I’m curious to know if an oil sucker will remove all of the engine oil. Has anybody drained their oil using an oil sucker and then pulled the drain plug and checked for remaining oil?

 

This is quite a controversial topic on another forum that I frequent. That brand is designed for removing oil via a vacuum hose by providing a dipstick tube that has a straight shot to the bottom of the pan. They do that to provide added profit in their service departments.

I expect that if done right, you could get as much as 98% of the oil out this way. If you change a little more often to make up for this, you can probably get by with it.

Pro's and con's for the vacuum method:

Pro's

Convenient

Con's (Pro's for draining out the bottom)

Expense of the equipment
The more affordable ones are plastic which prevents hot oil change.
Draining oil hot gets out more contaminants becauses they are mixed in oil.
Because you're under the car you can check for leaks and see if anything is loose.
You can drain overnight for a really thorough oil drain.


Changing your oil is basically your only way to clean the inside of the engine. By draining hot and overnight you aren't just casually cleaning, you are SCRUBBING.

My $0.02,

 

I have used both methods on a number cars and find that the top-side oil change gets as much, if not more, oil from the pan than the "gravity" method. I believe this is due to my needing ramps to elevate the front end of the car with the gravity method. This may trap some oil within the engine (not the pan) due to the tilt. My guess is that both the top side and a gravity drain with the car level on a lift would result in comparable oil volume extraction.

I have measured extracted oil volume via both methods on an 88 528e, 89 525i, 00 328i and 04 MCS. I have never had the top-side method extract less oil. In fact, I experimented recently on the 525i. I used the gravity drain method and let the car sit for about two hours. I buttoned things up and rolled it off the ramps onto the garage floor. After about a half hour I inserted the oil extractor tube and was able to grab about a quarter to third liter more oil from the engine!

I have never changed the oil when fully hot with either method. I'm not really partial to burns induced by toxic fluids. I DO, however, change the oil when it is very warm and after the oil has circulated throughout the engine. My extractor has stood up well to oil of this temperature.

The oil extractor I purchased came from an internet tool supply center (East Coast Tools????) and cost me about $60 USD. It is made of plastic and appears very well built (I believe it is manufactured in Europe?). I can tell you that it has paid for itself in convenience, especially in the snowy winter months here in the Northeast US.

There are indeed pros and cons to both methods. However, if you change your oil every 3,000 to 7,500 miles, I'm not sure that either method will result in any long-term advantage/disadvantage.

YMMV,

Theo

 

Thanks Theo - - - that was exactly the type of answer that I was looking for! You certainly sound credible. I’ve been using a top-sider for a couple of years on my Z3 and wanted to avoid crawling under the MINI to check its performance.

 

I have always used the TopSider on Benz motors. It is better than draining out the bottom. The key points are whether the thread for the drain plug creates a shoulder in the sump and whether the dipstick guide tube is extended to within an inch or two of the bottom of the sump. I tried it on my MCS. Did not go well. I suspect the convoluted dipstick path plus the distance from the dipstick tube to the bottom of the sump are the problems. Mostly the latter. The pickup tube wants to curve in the Cooper and not offer a precise pickup. I put a Fram SureDrain on the bottom and shoot the oil into the TopSider can for recycle. Works fine but you do have to lift the vehicle.

On Benz and Toyota 3.4 motors, if you pull the plug after vacuuming, no oil comes out. Nada. On the Cooper there was some. Plus, I had no confidence in just what was happening on the Cooper. Without confidence I might as well just lift it and drain it. But on motors with the right design it is slick.

Vince

 

>>But on motors with the right design it is slick.
>>


haha. i get it...

 

ChiliBit wrote:
>> {snip} I tried it on my MCS. Did not go well. I suspect the convoluted dipstick path plus the distance from the dipstick tube to the bottom of the sump are the problems. Mostly the latter. The pickup tube wants to curve in the Cooper and not offer a precise pickup. {snip}
>>Vince

ChiliBit makes a good point. All top-side extractors are not equal. The one I bought has a two part vacuum hose. The lower half of the hose (that goes into the dipstick tube) can be changed-out to tubes of different outside diameters. The extractor came with large and small tubes. On the BMWs, I always used the larger tube.

However, because of the twisty dipstick pathway, the large tube did not descend all the way to the bottom of the oil pan. Changing to the smaller diameter tube did the trick, however. The only downside is that the extraction process takes a little longer because of the reduced diameter of the extractor's lower tube.

Theo

 

When I worked in my "Uncle Andy's Garage" a half century ago..This techique was used as a "quicky" on customers that you really didn"t care if they came back..It doesn't take it all the sediment out from the bottom of the sump..Prove it yourself, pull the drain plug out after you used the suction tube...

 

>>When I worked in my "Uncle Andy's Garage" a half century ago..This techique was used as a "quicky" on customers that you really didn"t care if they came back..It doesn't take it all the sediment out from the bottom of the sump..Prove it yourself, pull the drain plug out after you used the suction tube...
>>
>>
>>


I have tried that and have not found any traces of sediment in any of the cars on which I have used the extractor. I'll bet the oil filter is trapping these sediments (as it should).

I expect that in the last fifty years there have been improvements in the materials used for engine components, in the design and effectiveness of oil filters and in the composition of the oil itself. Maybe this is why I have not seen the sediment residue.

Theo

 

I work in the lubricating oil industry.
"Sediment" is something called soot. it is a by product of combustion and the filter DOES NOT TRAP IT. It is constantly being created. It is also heavier than oil though all modern oils are designed to trap it and suspend it. When oil "sits", the soot migrates to the bottom of the pan.
Having said all of this.....the ONLY proper way to drain the oil is:

a) level ground
b) hot engine
c) From the bottom

You can theorize all you want, and you are certainly free to use whatever method floats your boat. The one method that will remove ALL possile oil AND soot is above. I won't EVEN get into wear metals......
There is another method, we use it in the industry to prove the efficacy of certain formulations, and it is called a "running flush".....it is as awesome as it is complicated.
Peace.....

 

As I said, this is a controversial subject. I subscribe to pocketrocketowners method myself. It gets the job done and gets out more crud because you can drain the oil while the crud is churned up in the oil, thus getting out the crud.

Also I don't have to buy the sucker mechanism. I already have wrenches.

If I've seen one thread on this subject on the other forum, I've seen at least 50. It always seems to boil down to convenience and justifying the convenience.

Whether you drain it, suck it or change by osmosis the most important thing is that you change your oil and change it frequently enough. I'm not going to even dream about starting a thread on how frequent is often enough.

Have a great day,

 

LilRedMini wrote:

>> {snip} ...Whether you drain it, suck it or change by osmosis the most important thing is that you change your oil and change it frequently enough.


Amen, brother!

Theo

 

On the frequency...........

Current US Oils can go 1) K miles....question is always....can the filters.....and do you dare? For the 30 bucks......settle on 4K and be done with it. Of course us in the oil industry would rather you did it at 3K. slightly better for your engine and also for our pockets.....this is not all bad......

european oils are different, they have higher levels of additives and also better base stocks. they will hands down, laughing go 10K miles. so do the filters.....at 8-10 bucks a quart.....for mineral oils or semis at best....you are fine keeping it in for the interval.....just don't forget to change!!