I was browsing the internet the other day, and ran across a product that claims to suck the oil out of the dipstick tube. You can supposedly create a vacuum within the reservoir of the device, and when you attach it to the tube and open the valve, the created vacuum is strong enough to remove your oil from your engine. Has anyone heard of or had any experience with such a product?
Vacuum action oil changes?
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Changed the oil on my boat this way for many years. I belive it does not do as good a job as a plug in getting anything at the bottom of the pan. I finely replaced this procedure with a plug and feel I got a more complete change.
For an engine with a bottom oil plug, I'd say its a solution in search of a problem.
I have one of these and it is EXCELLENT! I don't use if for engine oil but I use it for the following purposes:
1) Suck out tranny fluid thebefore dropping the pan to avoid taking a bath. I do this on relatives cars or the first time on my own cars (I always swap on the pan on my cars for an OEM equivalent with a drain plug -- I have found one every time for GM and Ford vehicles)
2) Suck out the power steering resovior once a year and replace with fresh fluid -- not a total flush but better than none
3) Suck out brake fluid when doing a brake bleed to get new fluid in faster (suck out old, replace with new and then bleed)
4) Great for small engines with drain plugs in wierd places -- I still pull the plug but much less mess
Worth every penny. Did I say how much I like this unit
1) Suck out tranny fluid thebefore dropping the pan to avoid taking a bath. I do this on relatives cars or the first time on my own cars (I always swap on the pan on my cars for an OEM equivalent with a drain plug -- I have found one every time for GM and Ford vehicles)
2) Suck out the power steering resovior once a year and replace with fresh fluid -- not a total flush but better than none
3) Suck out brake fluid when doing a brake bleed to get new fluid in faster (suck out old, replace with new and then bleed)
4) Great for small engines with drain plugs in wierd places -- I still pull the plug but much less mess
Worth every penny. Did I say how much I like this unit
I purchased one about 6 monts ago call the Mityvac made by Lincoln Industries. (Fluid Evacuator Plus, 8.8 Liter capacity P/N 07201) Had to find a distributor as they are not sold mail order etc. I liked this one because it not only can vacuum out the fluids it can pump in new fluids as well. Most of the ones you see can only suck out fluids. As I have one tranny that does not have a dipstick and has a weird fill plug I need to pump ATF into it so this will work fine. Only used it once so far. Good construction but it should be for aboout $95
I have used the one offered by Griot's Garage for almost 5 years now. It seems to be made by MityVac as well. It only extracts fluids, no transfer feature. Works like a charm. Saves me some hassle and mess of taking off the drainplug and stores the oil until I can tranfer it to containers for the recycler. It is somewhat slow, but while its doing it's thing, I'm taking off the filter. By the time I change out and replace the filter, it's done. Add oil and go.
I have wondered if it gets all the oil out but have done experiments with each new vehicle I get. I simply suck all the oil out and then open the drainplug. Each time, not a drop comes out. I'd say its getting it all, even in some unusual shaped sump pans.
I have wondered if it gets all the oil out but have done experiments with each new vehicle I get. I simply suck all the oil out and then open the drainplug. Each time, not a drop comes out. I'd say its getting it all, even in some unusual shaped sump pans.
I also have one made by MityVac, 8.8 liter with vacuum and evacuation. My car has a cartridge type filter on top of the engine and using the MityVac I don't have to get under the car at all. It takes me about 10 minutes to vacuum out 7 quarts of oil. There were a lot of skeptics on one of the boards I frequent so members compared the 2 methods and some managed to get more oil out with the evacuator than through the drain.
One of the common comments was that MityVac won't remove the crud and particles that accumulate by the drain plug, my take on it is that if you have the stuff of that size in your oil than you have way more to worry about than what method to use when changing your oil.
One of the common comments was that MityVac won't remove the crud and particles that accumulate by the drain plug, my take on it is that if you have the stuff of that size in your oil than you have way more to worry about than what method to use when changing your oil.
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