Engine Oil Change - Vacuum or Drip Method?

[Nmnhnlm]

Actually the best draining is to leave your car overnight in the workshop and get it drain first thing in the morning. all oil would have flow to the sump at least 95-98%. You are kidding yourself when you think while the engine is hot, either vaccum or normal draining will drain 100%, no way.

 

Hmm..... I have never seen anyone or read anywhere that recommends you to change oil when is cold. ALL says warm the car up first before changing oil.....

[Nmnhnlm]

My regular workshop raised my vehicle up on carlift, and drain the oil via the engine sump drain hole.

I think this is sufficient, as the drain hole is supposed to be the lowest point, and sediment would follow the engine oil down.

While the oil is draining, they will carry out some quick check of undercarriage.

 

Yes, thats all thats needed to change the oil. When your car is warm, the "sediments" are supposed to be mixed together with the engine oil, not settled down at the bottom of the oil sump. Anyway, we are talking about extremely fine particles here. Your oil filter is meant to take care of bigger ones.

 

AFAIK, vaccuming the oil out or using compress air etc is more for convenience. It has nothing to do with making the drain better. There isn't a need to jack the car up if you suck out the oil.

 

Btw, there is no such thing as a perfect drain. Some old oil is always left in the engine, esp. your cylinder head where you cams and valves are. Want to keep your engine clean? Just change oil regularly.

[Google]

Hmm..... I have never seen anyone or read anywhere that recommends you to change oil when is cold. ALL says warm the car up first before changing oil.....

 

Of course most will say warm the car first, oil viscocity will be thinner and easier to flow out. Time is money for everyone. If everyone follow my method, very hard to earn money. When engine is started, all engine oil are thrown around the wall and piston. My intention is to drain as much as the old oil and replace with new oil.

 

[York]

Official factory oil change is done by draining.

Thats the reason why cars are made with the drip hole.

contrary to (poor knowledge) belief, there is no need to drain until so dry.

Once the dripping stops, it is good enough

 

Kiang ok, mai keh kiang.

 

good one..........

 

[Glxfan]

bro i heard from my mechanic that draining oil from gearbox by using the vacuum technique will damage the brake pump in the long run...he usually bleeds the brakes and its a very long tedious process, have to occasionally walk over lie down beside the car and check and adjust the pipings to ensure proper bleeding...

 

this is for brake fluids, but will this be the same case for the fuel pump? I mean since the mechanics of brake fluid change seems similar to the changing of engine oils...my mech still uses the open drain plug change oil technique...pardon me if this sounds noobish

[Leepee]

Has any of the local main AD using vacuum system yet?

If they use, then it should be ok right?

 

Anyone know which overseas AD use vacuum system? Recommended by the manufacturer?

 

[Opel17]

bro i heard from my mechanic that draining oil from gearbox by using the vacuum technique will damage the brake pump in the long run...he usually bleeds the brakes and its a very long tedious process, have to occasionally walk over lie down beside the car and check and adjust the pipings to ensure proper bleeding...

 

this is for brake fluids, but will this be the same case for the fuel pump? I mean since the mechanics of brake fluid change seems similar to the changing of engine oils...my mech still uses the open drain plug change oil technique...pardon me if this sounds noobish

 

May I try to explain as follows :

- drain gearbox oil should not affect brake pump, becos they are separate "circuit / system". Vacuum drain from gearbox becos some gearbox dun have drain hole.

- bleeding the brake pipings remove air bubbles which are trapped in the pipings. Otherwise, presence of air bubbles would cause "sponginess" when stepping on the brake pedal, which is not safe. This is somewhat like "brake fade" when the brakes get overheated, eg. prolonged braking down Genting Highlands, etc....

- bleeding of the fuel line remove air bubbles which would interfere with precise metering of fuel to the injectors.

- therefore, engine/gearbox oils "circuits" are different from brake/fuel "circuits", becos they are alway in contact with air, and not affected by air.

[Mrbean]

I thought that dripping method better so that any sedimentation, which tends to group at the bottom due to gravity, gets drained out.

[Chiangauto]

normally my bro releasing the engine oil to drip from the undercarriage.

[Yeobh]

If yr friend is a mech I suggest he starts planning to attend basic auto technology course so that he will be employeable for the next few years.

I gather yr friend just have no basic knowledge on auto brake and engine oil service and from yr write up he is doing brake bleeding with leg power by pumping the master cylinder. Overtime the cylinder rusts and foreign matters will get into the system and cause damage to the cylinder seals.

He should learn more about pressure, vacuum or reverse bleeding using the right tools. Some very new european cars brake bleeding is possible only by reverse bleeding method and releasing the brake system control is a must via the on-board computer before the mech proceed to do the brake bleeding.

 

[Deckbuild]

Hi all, just had an oil change just now, method of changing is drip method. As compare to vacuum method, lesser oil is require to fill up the oil sump, I suppose I will vacuum EO in future oil change. The difference is almost 500ml, meaning to say I still have 500ml of old oil in the oil sump.

[WFME]

This topic is actually a "hot potato" and if you do google this topic, you will tons of people who are for and against this (some of whom are so convinced of their point of view that they may even be willing to bet their wives on it). End of the day, people who use or sell the vac will definitely swear by it while others will say it is pointless for obvious reasons.

 

Here's our take as we have tried both methods.

 

As far as the amount of oil drained, the drip method wins hands down (especially coupled with the right technique of using a LOW PRESSURE air feed to flush out excess oil). This is partially because some people who use the Vac method do not wait till all the oil flow back to the oil sump before removing the vac and that some vacs cannot be used when the EO is still hot which is actually the best time to do the draining. As far as why there is a 500ml difference, some cars have a top up capacity of between 4-4.8L, as 4L EO typically reaches close to the MAX limit of your dip stick, some mechanics may decide to stop there to save cost for you (unless you have a package). If you notice, there is a tolerance level between the MIN and MAX level.

 

As for pollution and mess. I have to admit, the Vac is much cleaner. However, it also depends on the "skill" of the mechanic. End of the day, you don't see mechanics spilling dirty EO all over the floor using the drip method every single time they drain your oil right?

 

With regards to removal of sludge and sediments, it's the drip method in most cases. As I mentioned before, you can use the drip method when the engine is still relatively hot prior to sludge getting stuck all over the walls. The only argument here is that for more expensive VAC machines, you can do the same but question is how do you know which model your mech is using?

 

Contamination wise, I believe the vac method has a slight advantage. The air flush method may introduce contaminates but as long as the compressor is well maintained, it's negligible especially if you use a good EO that devolves them. Naturally, you get a whole set of similar problem with a vac if it is not properly cleaned or maintained.

 

I guess Nmnhnlm brings up the most valid point that the key thing is to make sure you change your oil often and if you are not using cheapo brands, they usually come with some cleaning agents (which is why diesel EO and petrol EO are of different specs). Weather you are a strong supporter of Vac or Drip method, if done properly, the quality of your EO and the frequency you maintain your car overides most if not all the arrangement you may have.

 

P.S.: Some of you are right, if you watch Discovery Turbo, you'll realize that even branded cars like Ferrari, Lambo and Maserati use the drip method after their test runs to change EO... So if you know these guys don't save on cost and quality... what does that tell you... ha haa haaa...

 

 

[Satria_neo]

Wow this topic has been around for over a year. For me, my mech uses the drip method. So thats about it. I don't really bother which method to use because I change oil every 5K rather than 10k.

 

If you have $$$ and want your engine to be very clean. Just change the oil, run for around 500KM and change again. Then your engine will be really clean. But its a waste of oil and $$$.

[WFME]

Ha haa...

 

think your mech will love you man... SVC every 5,000 is a bit of an overkill but know where you are coming from. I do have a client who does his SVC pretty often, between 3,000-7000km... Basically each time he feels car is sluggish or after track day.

 

It's really up to the individual and I'm just glad you found your own right formula...

[Yuan]

Ha haa...

 

think your mech will love you man... SVC every 5,000 is a bit of an overkill but know where you are coming from. I do have a client who does his SVC pretty often, between 3,000-7000km... Basically each time he feels car is sluggish or after track day.

 

It's really up to the individual and I'm just glad you found your own right formula...

 

I think it is individual's preference.

 

I usually change my oil every 7k or 8k.

 

[5936]

I prefer the traditional drip method with engine flush added.

[Ithunk]

drip method

 

vaccum wont work on the current vehicle

 

[Yeobh]

Maybe you will like to share with us why vacuuming will not work on current engine.