evilsaint

how much pressure does your pump create if you put it up to your hand/skin? I'm attempting to do mine for the first time and the oil will *not* come out. I've warmed up the engine, taken off the filler cap and loosened the filter housing, all to no avail. Tried both of the different sized tubes that came with the pump too, and checked/double-checked the connections. Both of the tubes make it most of the way in, and get 1+ feet worth of oil in the ends of the tubes just by inserting them, I so I'd have to assume that they're going in far enough.

I checked to make sure that there's actual suction being created through the tubes in the extractor (Mityvac 7201 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product) and there is some, but it's hardly enough to feel when I put the tube directly on my skin and pump away at it. Definitely doesn't seem like enough to pull oil out of the engine, but then again, I wouldn't have any idea how much that amount of force would need to be. Are we thinking defective pump here, or human error (I wouldn't rule out the latter )?

Popo

You may have the tube blocked on the bottom of the pan. Did you try inserting it all the way in, then pulling it up a bit to make sure it is not actually touching the bottom of the pan?

Another thing to try is to open the oil filler cap to make sure there is no airlock or open the oil filter housing.

Neither of these should fully stop the oil being vacuumed out, but from experience the oil flows out significantly faster once i open the oil filter housing.

evilsaint

Yeah, I tried it a few different ways in terms of how much penetration ( ) the tube had into the crankcase, but none of them seemed to make much difference.

Are you supposed to keep on pumping (mine is a manual one) even after the oil starts flowing, or is it supposed to act like siphon? And what sort of speed does the oil flow at?

c32AMG-DTM

Funny you posted this - I have the exact same MityVac model, and literally just used it today to change the oil in my C32.

I tend to warm the engine up (idle for 10 mins is what I do), open the oil cap and unscrew the filter cap. I have to repeatedly keep pumping, off and on, throughout the entire process - otherwise it loses enough pressure to slow and eventually halt the siphoning process. It seems to take me a LONG time to drain the entire 8+ quarts, and I wish it was faster (and didn't need the constant pumping), but it gets the job done.

Perhaps you somehow just got a bad unit, that leaks pressure from somewhere?

evilsaint

I think that could very well be the issue. I was scared to keep pumping and blow the thing up (I've read about some in the reviews), but I'll give that a shot on Monday.

Does yours make a slight wooshing sound from the adjustable valve on the side when you're pumping it? I checked all of the connections and put some soapy water on 'em (like seal-testing a tire/rim), but they all seem solid...

TemjinX2

you probably didn't tight the lid tight enough or you have a leak. It should only take about 8-10 pumps to create a vaccum. For me i just pump it like 8-10times and it creates vaccum and it just let it drain for 20min. The last liter i have to pump out by hand since there's no vaccum since the pan is almost empty.

c32AMG-DTM

The adjustable valve (that controls direction of flow) does make sounds when I use it.

The lid with the rubber stopper? IDK, mine's pretty tight - but if I pumped it 8-10 times and walked away, I'd come back in 20 minutes and not much would've happened - it would've lost suction/pressure and I'd be starting all over again. FWIW, mine also leaks a tiny bit of oil from the main oil tube that feeds into the tank, at the elbow connector.

It seems possible that MityVac's QC for these units isn't particularly good... mine works enough to get the job done, but not particularly efficiently.

TemjinX2

have you tried sealing the leak with some kind of sealant or adhesive at the elbow connector? I had a similar problem when I use to use a elbow connector to a second tube so i can extend the length of the tube. I got rid of it because it had similar problems.

I just use one whole tube with the connector at the pump. Its able to maintain a vaccum until about the last liter is left since the vaccum is gone since most of the oil pan is drained.

Viper98912

Drain bolt method ftw!

lkfoster

+1

Gravity works every time.

97W202

yesir

evilsaint

That's a great idea, actually. Do you just get a tube that is small enough to fit all the way into the crankcase and find a way to get it to fit into the pump-side connector?

evilsaint

Doesn't work very well when you only get to jack the car up on a jack point that resides directly under the heat/debris shields that one needs to remove to drop the drain plugs =(

... unless I'm missing some other method of jacking the car up, past a hydraulic lift?

TemjinX2

my pump came with different size tubes. I got one that was small enough to go down the oil tube. It just wasn't long enough to set the pump on the the ground. So i just set it on the supercharger...pump it a few times and then go watch tv for a bit and come back to pump out the last qt.

I have a different pump though... i have this one.

http://www.wholesalemarine.com/p/PEL-PL-14K/

c32used

My friend I don't think it's a bad unit as I recall I remember buying same thru amazon.com also and what I think should easily be a 30min-1 hour oil change turned to a 6-8 hour oil change resulting in not being sure all the oil was extracted and the cylinder were the old oil was..was caved in making it extremely difficult to see the measurement table on it to know exactly how much oil was siphoned...I no longer use it it sits in my garage with the old oil in it for over a year now...I used my MB mech to do my oil change in like 20 min only buy parts and paying him a fabulous price for labor

evilsaint

How did it cave in on you? Too much vacuum pressure?

evilsaint

Also, 300 posts, woot! Takin' my sweet *** time

c32used

I presume so...it sucked way to much nothing I guess.

MountainStone

I have the same extractor and mine works great; I've only done the one oil change as yet but it was by far the easiest I've ever completed. This car is designed to have the oil/filter change done from the top - screw crawling underneath it (lazy FTW).

When I changed my oil the engine was warm. I used the smaller of the two hoses. The tip of the hose is cut at an angle so even if it bottoms on the oil pan it will draw oil. I pump about 8 times and the oil comes out without any fuss. It did go a lot quicker when I removed the filler cap and the oil filter, but by the time I removed and replaced the filter and all the O-rings my crankcase had been drained (15 mins, tops).

Just last week I used the extractor to pull 3.4 liters of transmission fluid from the pan. Only took about 8 pumps and emptied the pan in maybe 10 mins.

When my extractor arrived there was a paper tag on it that instructed the user to snug the screws holding the top on. Also it couldn't hurt to pull the rubber drain plug on top and wet the rubber sealing surface before reinstalling it. Finally you can remove, clean and reinstall all the plastic hoses in their fittings.

Can you successfully dispense fluid from the extractor? As a last resort you could maybe pressurize the unit and submerge it to check for leaks.

c32AMG-DTM

Ahhhh, I see. You have a completely different unit, from a different manufacturer. Not surprised that you don't have the same issues - FWIW, though, that looks like a nice unit. If I replace mine at some point, I'll take a hard look at that one.

LOL. Good to hear I'm not crazy... fortunately, mine hasn't caved in on itself. Nice that you've got a friend for a tech.

Thanks for the feedback and tips. I haven't tried snugging down the screws, or inspecting all of the connections - undoubtedly, it couldn't hurt. Yes, I can successfully dispense fluid from the unit; warm oil dispenses much more easily than cold... but both require the same on-going pumping that extraction requires.

evilsaint

Thanks for the tips guys. Turns out that I'm just challenged - I didn't have the valve closed all the way on top....