Installing Fram Sure Drain tomorrow

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mkosem

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ok, I'm ready to finish off the auto-rx treatment tomorrow. I picked up a fram sure drain to install too. It doesn't seem like anyone's had any troubles with the sure drain so I'm hoping it'll be ok. I'm puting mobil drive clean 5w30 in there before I transition to mobil 1 0w40 in about 2-3k miles. Wish me luck.

--Matt

EDIT: I have a saturn that uses a soft rubber/plastic looking gasket on the oil drain plug. Will I just need to stick one of those under the sure drain like I do with the plug?

[ December 17, 2002, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: mkosem ]
 
I just installed the Sure Drain on my Firebird and I just used the copper washer that came with it and it seals up good, no leaks. You should be ok as long as that washer sits flush and the plug is tightened to spec. I can't wait to draw my first sample to see how much easier it is. I like the idea of being able to just drain out a small amount for sampling while keeping the rest of the oil in there. It would not have been easy to do this with a conventional plug setup. I figure I'll drain out the oil for about 10 seconds, draw the sample, then close it up again. I feel I should end up draining out about 1/4 quart this way.
 
...and you can drain into a clean container and pour the rest back into the engine !! Not bad ....
quote:
Originally posted by Patman:
I just installed the Sure Drain on my Firebird and I just used the copper washer that came with it and it seals up good, no leaks. You should be ok as long as that washer sits flush and the plug is tightened to spec. I can't wait to draw my first sample to see how much easier it is. I like the idea of being able to just drain out a small amount for sampling while keeping the rest of the oil in there. It would not have been easy to do this with a conventional plug setup. I figure I'll drain out the oil for about 10 seconds, draw the sample, then close it up again. I feel I should end up draining out about 1/4 quart this way.
Click to expand...
 
hmm, the sure drain they sold me doesn't fit. aparently they don't make one for my Saturn. I put the regular drain plug back on for now
frown.gif


--Matt
 
Wish I could have got to you sooner... I use the sure drain on my Honda and my F150, but not the saturn. After a weekend from hell draining and refilling and draining and refilling I emailed Fram about their sure drain for the saturn. They told me they dont make one, although the part shop's book has one listed...
 
quote:
Originally posted by Alex D:
...and you can drain into a clean container and pour the rest back into the engine !! Not bad ....
Click to expand...
I was thinking of doing this, but at the same time I think it might be more beneficial for my long drain interval if I let that 1/4 quart of oil out of the engine (and not put it back in) as that first little bit of oil that comes out might contain a larger share of contaminents. So I'll be doing my engine a favor. Sure, it kind of skews the long drain test a little bit, making the oil look better than it really is, however I still think it's a good idea.

I'm hoping that first 1/4 qt of oil I drain out could help get rid of some tiny bit of fuel that might be in the oil (or would that be evenly mixed through the whole crankcase?)
 
quote:
Originally posted by pedaltothemetal:
I don't understand why you can't just loosen the stock drain plug slightly and allow a small amount of oil to drip out for your sample. Then tighten it back up.
Click to expand...
Before
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, during
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, and after
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.
wink.gif


David
 
quote:
Originally posted by pedaltothemetal:
I don't understand why you can't just loosen the stock drain plug slightly and allow a small amount of oil to drip out for your sample. Then tighten it back up.
Click to expand...
It's hard to do that without burning your hands though. You want to let the oil drain for about 10 seconds, and not just dripping slow either but a faster drain, and then take the sample. So it's trickier to do (not impossible, just tricky) with the stock plug.
 
but I have to replace that dumb plastic gasket on mine.

--Matt

[ December 19, 2002, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: mkosem ]
 
I was just looking at the Sure Drain setup again and I wonder if using this setup to drain the oil for sampling will introduce more copper into the sample? Also, when I'm done, what is the best way to clean off the nozzle piece to avoid contamination for the next sample? Should I use Neutra to clean off that end piece so that it's totally clean for the next time I take a sample?

For a picture on how the setup looks, click here:

http://www.aidauto.com/pages/new.html

Scroll down and you'll see that the system has two parts. One stays on the engine, the other is used only when you're draining. I won't be using the hose on mine when I'm sampling, just that nozzle piece. That's the piece that I'm worried might contaminate the sample, especially later on once it's been used a few times if I haven't been able to totally clean it.
 
EEK! I'm glad I didn't get that on there. I usually try to keep my changes at 30 minutes max. I could get them done in 15 minutes on my mom's old jeep.

--Matt
 
Even with a lot of cars with a conventional drain plug, if you let the car sit for 2 hours, some oil will usually still be dripping out at that point, albeit slowly. So are you saying that after one hour the oil had finally stopped dripping?

I'm not so concerned about the evacuation time too much anyways, since with this drain system on my car it means I'll be changing the oil less often anyways, and utilizing this more for sampling purposes. So it might only be once a year that I'm doing an actual full oil change, but during those other times when I'm sampling, it makes it so much easier for me.
 
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