ski35off

I'm contemplating changing my own oil and it looks like using an oil extractor would be a lot easier than trying to lift the car level and draining it through the oil pan drain. I believe a number of you guys have used an oil extractor; my question is does the oil extractor remove as much oil as the drain method and will it do as good a job removing the wear metals from pan? I also want to make sure I get as much of the old factory oil out as possible.

sparkhill

I used an extractor once and was not satisfied since only about 5-6 qts could be removed.

RI A6

The extract tube won't get the last yucky drops out like the drain pan. You'd be better off doing a conventional drain right now. Use the extractor to replace and refresh the oil after you've gotten through a few oil change cycles, and the wear has reduced. I think that's somewhere around 8500 miles based on this chart of oil samples I've taken.

Some of the samples are with 1500 miles on the oil, and others are at 3000 miles on the oil. The trends show several things:

1) cylinder wall wear-in (Aluminium and Silicon) reduces significantly by 8K miles and seems to continue to drop off. (my next sample will say more about this.)

2) Iron and copper wear (generally bearings) are strongly impacted by fuel dilution of the oil. The longer the diluted oil stays in, the more wear we see.

3) Rings are fully seated by around 5000-6000 miles. (Chromium, Nickel, Tin)

Several significant events occured for this engine. At 1800 miles the factory oil was changed and replaced with Elf Excellium LDX 5W-40. At 5300 miles the oil was changed to Motul 8100 E-tech 0W-40. And at 8300 miles FP-60 was introduced to every tank of gas as a fuel additive. However, the last points on this graph are inconclusive, since they represent several intermediate samples and oil replacements with 1100 and 1600 miles on the oil. The next sample that I will take next week at 3000 miles on the oil will show more definitively how this choice of oil and fuel additive is working.


<img src="http://www.teraspeed.com/RS4/Audi%20RS4%20Oil%20Samples_9060_image001.gif">

ski35off

I have a couple of low profile ramps to drive the front wheels onto, but I figure the back end needs to be lifted as well to level out the car for optimal oil drainage. That's the tricky part - I have a floor jack (those black blocks just to the front of rear wheel wells look like lift/jack points) and a couple of jack stands, but not sure how to safely get the car level. Has anyone done this before?

daveak05

screen/filter on oil pickup prevents any metal shavings from recirculating thru engine, no? I fact most AT's have a magnetic drain plug and if you ever change out your AT fluid you will see any metal shavings sticking to the plug. I know you don't have an AT, but case in point.

Personally, I am not going to f*ck with the multi fastener belly pan when changing oil, and have used an oil extractor from day one.

On a different car I tested this by extracting the oil, and then removing the drain plug. A trickle came out, so if using the extractor properly, really nothing left in. Hell, there's more of the old oil left in chambers and basins in the upper cyl alone, to worry about every last drop from an extractor. Pull any car valve cover to verify this.

Make sense to you?

daveak05

The tube may not have been positioned right, at very bottom of pan. Also, there's usually a point in the process where you need to pump again to maintain vacuum.

You should know when the extractor has pulled all the oil out when you see air starting to flow thru the tube. Even so, I will begin pumping the extractor to suck out the remainder.

daveak05

The one I use is the Tempo Oil Boy...quality and construction blows away the Pela. $55-60.

There are some out there that can handle 15 qts or more, so you wouldn't need to stop mid way and empty the container, but that's a small inconvenience.

RI A6

Engine holds a tad bit short of 10L of oil with a full drain and filter change. I've never been able to get the extractor tube down far enough to get more than 5-6L myself.

RI A6

Try the extractor. If you can get 10L of oil out, then let Sparkhill and I know how you did it.

crew219

Different oil pan designs can determine how successful you are at extracting all the oil. On my 2.8L V6 I was able to extract everything but a half a quart. On my 2.0t, only 3.5 quarts comes out and another 1.5 is left in the system. Thus, I sold the pela after trying it out on a few 2.0t oil changes and unsuccessfully getting out all the oil.

Dave