Hello,

04 SL600 here. I bought an oil extractor to do my own oil change. The dipstick tube seems to be in the front of the motor on this car (with transmission dipstick tube in the rear). Anyway, just to test things out, I took the hose that came with the extractor (5mm in diameter) and put it down the dipstick. It stopped a certain point down. I figured that it would act as a dipstick and I would have some oil on the outside of the tube and that would tell me that I am hitting the bottom of the oil pan.

Anyway, I pull the stick out of the tube, and it was clean as a whistle. I did it again, using a little more force when I felt it stop, and it wouldn't go down any further. Same result, clean tube. The motor was cold and obviously before I'd do the change, I'd warm things up but I feel like I wouldn't be sucking out any oil if the hose isn't submerged in any oil.

Am I doing something wrong here? Is my hose too thick (the mityvac that everyone seems to use hose is like 6-7mm, mine is only 5mm). Do I need to use more force when I feel it stop?

Thanks for the advice in advance. I'd like to get this job done, I just can't figure out this little step.

 

You should definitely be seeing oil on that tube when you pull it out, even if the engine is cold.

Sounds like you are hitting a restriction and not putting the tube in all the way.

When it "hits bottom" try to pull it out 1mm or 2mm and give it a quick shove and see if it goes further.

Also try straightening the tube as much as possible. If you have a bend/curve in it (like if it was curled up) you may be hitting something on the way down.

Make sure when you extract the oil that you cut the tube end at a very very slight angle. Otherwise the tube will vacuum itself onto the oil pan and stop sucking oil out.

When I push the tube all the way in, I pull it out a tiny little bit (maybe 1mm) before sucking the oil out, just to make sure it isn't obttomed out. You can hear the difference in the pump if it is vacuuming the oil pan rather than air/oil.

 

Thanks for the tips. I think the problem is the pump I bought. It isn't a mityvac, and it's a little bit of a more compact unit. The tube that goes down the dip stick opening is only 5mm but has a metal lining to prevent it from flexing. I'm assuming since it probably needs to flex a little, it is stopping at a turn in the path causing my issue. I'm retuning this one and getting a new pump in hopes to cure my issue. Thanks!

 

Just as an update if anyone else has any issues. If you look at my previous post, this must have been the issue. I bought a Topsider vaccum and it has a softer plastic end. When it got to the stopping point I just wiggled it a little and the tube dropped a little lower allowing the oil to be successfully changed!

 

Thanks for sharing this - I'm certain it will helpful to a few of us at some point.