El-Cheapo Topsider Oil Changer

[y2kimmel]

I always wanted a topsider oil-changer to drain the oil out of my car from the dipstick tube. Removing the encapsulation panel from the bottom of the car is always such a PITA. I read a post about someone wanting to use a 5-gallon paint bucket, a vacuum cleaner, and some 3/8" plastic tubing to make their own Topsider.

Well, I did it yesterday and it worked great. Cut a hole in the top of the paint bucket (make sure you buy a bucket with a tight-fitting lid) to insert the vacuum hose, and another to insert the plastic tubing. Both should only go into the top a few inches.

Then, insert the plastic tube into the dipstick tube (make sure your engine oil fill cap is off), and turn on the vacuum cleaner. Oill begins to be sucked out immediately into the bucket. It takes a while (about 20 minutes for me), but I was checking other things on the car and changing the filter, so it didn't seem that long. I even used the plastic tube to suck out the leftover oil in the oil filter housing (it always bothered me that there was dirty oil remaining in there).

I filled the car with 8 quarts of Mobil-1, thinking that the suction device probably left 1/2 quart in the pan. 20 minutes later, when I checked the level, there was room for the final 1/2 quart. I guess it really does remove as much oil as a plug-draining.

My only design modification needed to the home-made topsider was reinforcement for the plastic bucket. When the vacuum was turned on, the bucket practically imploded under vacuum. I opened the top and inserted a rigid metal trash can (that happened to fit almost perfectly) and it helped the plastic bucket keep its shape under vacuum.

Total cost - $10. PLUS - my topsider holds 5 gallons, not 10 or 8 quarts.

Troy
1995 E420 84k