What's wrong with my oil extractor?

[wavinwayne]

I have a "Four Uncles" 6,5L oil extractor that I got from Amazon in August '23. I have only used it twice, the second time being today changing the oil on the 535d. While using it, when the oil was being suctioned out, and I was giving the handle a pump every so often, the handle stopped going all the way down. It hits some sort of internal hard stop when it's half way down. It cannot be forced to go all the way down. I have no idea what might have happened. Any clues? It's basically unusable like this.

 

[2009Caraman]

Maybe the o-ring has carbon deposits?

Cant you dissasemble it a bit to look for some broken plastic or something?

 

[DougR]

The "Four Uncles" product website is on Facebook. The company does not respond to questions/issues posted about their products. After looking at one-star reviews on Amazon, it appears this product has a lot of design issues and multiple failure modes.

 

[wavinwayne]

Maybe the o-ring has carbon deposits?

Cant you dissasemble it a bit to look for some broken plastic or something?

By the time I was finished with the oil change in the Alabama heat & HUMIDITY, I was done. I may disassemble it over the next couple of weekends and have a look. My guess is it's junk. I had high hopes.

 

[wavinwayne]

The "Four Uncles" product website is on Facebook. The company does not respond to questions/issues posted about their products. After looking at one-star reviews on Amazon, it appears this product has a lot of design issues and multiple failure modes.

It's probably a piece of junk and will end up in the burn pile. I guess I'll go back to changing oil the old fashioned way.

 

[JeffKeryk]

No possible return under warranty?
I love my MityVac, but it has started to leak. Gotta check it out, maybe this week. Been years and tons of oil change services and more.

 

[wavinwayne]

No possible return under warranty?
I love my MityVac, but it has started to leak. Gotta check it out, maybe this week. Been years and tons of oil change services and more.

I suppose it might be possible but honestly, it's just not worth the hassle to me.

 

[Oillover]

It's probably a piece of junk and will end up in the burn pile. I guess I'll go back to changing oil the old fashioned way.

I'd suggest investing in a better quality extractor.
I've been using mine for over 10 years and it still operates as new.
Back then I paid roughly $110-130 CAD (adjusted for inflation, that's closer to $200).
I use it on everything including engine oil, power steering fluid, brake fluid, and coolant.

 

[wavinwayne]

I'd suggest investing in a better quality extractor.
I've been using mine for over 10 years and it still operates as new.
Back then I paid roughly $110-130 CAD (adjusted for inflation, that's closer to $200).
I use it on everything including engine oil, power steering fluid, brake fluid, and coolant.

What do you have?

 

[CharlieJ]

Weird, I have the same brand oil extractor (one of the cheaper options on Amazon, Lol). I've used mine a handful of times now and have no issues. I wouldn't think such a simple device would have many failure points.
If you have the time, it may be beneficial to take it apart to figure out what happened, it could be something simple.
Also, you could still use it by using the air fitting adapter and a compressor, it works well!

 

[WobblyElvis]

A guess as to what is wrong.....the vacuum pump appears to exist down the centre of the oil reservoir. The vacuum pump should never have oil in it. Perhaps it is leaking and oil got into it from the surrounding reservoir. This would cause a hydraulic lock as the piston of the vacuum pump contacts the oil.

 

[wavinwayne]

I'm going to take it apart this week and see if I can diagnose/repair it. I work in engineering, so failure analysis is something I'm familiar with. If anything internal is broken, I'm scrapping it.

 

[Oillover]

What do you have?

Pela

 

[Sumboodie]

FIRSTINFO A1102USY5 Vacuum Safety Valve 6.5L Patented Pneumatic/Manual Oil Vacuum Extractor | 51 Inch Tube | 5 Tubes | Thinnest Tube | TAIWAN https://a.co/d/8GAwI8m

Have used this for several years.

Did kill one with stoddard solvent, apparently the plastic isn't rated for that for some reason.
Just used it to suck out the residue in the distillation chamber on my parts washer.

The little hand pump works, though I normally hook it to air.

If I was shopping today, I'd look into MittVac. It's what I see kicking around most shops I deliver to, so must be decent.

 

[twouvakind]

6L capacity, works for my applications. Free shipping and lifetime replacement through FCPEuro. Or browse it through CTA tools site.

 

[BlakeB]

I bought this one a few months ago. It looks identical to the OEM Tools extractor, but the one I bought comes with more hoses and the brake bleeder hose. So far it has been great. I’ve done several gearbox oil changes on some equipment we have, it eliminates the mess due to poor drain plug placement and it removes more fluid than you can remove by removing the drain plug.

 

[The Critic]

My guess: something rubber swelled. They probably used rubber materials that are incompatible with petroleum products.

 

[Finklejag]

I had an 6L Extoil extractor I haven’t used in a few years since I don’t own a VW or Subaru with a top side oil filter anymore. I tried it for the hell of it on my Acura TL and it wouldn’t suck any oil. It wouldn’t hold pressure. I guess sitting in a hot garage for a few years affected it. I tossed it.

 

[JohnnyG]

$35.00 still working great after 6 years!

 

[wavinwayne]

My guess: something rubber swelled. They probably used rubber materials that are incompatible with petroleum products.

The handle was working fine until all of a sudden it hit a hard stop half way down. There's something mechanical happening is my guess, but you could be right. I'll know more when I tear it down.