away2maine

So I'm looking at doing my first at-home oil change on the 2009 GL450. I have been intrigued by the oil extractor approach for a while and looking at some of the options online. I have seen several posts about extractor options, but feel free to share your thoughts in response to those post as well. My key question, however, deals with the capacity of the extractor verses the capacity of the crank case. Specifically, as we all know, most of these extractors are in the 5-6 quart range, while the GL holds up to 9.5 quarts. For those that have done changes using the extractors, how do you deal with that discrepancy? Are there viable extractor options out there that have that capacity without being overly pricey? Do you stop midway and transfer used oil from extractor to another holding tank and then continue? You get the idea...?

Thanks in advance!

Peace...Away...

Max Blast

I bought a 10L model from amazon for under $100...don’t get a smaller one as the cost savings will be destroyed by the inconvenience of having to pot the old oil mid extraction.

chassis

Buy the right sized tool for the job. An extractor that holds more than 9.5qts.

DennisG01

I've had a MityVac 7201 for about 10 or 12 years and use it for a small, side business of boat maintenance. It holds 8qts - but there is a reversing function on it so it's not too big of a deal. If I didn't already have it, I'd buy the pump in the link, below. We have a few of these at work and they get used hard - works great and very dependable. We've had others, that look similar, but by far, this one is the has shown to work the best and last the longest. But that might be a little pricey for the average DIY'r. Note the bronze pump head with easily changed impeller.

StradaRedlands

I have a , and it only has eight qt. capacity. It's no big deal to dump some out into another container mid-job. I do Blackstone oil analysis as well, so I pour some out for that at the same time. FWIW, I think topside changes might be overkill on a GL as there is plenty of room to get underneath and drain via the drain plug. I bought the Topsider for my other car (Lowered Mazda3) which is a pain to get to, and just continued using it on the GL.
YMMV of course, no right/wrong here.

away2maine

Looking pretty closely at the 7201.

Thanks.

away2maine

Don't disagree about the ride-height of the GL. My back doesn't enjoy rolling around on the crawler as much as it used to

away2maine

Beyond the reversing capability on one of these, I'm not seeing a notable difference. Maybe you can?

https://smile.amazon.com/Jabsco-1780...1768230&sr=8-1

vs.

https://smile.amazon.com/Jabsco-1785...1767493&sr=8-2

DennisG01

The more expensive one is a better (heavier duty), more durable pump. Note the bronze pump head, for example. I've used both and there is definitely a difference. But the capacity that I used them in was a much more demanding situation (marine shop). For a once a year thing, the plastic one would probably be just fine.

EDIT: IIRC, the better one comes with a bigger fuse, too - which would mean the pump is stronger.