Oil Evacuation: Home Brew! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

MBDad777 · #1 05-13-2003, 12:05 AM

Here's a picture of the oil evacuation device I made. There's no electric motor to wear out (except for my compressor) and nothing to hand pump! It uses a venturi/vacuum device to create the suction. Also, there's no skinny dipstick probe to restrict the flow.

I changed out the oil in my C280 and also in my friend's E420. After the device sucked all it would suck, I pulled the drain plug on the E420 (after removing the oil filter) and still got several ounces of oil out the bottom. I don't know why there was still oil in there and it concerns me. If it's not getting all the oil out it becomes merely a cool toy without any practical value!

#2 05-13-2003, 07:31 AM

Good job, but that seems like a lot of trouble to keep from having to remove one plug and miss the opportunity to check things underneath the car while you're at it.

Have a great day,
Change oil hot and change oil often.

#3 05-13-2003, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MBDad777
[
, I pulled the drain plug on the E420 (after removing the oil filter) and still got several ounces of oil out the bottom. I don't know why there was still oil in there and it concerns me. ... [/B]

So in other words, it doesnt work.

95E320cab · #4 05-13-2003, 10:22 AM

Quote:

So in other words, it doesnt work.

LOL

neileg · #5 05-13-2003, 11:17 AM

How can a pump evacuate all the fluid from a flat bottomed vessel like a sump pan? If the pipe has a flat, 90 degree cut, it will seal itself against the bottom of the vessel and you won't get any flow. If the pipe has an angled cut, you will get flow, but once the fluid level reaches the top of the angle, it will suck air.

Therefore, you will always get some residual fluid if you pump out your engine. However, you will still get some residue if you use the drain plug, just less of it. Whether it matters is a different question.

manny · #6 05-13-2003, 12:00 PM

If Mr. Benz wanted you to suck the oil out of the top, why did he put a drainplug in the oilpan ?

Another one of life's great mysteries.

MBDad777 · #7 05-13-2003, 12:19 PM

Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!! Here we go! Actually, I didn't mean to start another war...honest!

I'll be the first one to abandon this oil method if it really doesn't work.

It's fun to hear what others think, so feel free to sound off!

Dan

NormanB · #8 05-13-2003, 12:46 PM

Okay then..............

If the suck don't work try blowin'

TimFreeh · #9 05-13-2003, 01:23 PM

This "issue" of leaving several ounces of old oil in the engine are just silly. I don't want to alarm anybody but there is at least 6 ounces of oil that remain in the engine even if you drain it with the drain plug. Anybody that has ever rebuilt an engine knows how much oil comes out of the oil passageways after the engine has been drained and removed from the car.

I also use a homemade suction device - they are a real timesaver when you have to deal with underbody noise panels to get to the drain plug.

Tim

tunk · #10 05-13-2003, 02:45 PM

yeah I wonder if in the time it took you to get the little tube out and crawl under the car represented enough time for some oil to drain from the engine. Having changed oil once or twice it always amazes me how long it takes for the engine to quit drippin through the drain plug. The only folks who can majically do this quickly are the folks at jiffysquid, who either leave a whole lot in there or can really get everything to come out in under two minutes. I never could. I bet if you waited till the drain plug stopped dripping, put the plug back in went in had a cup of joe and came back out you'd still have an ounce or two come out when you backed the plug out. I'd be frieghtened of low end viscosity type issues if this were not the case. Anyway nifty little doohicky there.

cdt

#11 05-13-2003, 03:35 PM

Two minutes is not near long enough. That and the fact that they are the King of the drain plug thread strippers is why I don't take it to them.

You are much better off changing it at home regardless of your method as long as you change it frequently enough.

Have a great day,
Change oil hot and change oil often.

Southern · #12 05-13-2003, 10:17 PM

Quote:

That and the fact that they are the King of the drain plug thread strippers

I once had an argument with someone at work who couldn't see the benifit of saving a few $ to do your own oil changes. I mentioned that I don't do it to save a few $ but to do the job correctly and give my car a full inspection - something that the quick lube places don't do. The guy at work argued with me saying "how can they possibley screw up an oil change". The next week he came into work complaining that the quick lube place overtightened the oil drain plug which striped the threads on the oil pan. Needless to say he didn't argue with me on this topic again.

Martineau Gauda · #13 05-13-2003, 11:40 PM

If the suction method is used it is very important to ensure that too much new oil is not added while assuming that most or all the oil was sucked out.

It is my understanding that a owner experenced major engine damage by putting too much oil into the engine after a suck-out procedure that did not extract all the oil. It may be good to measure the extracted amount.

Thanks

albert champion · #14 05-14-2003, 02:51 AM

you know, this is interesting.

m-b dealers now use a suction device to remove oil.

and use a pressure device to force new oil into the engine.

i don't cotton to these procedures.

the way i have experienced it is that all the old stuff isn't evacuated, and then the refill overfills. and you know what that means. more problems down the road.

let's have a round of applause for the old-fashioned way. run the car so as to get the lube nice and warm. put it on a lift. pull the plug and let it run into a bucket.
resecure the plug. change the filter.

fill the engine with a known quantity of the proper lube using quart containers.

after refilling, run the engine for 5 minutes. hell take the car for a quick run. then let it sit for 5 minutes. check the dipstick.

make sure that it is not overfilled.

if it is, put it back up and drain a bit more.

nothing worse than damage from an overfilled sump. simply because it can be prevented.