I previously made a video showing my first experiences with an oil extractor. In this past video, I did an oil change on my lawnmower and felt that the process went very well. The extractor allowed me to do an oil change without having to turn the lawnmower on its side and just made the process simpler.
This is all well and great but the lawnmower only holds about a third of a quart of oil. The extraction process took less than a minute. The real question is, whether or not the cheap electric oil extractor that I purchase is going to be useful for changing a car’s oil. Well, it just so happens that it was time to change the Corolla’s oil so it was a perfect time to find out.
Like before, I’m going to attach the oil extractor to an external battery. The extractor is intended to be used with the battery of the car to make everything more streamline but I played it safe and used a separate battery to not drain the Corolla’s battery too much in case the extraction process takes a long time.
Next, I put the suction end of the hose into the engine’s dipstick channel. If you’re doing this, it may not be easy to tell when you’ve reached the bottom of the oil pan and it is possible to push the tube in too deep. This will cause it to curl up and not properly suck the oil out. To help combat this, you can compare the length of the dipstick to the tube and use that as an indicator.
Then, I put the other tube into my oil collection pan.
Finally, it’s time to turn the extractor on and watch the oil flow out.
This engine without oil filter holds 4.1 quarts of oil. I timed the oil change to the point where I felt that the extractor wasn’t pulling anything significant out at about 8 minutes. This is including the time that I spent readjusting the tube to get as much oil extracted as possible. Overall, it didn’t take too long. I kept myself busy during the meantime so it wasn’t like I was overly anxious and waiting for all the oil to be extractor.
At this point, I was pretty happy with the results but the big question is, how much oil did the extractor actually leave behind in the oil pan? Well, to answer this question, I jacked the car up and pulled the oil drain plug to see what was left.
I honestly was not expecting for there to be a lot of oil left so I took a small coffee cup that holds about 8 fluid ounces when filled up to the rim. But as you can see, I completely underestimated the situation and oil overflowed the cup. Because I didn’t come prepared, there’s no easy way of telling how much oil was actually left in the oil pan after using the extractor. By roughly calculating the rate of oil flow, my guess is that there was enough oil to easily fill 4 of those little coffee cups and some change. The oil filled the cup in about 6 seconds and it continued to flow pretty well for about 24 seconds. It then continued to drip for a while after that. If we calculate it out, 4 of those cups at 8 fluid ounces each, equates to 1 quart. 5 cups equal 1.25 quarts. 1 quart and above leftover in an engine that holds 4.1 quarts without an oil filter is not good at all in my opinion. That’s like leaving a quarter of used oil behind if not more.
Looking at it this way makes it very difficult for me to continue to use this extractor for a car’s oil change, at least this car. Who knows, maybe this Corolla just has a weirdly shaped oil pan that doesn’t really allow for oil extraction this way. Maybe the car should’ve been on stands in the first place. There’s a lot of possibility for variances.
I would suggest that if you do decide to use an oil extractor, still jack the car up at the end as I did the first time around. Figure out how much oil is left for your engine after the extraction and decide if you’re comfortable with the results. Different cars are going to have varying results. The oil extractor may work great for one vehicle and terrible for another. Do the test to give yourself that peace of mind.
As for me, I will continue to test this device out and see how I feel about it after some more trials.
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