Got my neighbor hooked on my MityVac

[sciphi]

My neighbor asked me to borrow my MityVac 7201 to drain/fill the transmission on his Pontiac Grand Prix. We ended up doing 2 drain/fills on his GP, a drain/fill on his mom's Chrysler Town and Country's transmission, and a few power steering drain fills on the T&C also. He was hooked on how easy it was to use, and how quickly it sucked the pans dry. He's already asked me to borrow it again when he drops the pan on the T&C's transmission in a few weeks to replace the transmission filter. He's making plans on getting one, since he's the person who takes care of his family's cars.

So, I hooked another person on a MityVac. I know, I'm an evil influence!

 

[SuperDave456]

Almost as bad as my line, "Hey, have you been out to the website "Bob is the Oil Guy? Perhaps their forums?"

I've actually met a couple guys here in Dallas who do visit this site regularly!

MityVac... hmmm... I do have an anniversary coming up.

 

[Donald]

Did he give it back yet? Can I borrow it now, I am in upstate NY?

 

[ahoier]

Nice.....I was thinking about that for the transmission........BUT, my question is....how do you siphon the automatic transmission? Warm up the car, and then shut it off, then siphon away?

I know the one time I tried getting a used oil analysis from the dipstick hole it was a pain in the arse.....due to the depth of my dipstick tube.....and I was using ice maker tubing, ala, "MixMizer Syringe Vacuum Pump"

 

[HTSS_TR]

The best application of the Mityvac is to do oil change in a Benz or previous generation of BMW (the ones with dipstick tube), the second best application is ATF, brake bleed, PSF ... because these are needed only once every 2-3 years.

My BIL used to borrow the 7201 several times a year for several years to do oil change in his MB's and BMW's, he then decided to get one so that he doesn't have to drive to my home to borrow it.

I do oil change, ATF, PSF ... after a good drive to get fluid warm.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Did he give it back yet? Can I borrow it now, I am in upstate NY?


Yes, he gave it back. We always make sure the other guy's stuff gets returned quickly once done using it.

We did most of these changes in the late afternoon after the cars had been baking in the sun all day. The ATF/PSF came out readily at 80*F.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I might have to look into the mityvac... I bought one of these from harbor freight for simipar reasons

It is the most USELESS thing ever. It can't even suck/pump 0-20 on an 80 degree day without blowing apart.

 

[dwcopple]

^ that same pump works amazingly well on differential fluid for me. Not sure what problem you are having? Defective unit?

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I might have to look into the mityvac... I bought one of these from harbor freight for simipar reasons

It is the most USELESS thing ever. It can't even suck/pump 0-20 on an 80 degree day without blowing apart.


I went through 3 of those before getting my MityVac. The aggravation of having it fail repeatedly outweighed the cheap price by #3. Still glad I ponied up the money once for the MityVac over getting lots of those cheap pumps!

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: ahoier
Nice.....I was thinking about that for the transmission........BUT, my question is....how do you siphon the automatic transmission? Warm up the car, and then shut it off, then siphon away?

I know the one time I tried getting a used oil analysis from the dipstick hole it was a pain in the arse.....due to the depth of my dipstick tube.....and I was using ice maker tubing, ala, "MixMizer Syringe Vacuum Pump"


I've used it on a few transmissions, you get more fluid out if the vehicle has sat for a while. I use it for fluid exchanges or for pan drops. Sucking the fluid out before dropping the pan makes for a cleaner neater job.

For an exchange drain the ATF warm, refill drive a bit and repeat a few times. It works great on older cars where dropping a transmission line could cause problems.

They give you enough clear plastic tubing to get to the bottom of just about any transmission, at least any of the cars I've worked on.

Now if you have a drain plug on your transmission that's another story.

I make sure the transmission is filled to the proper level before I start a fluid exchange. I measure the amount I take out, add that amount back with clean fluid confirm its full and I'm GTG.

 

[The Critic]

Hmm, I bought a Mityvac about two months ago thanks to your posts, but I still have not opened the box that it shipped in.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Hmm, I bought a Mityvac about two months ago thanks to your posts, but I still have not opened the box that it shipped in.

I guess everybody's car is up to date on maintenance! That's a good thing to have a tool and not need to use it.

A MityVac is definitely something that gets used (at least for me) once every 3-4 months. But those few times a year it's necessary, it's really handy to have!