Thanks for the feedback... thats a great testimonial. Why do you think it didn't work well on your friends Subaru? Did your friend borrow yours or could he have gotten a bad one? I'd like to order one tonight but want to be confident it will work well on my 95e320.

Doug

Not sure -- I performed the task on his car with my device but did not get all the oil out.

Great price
 

That's a great price on that Mityvac. I've used mine once and it worked great. Of course the engine oil was quite hot when I did it. The price is even less than when I bought mine a while back and I thought I got a good price. It took me quite a few pumps but it was more because I was unfamiliar with it and wanted to make sure I got everything pumped out. I would really recommend it, especially at the price tool warehouse has it.

$56 for this Mityvac is a very hot price. Doing a search their are many sites selling it for around $100. Mine should be here soon.
Benson, thanks for mentioning Mercedesshop web site when I came by to look at your rims. The info on these forums are very informative.

Doug

I've had my Mityvac for a 1.5 years now and have used it a handful of times without a problem. It works great, it's easy and it's convenient. To be honest I'm surprised anyone even bothers to buy the original topsider when the Mityvac can be purcahsed from toolwarehouse for a little more. No comparison IMO.

Anyone in Northern Virginia want make a buy of the mityvac extractor? Free shipping ( over $99.) if two are bought.

If you're going to use a suck it out oil changer, don't forget to check things underneath the car on a regular basis.

Although I, and many others, call the time when we change oil and filter "an oil change," it really should be called something else.

Changing the oil and filter is certainly necessary and obviously must be done. If that is ALL you do when you change oil, you are passing up an opportunity.

That opportunity is that you are underneath the car and get a chance to check for leaks, torn joint boots, look for things that might be loose or falling off, etc.

When I change oil I look for all those things, plus I give the wheels a shake to make sure everything is tight. It only takes a few minutes to do these checks and over the years I have discovered the need for small repair to keep it from turning into the need for a LARGE repair.

Changing oil is a good thing regardless of your method, but there are many other things to a car besides an engine, and there are even many more things on the engine itself that need to be checked on a regular basis.

End of lecture,

i am new to the benz world, but what is the advantage of sucking the oil out of the top? cant you pull the oil pan plug and get the same results?

thanks for any info.

Well, you don't have to go under the car on the models with oil filter on top of the engine. And then there's the belly pan to deal with. And some say on some models you get more out by sucking as the dipstick tube is the lowest point on the oil pan. I find it a much cleaner practice. I agree an inspection is in order from time to time.

crash dummie,

The only advantage is convenience. Some folks consider it a hassle to take out the half dozen or so screws to get off the belly pan.

Also some have the idea that since the dealer sucks out the oil for convenience and efficiency reasons that it gets out more oil. There have been heated debates about which method gets out more oil. The most important thing is that you change it regularly.

As I said in my previous post in this thread, whichever method you choose, don't over look the other things that should be checked under the car.

Also, most likely you already own the equipment necessary to drain the oil out the bottom, an end wrench and a drain pan. The topsider is one more piece of equipment to buy, pay for, store, etc.

Some of the oil suckers don't allow you to change the oil hot. To me this is a great disadvantage. When the oil is hot the contaminants are churned up in the oil and thus will come out with the oil. Draining the oil is the only way you can clean the inside of the engine. Draining the oil while hot, thus gets out this crud much more thoroughly. If you decide on sucking instead of draining and your gadget won't allow you to get the oil out while hot, you should change a little more often to make up for it.

Again, choose your method and change regularly.

Good luck,
Change oil hot and change oil often.

I tried the Mytivac for the first time and it did not work. It won't extract. My old Liquivac worked well until the bump leaked. I do not know what is causing the problem in the Myti Vac. There are so many hoses near the pump and valve and they can easily leak.

I still can't see why anyone would pay good money for one of these things when taking the drain plug out is free, and thorough.

Try to convince the people here, that round-off their drainplugs.

Some of us may not be as physically fit as the rest (8 adult surgeries in 3 years here) and do not relish climbing under a car. Besides, I can do 2 vehicles and my lawnmower in the time it takes me to take 1 vehicle somewhere to get it done. So yes, there are pros and cons to either way. MityVac works well for me.

Many years ago, I took my brother's car in to a quick lube type place. After 20 minutes, I asked what the problem was. The manager didn't want to answer. I got out of the car and the manager freaked. I told him in no uncertain terms I was going to look at what they were doing. He was still screaming at me as I descended into the pit and saw that the drain plug was completely round and the idiot was using Vice Grips to still try to take the plug out. I asked him what he thought he was going to do if he ever actually got the round plug out. He replied that he would just put it back in with Vice Grips. He explained that the 12-point box wrench he was allowed to use had rounded the plug. He also explained that he wasn't allowed to use a 6-point socket, as several workers there had stripped oil pans, requiring replacement. I almost had to have the manager charged with assault, as he was physically violent with me and then had the nerve to try to charge me for the time they spent rounding the bolt. He very nearly received the beating of his life. In the past 16 years I haven't returned there, and never will.

I realize that some idiots at dealerships and other garages don't replace the copper washer on the drain plug, and rounding is a real problem after the inevitable overtorque, but once you do it correctly yourself with a proper 6-point socket, not a 12-point, it is so easy to do time and time again.