Which Oil Drain Valve do you use? Fumuto? Valvomax?

[ATex7239]

Interesting, I was thinking about my own mortality lately, and thought about the one Fumoto valve and the two Valvomax valves on the three vehicles in our family.

Our one son understands the Fumoto on his van, but I would have to leave instructions regarding the Valvomax units on the other two vehicles.

All part of the "Things I do around the house that you might not know about" list I need to make, in case I were (as the life-insurance sales people say), "out of the picture".

Yeah. It’s a good idea to have things like this sorted out in writing beforehand. I guess in my mind the added nuance of the valve is not something I want to put on them while also dealing with loss.

 

[Hootbro]

I’ve thought about getting a Fumoto before but I always wonder what would happen if something happened to me. If I got really sick or passed away suddenly then my family would probably start getting oil changes done. Is goober down at the quick lube going to know what to do? Is goober going to screw it up?

I know it’s morbid to think about but sometimes I think about things more in the context of what would happen if I’m not around. So I don’t do it.

Staple a set of instructions to your Will.

 

[ATex7239]

Staple a set of instructions to your Will.

Maybe as a last form of punishment.

 

[Faawrenchbndr]

An oil drain valve isn’t that complicated………

 

[ATex7239]

An oil drain valve isn’t that complicated………

Neither is a bolt…

 

[JeffKeryk]

There are downsides... I bought a retired neighbor's '95ish Camry V6. Took it home and serviced it; the drain broke off leaving the threads in the pan threads. LUCKILY they spun out with a pencil magnet.

 

[Donald]

Staple a set of instructions to your Will.

If I died my wife would just "call someone" for pretty much anything and everything.

 

[Faawrenchbndr]

Neither is a bolt…

How many idiots at jiffy lube have stripped a pans?
A friend had a pan ruined at a Dodge dealer

So yea…….drain plugs are VERY cheap located for some.

A drain valve allows for a mess free oil change as well. Can’t say that with a drain plug.

 

[Hootbro]

The thing with the FUMOTO or other oil drain valves from my experience is that if you have your oil changed by somebody else, they will treat it one of two ways. One way is they will look at it like alien tech and do not know what to do with it, or secondly, they will just wrench it off because it drains that much quicker as they do not want to wait for the extra time regardless of how less messy it will be using it.

 

[ATex7239]

The thing with the FUMOTO or other oil drain valves from my experience is that if you have your oil changed by somebody else, they will treat it one of two ways. One way is they will look at it like alien tech and do not know what to do with it, or secondly, they will just wrench it off because it drains that much quicker as they do not want to wait for the extra time regardless of how less messy it will be using it.

You’re hitting on some of my concerns here. The slight inconvenience on me while doing an oil change isn’t worth the potential increase for nonsense if I wasn’t around to handle things.

 

[Hootbro]

You’re hitting on some of my concerns here. The slight inconvenience on me while doing an oil change isn’t worth the potential increase for nonsense if I wasn’t around to handle things.

IMHO, if one installs a quick drain valve, they need to be committed 100% to doing all their own oil changes.

A few years ago, I had one my Toyota Tacoma that I would normally do my own oil changes but then had to move cross country for a new job. For six months, I was not in a position to do my own oil changes and relied on a couple of Firestone Service Centers to do my own oil changes. The first one I used is where I noticed they just wrenched it off and back on. The second Firestone Service Center I tried to explain beforehand the FUMOTO valve I had on it and they had to come get me and go back into the service bay and show the tech how it worked. This was also before FUMOTO started including lever lockout clips that I could only imagine would get lost real quick now if an owner was to regularly let some other entity change their oil for them.

 

[johnmyster]

Votex

 

[Hohn]

The thing with the FUMOTO or other oil drain valves from my experience is that if you have your oil changed by somebody else, they will treat it one of two ways. One way is they will look at it like alien tech and do not know what to do with it, or secondly, they will just wrench it off because it drains that much quicker as they do not want to wait for the extra time regardless of how less messy it will be using it.

Well, letting someone else touch your oil pan is a mistake that might have corrective consequences. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, right?

While this hypothetical might matter, it's somewhat moot because most oil drain places can perfectly screw up a plain old drain bolt.

NOBODY but me or direct offspring under my supervision touches the oil drain on my vehicles. NOBODY.

 

[Faawrenchbndr]

Well, letting someone else touch your oil pan is a mistake that might have corrective consequences. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, right?

While this hypothetical might matter, it's somewhat moot because most oil drain places can perfectly screw up a plain old drain bolt.

NOBODY but me or direct offspring under my supervision touches the oil drain on my vehicles. NOBODY.

Bought my 1st car 3 days before I turned 15
That was just over 44 years ago
NO ONE other than me has EVER changed my oil on any vehicle. I, like you, prefer to do it myself for a multitude of reasons.