Car Maintenance: Changing Oil Yourself

Joost

Joost

Other Christian
Heirloom
Recently I discovered a nice tool to make your life easier if you change the oil yourself. Instead of lifting the vehicle and opening the plug to extract the oil, you use a pump.



Recommendations to make the extraction easier:
- remove the oil filter.
- have the car running for a few minutes to warm the oil.
- Check the length of the hose. You might need a chair or bench to lift the pump closer to the engine.

Some cars have the oil filter below which makes it a little hassle.

You can find an oil extractor pump as low as $45 Walmart (online). I heard you can also use the extractor for transmission.
 
I'm not watching the video. This seems like an ad for something that nobody needs.
Every manufacturer in all of automotive history has put a plug at the lowest point of the sump so gravity does exactly this job. Any nasties, sediment, also collect there to drain easily, plus the plug is often magnetic to collect any metal particles
I'm willing to bet a set of ramps is cheaper than this pump but I wouldn't know because I'm a man so I have a 4x4 and I don't need to lift my car to get under it to change the oil.
 
I don't change my own oil anymore simply because it's not worth the time and mess, but I do bring my own oil and filter to the oil change place for them to use because I still want to know exactly what is going in my truck.

That being said transmission fluid and especially for coolant that pump may be pretty useful. I pull a radiator hose to do a gallon out gallon in on my old truck pretty frequently, that pump would make it a lot easier.
 
Tex Cruise said:
I'm not watching the video. This seems like an ad for something that nobody needs.
Every manufacturer in all of automotive history has put a plug at the lowest point of the sump so gravity does exactly this job. Any nasties, sediment, also collect there to drain easily, plus the plug is often magnetic to collect any metal particles
I'm willing to bet a set of ramps is cheaper than this pump but I wouldn't know because I'm a man so I have a 4x4 and I don't need to lift my car to get under it to change the oil.
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It's a 90 second video. I would not share a 10min influencer video.

I think it's a good tool so you can change the oil more often, like every 5k miles instead of 10k. You can use the pump and then open the plug below to see if there is any residue. Easier and cleaner job.
 
Joost said:
It's a 90 second video. I would not share a 10min influencer video.

I think it's a good tool so you can change the oil more often, like every 5k miles instead of 10k. You can use the pump and then open the plug below to see if there is any residue. Easier and cleaner job.
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Doing oil changes at 10k miles is a scam. There is no oil out there or ICE for that matter that wants the same oil in it for 10k miles. It's a recipe for premature engine wear and possible damage to the engine.
 
Joost said:
Recently I discovered a nice tool to make your life easier if you change the oil yourself. Instead of lifting the vehicle and opening the plug to extract the oil, you use a pump.



Recommendations to make the extraction easier:
- remove the oil filter.
- have the car running for a few minutes to warm the oil.
- Check the length of the hose. You might need a chair or bench to lift the pump closer to the engine.

Some cars have the oil filter below which makes it a little hassle.

You can find an oil extractor pump as low as $45 Walmart (online). I heard you can also use the extractor for transmission.
Click to expand...

I've pulled many oil pans off a vehicles and neither of the options get all oil or material that can be left on the bottom of the pan.

From a personal standpoint that just looks like a lazy way of doing it. But if you going to use it try and get your vehicle on an angle where the dip stick goes down into the pan to get everything out as best as it can.
 
Gazeebo said:
That's also a scam that burns your starter and battery faster. I would recommend turning the option off if you're able in your vehicle every time you drive.
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My older fun cars don't have it and luckily my 2023 GX can disable it permanently, I don't have to hit the button every time I use the car or go through a half dozen setting screens to do it. Such a joke that they do that now, it's one of the main reasons I bought the GX even though it was on its way out instead of the new turbo model where everything is a screen with a dozen different nanny aides.
 
Gazeebo said:
I've pulled many oil pans off a vehicles and neither of the options get all oil or material that can be left on the bottom of the pan.

From a personal standpoint that just looks like a lazy way of doing it. But if you going to use it try and get your vehicle on an angle where the dip stick goes down into the pan to get everything out as best as it can.
Click to expand...

How do you feel about it for swapping coolant?
 
Oil changes every 5k km are the easiest way to give your engine a lot of life in the later years. And as it was drilled into me by my dad, once you are under your vehicle, there will be all sorts of things to wiggle, pull, grease or shine a light on. Seeing things happen before they are a problem is the difference between a $200 part and a $1200 garage bill.

These days living in a city makes things harder for sure. The longest part of doing my fluids is getting the floor jack and getting the vehicles up on the jack stands. Once they are up, I have the oil dropped and filter going on in less than a minute. Vehicle ramps are also a handy way to get under your vehicle if you can get up on them (my car can't, too low).

That pump is likely better than having some idiot change your oil (I changed oil in fleet trucks during high school), but getting under your vehicle is still the way to go.
 
Just change the filter with the oil. Filters are cheap, though try and get good brand filters if you can.

Along with the recommended tip to have the oil hot, I would add to release the pressure in the engine by opening the oil cap and slightly releasing the oil filter before draining the oil - don't release the filter all the way, otherwise oil will spill down the filter housing - especially annoying on a Euro engine. Have an old rag handy just in case.

Doing it this way means the oil drains from the filter housing and hot oil doesn't burst out of the oil sump under pressure when you release the sump plug.
If you dump the oil, tighten the plug then release the oil filter, that oil in the filter housing will then drain away leaving old oil in your sump. Admittedly not a lot, and it's not life or death - but worthwhile to do it right, especially on newer Turbo engines where good oil is very important.
 
FrancisK said:
How do you feel about it for swapping coolant?
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Good chances are your radiator has a drain valve that can easily drain the coolant from the bottom. Just open radiator cap then drain for air flow. I don't see the hose going down to the bottom of the radiator through the top since there are cooling fins from top to bottom.
 
Do you guys recommend changing even synthetic oil at 5k mile intervals? There's a big difference in synthetic vs. normal oil look at 5k miles, to my experience. That's for light and medium duty trucks, mostly. We use exclusively synthetic oil on our work vehicles. They get a lot of miles.
 
I can't believe the 5K mile thing hasn't been challenged yet in this thread. I always heard 3K miles my whole life. 5K sounds like riding close to the edge to me, suitable for a car you plan to dump and don't care about the next owner.

10k is a joke. Might as well add sand to the oil.
 
Pointy Elbows said:
Do you guys recommend changing even synthetic oil at 5k mile intervals? There's a big difference in synthetic vs. normal oil look at 5k miles, to my experience. That's for light and medium duty trucks, mostly. We use exclusively synthetic oil on our work vehicles. They get a lot of miles.
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Depends on the condition of the engine really. Diesel vs petrol etc.... For a long time now service intervals on newer European Turbo Diesels would stretch out to 9000 miles (15k).
Not familiar with light or medium trucks - i'm only really familiar with Euro and Japanese vehicles - but generally if you're running a Diesel engine you can have a tremendous amount of carbon build up and exhaust gas recirculated into engine. With any Turbo vehicle oil supply and condition is critical for long life. I'd imagine Trucks could take much of a beating.

If I was you I would do a bit of a search online for your specific vehicle. It's not the end of the world if you go over the recommended factory service interval.


Some of the most high mileage Toyota's have lasted so long by people changing their oil more frequently than recommended. There is something to it.


Thomas More said:
I can't believe the 5K mile thing hasn't been challenged yet in this thread. I always heard 3K miles my whole life. 5K sounds like riding close to the edge to me, suitable for a car you plan to dump and don't care about the next owner.

10k is a joke. Might as well add sand to the oil.
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Generally 6000 miles (10'000 kilometers) or every 6 months is recommended here across the board for petrol vehicles, more for Diesels. Old or new doesn't matter too much. That's been a good rule of thumb here in NZ for at least 20 years.

I suppose it might be different for countries with harsher extremes in climate?
 
Kiwi said:
Depends on the condition of the engine really. Diesel vs petrol etc.... For a long time now service intervals on newer European Turbo Diesels would stretch out to 9000 miles (15k).
Not familiar with light or medium trucks - i'm only really familiar with Euro and Japanese vehicles - but generally if you're running a Diesel engine you can have a tremendous amount of carbon build up and exhaust gas recirculated into engine. With any Turbo vehicle oil supply and condition is critical for long life. I'd imagine Trucks could take much of a beating.

If I was you I would do a bit of a search online for your specific vehicle. It's not the end of the world if you go over the recommended factory service interval. You could still find articles swearing by 3000 miles for an oil change as little as 10 years ago.


Some of the most high mileage Toyota's have lasted so long by people changing their oil more frequently than recommended. There is something to it.




Generally 6000 miles (10'000 kilometers) or every 6 months is recommended here across the board for petrol vehicles, more for Diesels. Old or new doesn't matter too much. That's been a good rule of thumb here in NZ for at least 20 years.

I suppose it might be different for countries with harsher extremes in climate?
Click to expand...
I too have seen the longer mileage recommendations in recent years, but that's after 40 years of hearing 3000 miles between oil changes. That absolutely was the recommendation for a long time. I imagine older guys could tell you it goes back way farther than my personal experience.

5000+ miles is only very recent. It might be justified by increased manufacturing precision, but it could also be intended to shorten the engine lifespan.

A quick search shows nothing but articles saying 3000 is wrong, and 5000 to 10000 is normal. This is from sources that say massive undocumented immigration is great!

I don't believe them.
 
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Thomas More said:
I too have seen the longer mileage recommendations in recent years, but that's after 40 years of hearing 3000 miles between oil changes. That absolutely was the recommendation for a long time. I imagine older guys could tell you it goes back way farther than my personal experience.

5000+ miles is only very recent. It might be justified by increased manufacturing precision, but it could also be intended to shorten the engine lifespan.

A quick search shows nothing but articles saying 3000 is wrong, and 5000 to 10000 is normal. This is from sources that say massive undocumented immigration is great!

I don't believe them.
Click to expand...

I always heard this was pushed by the industry to extract more money for the service. I can see that being true.
Now I always hear to follow the manufacturer recommendation instead.
I've been consistent with every 5K oil changes with a synthetic blend and I'm at 290K miles.
 
most people’s driving condition will not qualify them for 10k oil changes, even with synthetic.
Many systems in modern engines need fresh oil to function properly, especially turbo engines. The longer you push it the more oil stops doing its jobs.
5k or 6 months is a good baseline for the majority of drivers.
Oil is cheap, engines are not
 
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