Changing oil through dipstick tube

I can't imagine getting all of the oil out using this method, and what about the oil in the oil filter and oil filter itself? Isn't the investment in your vehicle worth doing it right?

Transmission fluid? Same as above.

Lane

My opinion? I wouldn't do it. When properly done, an engine should have the oil drained while hot, removing the drain plug, which should be the lowest point in the pan. That way large particles of "dirt" are flushed from the pan, making for a cleaner engine. On the other hand, if you're unable to crawl under the vehicle to do it that way, it's far better than not changing the oil. Most importantly, make sure you change the filter each time so it doesn't pack off and start bypassing.

Harold

|I know that it is best to use the drain plug, but there are times I |hate crawling on the floor or sometimes it rains or in the winter it |is very cold. | |I saw at sears an air operated oil extractor that has a ridgid |dipstick tube. It can also remove transmission fluid without taking |off the pan. | |Would the life of a vehicle be shortened by using this method? By the |way the item I looked at was made by Mity-Vac and held 8.8 liters. You |use it with your air compressor.

that would be simple enough to make yourself. You'd need a vacuum source - HF, $9.95 on sale Steel tubing to fit down the dipstick hole, long enough to reach the bottom. Reservoir at least 6 quarts in size, vacuum-tight and strong enough not to collapse from the vacuum. You would need to add two tubes through the top. One would extend almost to the bottom of the container, the other just needs to go thorugh the lid. Tubing to connect all the above.

Stick the tube in the dipstick tube, attach flex hose between that and the longer reservoir tube, then connect the shorter reservoir tube to the vacuum pump. Apply vacuum until all the oil is out.

Then I'd pull the drain plug and see how much is left. Rex in Fort Worth

Lane sez: "and what about

Naw, you'd still have to change the filter. There used to be "quick change" places that used the dip-stick method.

Bob Swinney

$29.95 at the Quick Lube and to heck with that crawling around under the car crap.

When I was younger and poorer I did whatever I could myself. Now I am more than happy to pay some other under educated fool to do it.

Errol Groff

The other replies offer sensible reasons for not doing your oil change that way.

For automatic transmissions, it's best to drain the torque converter at fluid changes. A service shop here would drill the converter housing to drain it, then screw a tapping plug in it. That type of service is worth paying for.

WB ..............

| |Naw, you'd still have to change the filter. There used to be "quick change" |places that used the dip-stick method.

That method is the standard in the marine industry. Mobile oil suckers go along the docks and change your oil. Kinda hard to get to that drain plug on a marine engine. Rex in Fort Worth

Yet *another* persona, Bill?

Using this method on the trans before pulling off the pan would make the pan removal a lot easier and less messy....

I recently did that in my Audi A4...I have the hand vacuum from Griot's Garage. I used the dipstick tube to get the oil and out and when I was done, I pulled the drain plug; a few drops came out of the drain plug.

An article on the subject from Ray & Tom (via their website) suggests that either method gets approximately 95% of the old oil out of the pan.

YMMV.

-- Curtis Newton snipped-for-privacy@remove-this.akaMail.com

Until a) they drill through the friction material on the lockup clutch or b) the stupid tapping plug flies out at 6500 RPM, makes a hole the size of your fist in the bellhousing, and takes the front half of your right foot with it.

It was great back when all American automatics had drain plugs, but the truth is that if you let the transmission drain overnight when you change your fluid you'll get all but about 1.5 quarts out of the convertor. Since most automatics hold between 8-10 quarts, that means you're getting 80-90% of the fluid. Combined with regular changes, that's PLENTY of fluid exchange and no cause to go drilling holes and screwing plugs in a precision-balanced piece of machinery.

Shouldn't any large particles of "dirt" be trapped by the filter?

you not gonna get any metal parts in the oil that fell to the bottom.... at least when you take out the drain plug you have a chance to get out all the trash as it going to settle to the bottom..... mityvac makes some good products, but that is one that i would not want from any manufacturer.....

This is routinely done on boats because you can't reach the drain plug, and if you could, the oil would spill out into the bilge and, eventually, into the lake. I've used the drill powered pump. You'd have to pull the engine in my boat to get at the drain plug. Gary Brady Austin, TX

Remove an oil pan from an engine that's had three or four of these dipstick tube oil "changes" sometime, then ask your question again...if you still have to.

When I was a Kid my Dad's boat had a straight six Ford marine engine in it. When refinishing the hull one summer he thought I'd be a good idea to do a full drain of the oil. Turned out there was no oil pan drain plug so we had to remove the pan entirely.

As noted by another poster, marine engines routinely have the oil removed via the dipstick. Another poster found that the dipstick method was just as good as draining. And some models of Benz (and perhaps other makes) have no drain plug. You need to review your conclusions.

Chas Hurst

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comNOSPAM (Gary Brady) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m15.aol.com:

Yes, But I bet if you look at the pan on your boat, it is made with that in mind. An automotive engine pan is made to clear the crossmember, suspension parts, rack & pinion housing and other things, the placement of the dipstick tube does not (in many cases), line up with the deepest part of the pan. Might work fine on a 350 in a big chevy truck, but may not be the same results with a 350 in a camaro.

But don't you at least change the filter? The OP sounded like he wasn't going to do that.

Lane