Changing oil through dipstick tube

Yes, I always change the filter with the oil. Gary Brady Austin, TX

Accessible from where? Under the car is not accesible.

You missed the part about Benz without drain plugs. Or more likely ignored it.

How do you know that?

Really? Then you're either an idiot without the capability to use a set of ramps or a jack and stands, or you're too stupid to take it in and spend $20 and have it done by someone who can..... Your choice... which is it? Bob

I have a Benwil lift in my barn to do oil changes, and other work. Sorry, under the car is simply not an accessible area for most car owners. Now lets move onto those who have a physical impairment. Or those who have a mental impairment, such as you.

Larger particles that won't pass the screen are what I had in mind. You often find things in a pan when dismantling an engine, things that won't get as far as the filter. Needless to say, if the don't get picked up, they're likely to not be a problem anyway, but if you can flush them, that's not a bad thing, either.

Harold

I'm not necessarily advocating the dipstick method. I was just thinking that the filter should stop the large bits from reaching the sensitive areas of the engine, unless the oil pump comes before the filter. This of course assumes that the filter is changed before it gets clogged or falls apart. Someone who doesn't want to crawl under the car to drain a bolt likely won't want to change the filter either.

I can drain oil and change the filter on all three of my cars without even raising them. The filter is a bit tricky on the mazda, but I can still reach it and replace it from the top. I would say that merely being under the car has nothing to do with accessibility.

Oh Yea? I bought a lift 'cause I'm not sure if I'm gonna get up the next time I'm on a creeper. And ask your wife about that too.

True. I remember dropping the pan in of a GM Hydra-Matic, and it does make one heck of a mess. There's supposed to be a magnet attached to the inside of the pan. Having the pan off gives the opportunity to clean the magnet.

I like the Honda automatic transmission method. My '89 Integra (4-sp auto) had a 5.7 quart capacity, but would drain out 2.5 quarts. What I liked about it was:

• No filter to be changed

• The only tool needed is a 3/8" ratchet and/or cheater bar

• The crush washer needed is the same size as the oil drain bolt.

• The car doesn't need to be raised to reach this drain bolt.

Of course the tranny wasn't very smooth and tended to hunt for a gear, but that was before more sophisticated electronic controls were available. I hear the current Honda auto trannies have electronic controls and have gotten much smoother, yet have the same ease of maintenance.

If that's the case, the whole question becomes moot, for the engine will grind itself to pieces before too many oil change intervals go by.

From under the car.

Only in those rare but noteworthy cases where some mystic force field prevents you getting under the car with a wrench.

Yes, I ignored it.

A drain plug under a car is not accessible. Nothing mystical or rare about at all.

Do you think, Chas, that if you say it fifty or a hundred more times it will suddenly become true?

Give it a try and let us know how it works out for you.

DS

Well, damn. I guess I've been doing my oil changes all wrong, then, by accessing the drain plug. I didn't know I was doing the impossible.

|In article , |Chas Hurst wrote: | |> A drain plug under a car is not accessible. Nothing mystical or rare about |> at all. | |Well, damn. I guess I've been doing my oil changes all wrong, then, |by accessing the drain plug. I didn't know I was doing the impossible.

I have Rhino Ramps for this. The only thing there is I get a little chicken driving up them. Have only done it once though.

Then I also have used hydraulic jacks and jack stands. PIA !

Now I have bought a Mityvac hand pump. I will try the hand pump. Read the following I got off a website at

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Dear Tom and Ray:

The quick-oil-change dealer in my town has begun to siphon the oil from cars through the dipstick tube. He still changes the filter and the new oil looks clean. But it seems to me that debris could be left in the oil pan at the bottom of the engine, causing problems. What do you think? -- Keith

Ray: I don't think it's a problem at all, Keith. I think it's a great idea. It'll probably even remove some stuff that you wouldn't get out through the normal oil-change process.

Tom: Whichever method you use, you're only going to get about 95 percent of the old oil out. But that's good enough. And the advantage of sucking the oil out through the dipstick tube is that it eliminates the possibility that some knuckle-scraper at the quick-oil-change place is going to strip your oil pan by overtightening the drain plug.

Ray: Or not tightening the plug enough, and letting your oil drip out on the road as you drive home.

Tom: So as long as they change the filter, we're

Ray: Of course, they could accidentally suck out your transmission fluid! But we'll give them the benefit of the doubt of knowing which dipstick is which -- at least until we hear from our readers otherwise.

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IOW, Ray & Tom think it is OK.

So, I will try it.

Lg

So is the suction hose hooked to the dipstick tube or is it small enough to be inserted through the tube down into the pan? Bob

I wouldn't OWN an automatic with no filter. Talk about pre-planned obsolesence (failure). Sheesh.

Only for someone too stupid to reach under and unscrew it!

So is the radiator cap "not accessible" because its under a latched hood? I have this strange feeling like I'm in a 'Hitchhiker's Guide' book where something doesn't exist if nobody looks directly at it.