the drain plug, and remove the old oil filter while the sump is draining. I install a new filter, dry, after putting a light coating of old oil from the drain pan on the filter's sealing gasket. (I'm not about to chance spilling even a drop of fresh oil just for the filter gasket.) At that point the dripping from the oil pan drain hole has reduced in frequency to about once per second. I reinstall the oil drain plug, torque it, and then refill the engine with fresh 10w30 motor oil. When the engine is restarted, the oil pressure light always extinguishes within 5 seconds. A motor oil changeout is the most basic of internal combustion engine service, folks - not a religeous epiphany.
 
I see no good reason at all to let oil drain overnight. I let my oil drain 5 minutes, at the most. I jack up one side, let it down, jack up the other side, let it down, etc. Cranking the engine without any oil just to get a minor amount out is.......not smart in my opinion, to put it lightly.
 
Perhaps the worst oil starvation our well-maintained engines ever see is in the first moments of running following an oil change, yet people choose to perhaps exacerbate this starvation with prolonged draining and/or cranking or the engine without oil in it!!! My engineering intuition says that these practices run the risk of causing much more damage than the old oil being left in the engine.

My oil change procedure is more or less like Ray H described, except on vehicles with a filter positioned such that it is practical I prefill the filter with new oil, and I use 0w-XX or 5w-XX oils, for optimum start-up flow.
 
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Just install an electric oil pump to "prime" the oil system before each startup?

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I don't know if this includes the entire '05+ Ford line-up, but on my F-150 if I hold the pedal to the floor, the engine will crank but not start. If I think about it, I will crank the engine for a few seconds turn the key off/on and start normal. I probably do more damage to the battery and starter than to the engine being started after a routine oil change but who knows?
patriot.gif
 
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My engineering intuition says that these practices run the risk of causing much more damage than the old oil being left in the engine.


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I agree with the above statement. As much as I like oil, and making sure my vehicles get the best oil treatment, I don't enjoy oil changes. I enjoy auto repair, especially challanging jobs, and oil changes rank at mundane for me. I don't think that the minimal amount of old oil is going to do any damage when there is so much new oil to dilute it once it all gets mixed together.

My typical oil change procedure, is lift the vehicle, remove drain plug, and then remove filter. I then grease the front end components, and fill the new filter as full as possible (letting it soak in the media) and oil the gasket. By this time the oil is usually dripping from the plug hole, so I clean the plug threads and the pan, reinstall the plug, clean the filter mount, install the new full filter, and fill the crankcase. I then lower the vehicle from the jack stands, and fire it up. I always have oil pressure in
All in all, it never takes more than 30 minutes to change including clean-up.
 
I got so paranoid on my VW diesel, that I prefilled the oil filter. It did help the initial noise. I have only one gasser that has a filter that I can pre-fill without dumping all the oil all over me when changing, and I pre-fill that. Cannot possibly hurt, and could help.

Quote:

My engineering intuition says that these practices run the risk of causing much more damage than the old oil being left in the engine.


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You have to refill the sump before removeing the oil filter. If you do not you will lose prime on the oil pump. If the sump is empty and you break the filter lose you will lose oil fromt he oil galleys and usualy lose prime on the pump.
 
I never let my oil drain that long. Once the oil flow turns into a stream of oil only about as thick as a piee of straw I put the plug back in. I refill then go replace the oil filter.I usualy do not prime it but sometimes I do. It never takes me more then 30 minutes to change my oil. A 1 hout drain or e en better an over night drain just seems funny. You guys have too much free time!
 
Let's face it - it's engine dependent. I have left engines drained for weeks. Pour oil in and no clatter noise, etc...on start up. I have drained engines serviced the turbo, etc...two days later, added oil fired up with no noise. Then other cars, fully full of oil, left for China for two weeks, come back start engine and clang like hades.
 
How could you possibly tell the difference between draing the oil for five minutes, an hour, or overnight? Jut let someone else do it and you will find out how your vehicle does when someone puts the plug back in when the oil flow slows down to a trickle. Just think how much oil a dealership can save by getting that plug back in as soon as possible, maybe two or three ounces times a hundred oil changes a day. Lets see 100 x 3 / 32 would equal just over 9 quarts a day and 5 minutes quicker x 100 / 60 = 8 hours saved. Well you can see that the dealership is not going to try letting your oil drain for five minutes but you can just to be sure.
 
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I don't know if this includes the entire '05+ Ford line-up, but on my F-150 if I hold the pedal to the floor, the engine will crank but not start.

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That is called "clear flood mode" and is a pretty standard feature of electronic fuel injection. My 1988 Mustang GT has it.
 
I think what would worry me more then anything is the chance of someone forgetting that it's draining - for instance a car might be up on jacks, for memory, but trucks/suv's typically are not jacked up for oil changes.

Who's to say that in an emergency, or "honey, I'm just gonna run to the store real quick" while you've been busy on something else, and oh my gosh, there goes a $20, 30, 40k dollar vehicle/engine.

Man, I have 6-7 vehicles total to take care of, jobs, kids, life, I don't have time for it to drain overnight. That suckers getting refilled as soon as the other truck's drain-plug gets pulled.
 
Quote:

You have to refill the sump before removeing the oil filter. If you do not you will lose prime on the oil pump. If the sump is empty and you break the filter lose you will lose oil fromt he oil galleys and usualy lose prime on the pump.

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JB, I cant believe no one else is asking this question, possible your technique is common knowledge now and I am left in dust here. That is an interesting point and it makes sense to me.

I was always told to remove oil filter first along with oil filler cap to get air flow through for most efficient drain, then replace filter and oil in sump. Filler cap open should be enough though for drainage.

On my QR25DE (japanese model engine on an X-trail) there is a spill of oil after filter comes off, seems to be a small port in engine inset from filter housing that holds oil. My manual states that it takes 400 mil more oil with filter change, my filter will hold no more than 200 mil, thus explains the little resevoir.

Will that mini storage be effected with your system? Shouldn't, I dont believe that mini resevoir is drained from sump.
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your system makes sence to me.

Cyprs
 
Quote:

I remove the drain plug, and remove the old oil filter while the sump is draining. I install a new filter, dry, after putting a light coating of old oil from the drain pan on the filter's sealing gasket. (I'm not about to chance spilling even a drop of fresh oil just for the filter gasket.) At that point the dripping from the oil pan drain hole has reduced in frequency to about once per second. I reinstall the oil drain plug, torque it, and then refill the engine with fresh 10w30 motor oil. When the engine is restarted, the oil pressure light always extinguishes within 5 seconds. A motor oil changeout is the most basic of internal combustion engine service, folks - not a religeous epiphany.

Click to expand...


My OCI routine is exactly the same. I try to do a thorough job without getting all OCD about it. It's an oil change, not a religious sacrament.
 
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