warming oil before an oil change.

[Leonardo629]

I've ran with a fumoto valve for thousands and thousands of miles on a few cars I've owned, the chance of it accidentally open is next to impossible.

Unless you go rock climb with your vehicle, there's really no chance for something to hit the flip tab switch and render your car oil-less.

You can always use a tension band/hose clamp if the valve gives you sleepless nights.

 

[Branson304]

On my last oil change on the Fusion, I started it, drove it on the ramps & let it idle while I assembled my drain pan, put gloves on, got new oil & filter ready, etc. It idled about 10 minutes then I drained. I let the oil drain about 10 minutes while I did other things. I got out almost the full 6 quarts. Anything else is overkill.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: bigt61


What's critical in an oil change is that you screw the drain plug back on snugly. And install the new filter correctly, if you're using one. Everything else is inconsequential.


Yeah, that's real cute and all, but its kinda like saying 'the critical thing when you're doing an oil change is to keep breathing so you don't pass out.' In other words, "duh."

Everyone knows to install the plug and filter correctly, its got nothing to do with the discussion at hand, which is whether hot oil is necessary, preferable, or a non-issue. Yeah, its second-order and engines will not die no matter what. But who cares about 'no matter what' topics, anyway? The interesting things that are WORTH talking about are always the details, not the big-hammer obvious stuff that everybody knows.



None of this is personal at anyone on this thread, but frankly I don't get the latest fad on BITOG, which is to point out "it won't immediately wreck your engine whether or not you ." Of course that's often true, if it weren't then 80% of the cars on the road would blow up tomorrow because people treat their cars like dirt for the most part. But that's never been the POINT of this group, has it? I mean why bother sit around and discuss the obvious? Just take it to Jiffy Lube, cancel your BITOG account, and let them do whatever they want if you don't actually have interest in some of the finer subtleties of engineering, and the 2nd- 3rd- and 4th-order effects that improve things just a little bit above the average.

 

[SilverC6]

A lot of Fumoto valves project up into the oil pan a few threads making it impossible to get the last couple of ounces in the pan out.

While I'm not really picky about a complete drain, that last little bit in the bottom of the pan could get pretty nasty.

It also takes a bit longer to drain the oil pan if you have a large capacity sump like my Land Cruiser (8 qts).

So I removed my Fumoto valve.

 

[SirTanon]

Maybe it's because I live in Phoenix, and it never really gets that cold, but I find that taking a long drive to get the engine completely hot is not necessary.

Usually, when it's time to drain my oil, I'll time it with a quick trip around the corner to the grocery store, then when I get home, I drive it up on to the ramps, park it, set the brake, and place the wheel chocks behind the tires, and take what I bought at the store in and put it all away.

By the time I've come back out and gathered my oil and filter, the engine temp is warm and manageable.

To me, the short drive gives the oil time to pick up any recently settled-out material in the oil pan but doesn't make things so hot that I burn myself.

 

[turtlevette]

I change my oil dead cold. It'd have to be a pretty [censored] oil for contaminants to drop out of suspension as soon as it cools.

Think people.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

For my last change, I drove it up onto my ramps when I got home from work and headed in to change into clothes I didn't care about...the oil temp was about 205F when I shut the car off. I would guess it took 5 or so minutes to get back to the car and start draining...the oil was still way too hot. The drain plug was hot. The filter was hot. I shielded my hands as much as possible with what I had in the garage, but it was still pretty miserable...not planning to do a change with the car that hot again. Maybe I drained out 1% more oil because it was very warm, but it sure wasn't worth it!

 

[priler]

meh. I do it when I haven't even started the car that day and suck it all from the top,nice and cold. no lift,no ramps,no jacks,no incredibly heavy car to crush me to death,no (hot) oil dripping on me,no burnt fingers or crushed knuckles.

it will get pretty much all of it out too because the container is telling me how much I just took out and it equals what I put in.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: bigt61
What's critical in an oil change is that you screw the drain plug back on snugly. And install the new filter correctly, if you're using one. Everything else is inconsequential.


I consider refilling with oil to be both critical and consequential.

 

[Merkava_4]

I simply drive the car around like I normally do and then go home and put the car up on ramps. Then I pull the drain plug with the oil hot.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
I change my oil dead cold. It'd have to be a pretty [censored] oil for contaminants to drop out of suspension as soon as it cools.

Think people.






I have had issues stripping threads when draining hot. FWIW, Saturn warns of damage from removing hot spark plugs.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
For my last change, I drove it up onto my ramps when I got home from work and headed in to change into clothes I didn't care about...the oil temp was about 205F when I shut the car off. I would guess it took 5 or so minutes to get back to the car and start draining...the oil was still way too hot. The drain plug was hot. The filter was hot. I shielded my hands as much as possible with what I had in the garage, but it was still pretty miserable...not planning to do a change with the car that hot again. Maybe I drained out 1% more oil because it was very warm, but it sure wasn't worth it!




And here we are paying the quik lube techs a pittance. Just imagine the heat, unless of course, they have a stash of liquid nitrogen down in the pit to aid.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
I change my oil dead cold. It'd have to be a pretty [censored] oil for contaminants to drop out of suspension as soon as it cools.

Think people.






I have had issues stripping threads when draining hot. FWIW, Saturn warns of damage from removing hot spark plugs.
I kinda doubt 200F is enough to cause the metal to be damaged on an oil drain. Leave the impact on the workbench.

I change mine good and hot, as soon as I can get under the vehicle. Do contaminates settle out when oil cools for hours. IDK. I do know they probably didn't settle out in five minutes.

 

[THX1138]

I just installed a Fumoto valve on the Volvo this weekend. It seems convenient, but we'll see how it goes. I'm just weary of needing a breaker bar to loosen the drain plug after car is serviced by a shop. And I have this vision of my daughter changing the oil on her Volvo. Ha!

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28

And here we are paying the quik lube techs a pittance. Just imagine the heat, unless of course, they have a stash of liquid nitrogen down in the pit to aid.


Made me glad I went to college!
Actually, painting houses during the summer as a student made me go back to campus and work my butt off studying so I wouldn't have my butt falling off ladders at work later in life. Good education in real life for a little punk like the young me!

 

[Bill_G]

Originally Posted By: THX1138
I just installed a Fumoto valve on the Volvo this weekend. It seems convenient, but we'll see how it goes. I'm just weary of needing a breaker bar to loosen the drain plug after car is serviced by a shop. And I have this vision of my daughter changing the oil on her Volvo. Ha!


If the fumoto is properly installed and torqued correctly, it is in my opinion, a tremendous convenience when servicing a vehicle. It eliminates the danger of damaging the drain plug/threads from repeatedly removing and reinstalling it. It does drain slower but that's no biggie to me. I know there are those who just don't care for them and insist the drain plug is the way to go - that's ok too. I installed the fumoto a couple years ago and it's doing great.

 

[Garak]

I always say it's application dependent. If a Fumoto works for you (and it works for me), then use it. In my G37, I checked to see how much more oil would come out after the Fumoto stopped dripping. I removed the Fumoto, and only got slow dripping. So, very little remains. I also like to do hot changes, and that G37's oil temperatures are something I've never seen before, so the Fumoto is quite nice to have.

 

[Provi]

I change mine cold when most oil has had time to drip down to the pan.