Recommended: "Oil Boy" Extractor by Tempo
 

I Purchased this oil extractor on Ebay ($62.00 with shiping) after reading about Topsiders here. One word sums up its performance: Spectacular.

I have been really neglectful of scheduled oil changes because I don't have the ability, or desire, to do it myself, and never seem to find the time to go to oil-change places.

This Oil Boy extractor will change that since it took less than 10 minutes to suck out approx. 7 quarts (I over-filled it a bit) and replace it with new. I spilled exactly 4 drops (only because it was my first time using it and I was a bit sloppy).

I realize that letting the car drain overnight from the bottom is the best way to go, but vacuum extractors make it easy to do oil changes more frequently. In my case, because I was so negligent in the past, I will be doing them weekly until my cocoa-colored oil is amber again. :silly:

I drained the Castrol 20W50 I added yesterday. Although I only added 5 quarts yesterday I drained 6+ today. The engine was, however, hotter this time and the car sat longer before I got started.

I replaced the Castrol with 6 quarts of Mobil 1 15W50, which I assume will do a better job of cleaning the engine. Because Mobil 1 is three times the cost of Castrol, I will not be changing it weekly as planned, but monthly should be fine. I will, however, change filters every week.

Is this plan adequate or am I doing too much in too-short intervals?

way too short of an interval in my opinion...

it's amazing your engine has so many miles on it if you feel it has been abused...

some other experts here might have some other ideas...seems like i have heard kerosene.....

i am a big believer in BG products....that's what i would use to flush the engine if it were me.... second thing would probably be diesel type oils

I certainly know my engine has not been abused; I just have not been as diligent about oil changes as I should have, and know that my oil should not be dark brown between changes -- or should it?? :confused:

i don't think oil is working unless it changes color somewhat.... brown ok... black not so good for a gas.

if you are that concerned change regular oil ever 1k for 3 months.... i think i would take the oil cap off and take a peak inside with the engine off... try to get a baseline look at what the innards look like.

i am probably not the guy to be writing about this... i change my dino oil like clockwork at 3k.

That sounds reasonable. I was terribly overdue for the last few changes, which is why I am being so diligent now.

Once thing is certain: Mobil 1 seems to clean away dirt, since I could plainly see the part number on the visible metal rocker arm (?) after removing the filller cap to see if the new oil looked brownish. Also looks much cleaner on the dipstick.

After dismantling a few engines that were fed a stead diet of Mobil 1, I can agree that it cleans things up. It's nice to get into an engine run on that stuff.

And you can't change your oil too often, except for your pocketbook. Although you probably don't need to change the filter when you aren't changing the oil. I'd do the opposite.

I did a lot of reading in the forums here and was initially apprehensive about using Mobil 1 because of all the talk about engines leaking after adding it. But my car already has seepage -- no puddles, but various areas of oily dampness on the engine block -- so I probably will not notice.

As for the filter, I was applying aquarium logic. A moderately dirty aquarium filter is better than a brand-new one since it captures more fine particles; however a very dirty and clogged one is useless and overflows. I suppose one week is too short a time for an oil filter to get dirty, so I may hold off on that for another month as well.

One thing I did discover is that only the plier-type oil filter wrenches work (at least in the awkward confines of my engine bay). The others are useless.

Also, would punching a hole in the top of the filter drain it? I unscrewed mine and a pint of oil chugged out.

There is a oil filter wrench that fits over the top of the filter and then attaches to your socket driver, that would also work on that engine. I do hope you're removing the air filter housing, it makes it...well...do-able :)

I bought one of those first and it would not grip the filter; it just slipped (must have been a tiny bit too large). Then I tried some sort of gripper wrench that I can't quite describe, then a similar one that has a type of rubber coated metal band. Both were useless.

The plier-wrench grabbed the filter, even at a very oblique angle, and twisted it right off with no fuss. They sell one in the Griots catalog, but I got mine at Wal-Mart.

You've already done two changes in short order. I'd change oil about monthly with a filter change at the second or third time. My Benz is at 160k and I'm sticking with high-mileage-formula dino every 3k for that one, but the Saab just turned 70k and I'm going to convert that to synthetic, on about the above schedule (prolly oil monthly with filter at the third time), then per routine--planning on changes at 5k since it's in town a lot.

I like my Topsider and have had no problems; it holds enough to handle the 560 in one go, and some others only hold maybe 5 quarts or so. I'm assuming yours has enough capacity to do the job without stopping?

If after the next change the oil looks clean, I'll probably extend the interval to that which is recommended for synthetics.

Also, is there a break-in period when switching from dino to synthetic?

The Oil Boy only holds 5 quarts, so I do need to stop. Other than that, it works great.

Update
 

Since adding the Mobil 1 this is what I have observed:

* The cold weather startup groan from the oil pump is gone, at least down to 30-degree weather. There will be a few days in the 20s and teens coming up, and I will see what happens then.

* For two or three days after the change the lifters would tap for about one to three minutes after the first startup of the day. They did not do that previously. I assume the Mobil 1 washed away the thicker, pre-lubricating residual oil and dirt. After about three days, the lifter tapping would last only a few seconds after startup when very cold outside, and would not occur at all when moderately cold out.

* For the first two or three days the engine, on cold start, struggled as if there was no oil, requiring two starting attempts. After three days or so, it would spin up freely on cold starts. I assume this is also because the Mobil 1 washed away the thicker residual oil and dirt that would normally be present on startup.

* Oil pressure is higher and the oil pressure gauge is not nearly as erratic as it used to be. Pressure builds to maximum more quickly on cold start, but is not near instantaneous like it was a year ago. I expect that will soon be rectified.

* A somewhat strong chemical smell from the engine bay has been eliminated.

Am I correct in assuming that Mobil 1 not only dislodges sludge and dirt but also dissolves much of it?

I am planning the next change in a week or two and am hoping the benefits of this unintentional engine flush continue. And I will be staying with Mobil 1 since I am seeing that all the "hype" is true.