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anyone ever use vacuum pump for oil changes?

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 9:35 am
by ninjajim4
on my other car it's supposedly the preferred way to use a vacuum pump and suck out all the oil through the dipstick.

sounds convenient, no mess at all, no pouring oil pans into milk jugs, everything just goes directly from hose to container. thoughts?

Re: anyone ever use vacuum pump for oil changes?

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 12:04 pm
by Inodoro Pereyra
Pumping the oil off through the dipstick seems like a slow, complicated process to me, with no real advantage. The messy part of an oil change is not draining the oil, but replacing the filter.
I have used a pump to drain oil from Diesel engines while working for a water pump company, but the engines had a pressure fitting in place of the oil plug, and in those cases it made sense, because we often had to change the oil with the engine running. But on a car, I really don't see the benefit. :shrug:

Re: anyone ever use vacuum pump for oil changes?

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 12:20 pm
by ninjajim4
from what i read, it takes 3-5 minutes to draw out all the oil, it gets more out, since just draining it leaves oil sitting pooled up in areas, and it pulls it from the filter as well, so that even changing that only has a few drops leaking out

Re: anyone ever use vacuum pump for oil changes?

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 12:37 pm
by Inodoro Pereyra
ninjajim4 wrote:from what i read, it takes 3-5 minutes to draw out all the oil, it gets more out, since just draining it leaves oil sitting pooled up in areas, and it pulls it from the filter as well, so that even changing that only has a few drops leaking out
I can tell you, without a doubt, it's not true.
If you open the oil pan you'll see the dipstick tube ends right besides the oil pump, very close to the oil drain plug. So it won't take any more oil than you'd get with the old method, and sure as hell won't drain a drop off the oil filter, which is nowhere near the oil pan.

Re: anyone ever use vacuum pump for oil changes?

Posted: July 23rd, 2009, 10:06 pm
by mitmaks
I let gravity do it's job. Besides changing oil on mx-3 is so simple. Ever try changing it on some nissans, hondas, lexus's ---what a PITA! Filter is located in most inconvenient spot and was designed to deliberately pour oil all over engine and other components when you're changing it.