DIY Mechanics: Oil Syphon through the dipstick.?.

I regularly service the car at home… but its a pain taking the undertray etc off. I have been told these things work well, but I am not sure they will pick up the sludge at the bottom of the sump…

anyone else use one of these? pap or worth it? worth going for the better quality ones for £30 ish…??

I used one once when I had an “emergency” oil change in a hurry before a European trip. It worked, but would have left sludge and obviously you don’t get to change the filter. I’d definitely not do it normally, and every other time I’ve done the job properly.

Oh, I drive a Ford TDCI, and the tube was too thick to go down the dipstick hole. I heated it with an air gun and stretched it out thinner – worked a treat!

– Sorry Neil, you could of course change the filter. In the interests of speed I didn’t on that occasion, and on my car it’s a pain to get at.

Apparently many mechanics use them.. Whether or not they should is another issue tho 🙂

Does your undertraty cover the sump? On my car there’s an opening in it so you can remove the plug without having to remove the tray.

Perhaps invest in a couple of good jacks 🙂

or a pair of axle stands or even ramps – dont fancy working under a car sat on jacks …..

“sludge at the bottom of the sump…”

not a good sign.

Yes you can.However this is a better choice:

http://www.pvrdirect.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?catref=TP69

Don’t worry about any sludge. Because you change your oil on a regular basis there will be none. You do change the oil at least once a year don’t you?

Consider adding an engine flush before ‘sucking’ and make show the engine is hot.

BTW Mercedes Smart cars have no drain plug and you have to suck!
Hth
Marko

+1 axle stands, the husband previous owner of my parents house killed himself by pinning himself under a car supported by a jack in the garage 😯 Never did like working late in that garage…

dont fancy working under a car sat on jacks …..

You should never EVER EVER EVER work under a car supported solely by jacks. Not ever. Got that?

The work OK for inboard engines on boats.

i dont even like changing wheels with the car on a jack !

I meant jacks to enable you to get it on the axle stands easily! Not to hold the car whilst you work on it!

House opposite me has a fairly sloping drive. The guy’s father in law made makeshift axle stands out of two slender stacks of bricks a good 2ft high and planks, and proceeded to lie under the car to change the oil.

I was terrified, I had to hide in the house til he was finished.

I’m all for DIY, but I never saw the point of doing your own oil changes. It’s a horrible messy job, you’ve got the problem of how to dispose of the used oil afterwards, and for the price of the oil and filter you can get some bugger else to do it.

Even back when I was a povvy student and drove a car that was held together with duct tape, cable ties, chicken wire and filler, I used to use a local mechanic for oil changes.

marko – yep every 5k I swap the oil out…

molgrips – there isnt an access hole… have to take the tray and a few other bits off to get at the sump plug…

as eveybody has pointed out… axel stands all the way.

“how to dispose of the used oil afterwards” local tip has a waste oil bin

trail_rat – Member
i dont even like changing wheels with the car on a jack !

I stick the spare wheel under the car while it’s going up, and then the removed wheel. If the car falls off the jack, it limits the damage.

Is it that much extra effort to take on the undertray? The one under my engine comes off in about 20seconds.

If that’s the only thing stopping you from going the axle stands/sump method, then I’d just spend the extra time taking the undertray off.

I’ve never used one of those syphon thingummies, but how do you know when you have the tube at the lowest point? Or that it’s reached the lowest point and is starting to curl back up?

Consider adding an engine flush before ‘sucking’ and make show the engine is hot.

The general consensus seems to be unless you’ve used them since new, don’t bother, as they’ll strip crap off the oilways that would quite hapily sit there for the rest of the engines life, this then floats arround, blocks something like a crankshaft oilway or hydraulic tappet and causes the engine to fail. The automototive equivalent of a heart attack! Similar principle in classic car oil changes, stick to the cheep stuff becasue the expensive additives might do more harm than good.

The engine should be warm but not hot, warm means the oil flows nicely, hot means a potential trip to the hospital when you get coveed in boiling oil.

National Tyres and Autocare will do an oil change, with filter, for £22.50 (depending on car model, but I’ve done a few cars there for under £30). Pretty much makes the labour free if you consider the cost of oil&filter. Job done

http://www.national.co.uk/oil-vehicle-search.aspx

marko – yep every 5k I swap the oil out…

Waste of time and money if you ask me. Might’ve helped in the 60s, not now.

Oh and ramps ftw, if you can get them under the front of your car.

My fiesta fell on me when I was under it and it was supported only by crappy scissor jacks. Unsurprisingly it bloody hurt and there was nobody around to help me. Luckily my head and arms weren’t trapped so I managed to lift the car off me so I could reach the jack that had collapsed and get it back under the car. I must say I was a tad concerned about my welfare. Now axel stands are used and I wont use those crappy jacks unless I am stuck at the side of the road with a puncture.

Waste of time and money if you ask me

what would you suggest then? cars a mk4 golf tdi 130, 160k on the clock. I use cheep’ oil and filters (to spec) it dosent cost that much… and seems to be keeping the car fresh.

“Waste of time and money if you ask me. Might’ve helped in the 60s, not now.

Oh and ramps ftw, if you can get them under the front of your car.”

mid 80s land rover with a tendancy to crack pistons and wear piston rings/bores …. likes its oil changed every 3-5k

– i dont really need to lift it to change the oil though 😉

as per tinas – the sludge thats there is probably stopping leaks – know folk that have filled up with the latest castrol GTX superduper start from cold wonder oil to have it spew from every seal on the engine !

asdas 20/50wt diesel oil for me !

id be sceptical of the quality of filters/oil used in a 22.50 oil change tbh – fine if your doing it every 3/5k but with ever increasing service intervals id be wary

mid 80s land rover with a tendancy to crack pistons and wear piston rings/bores

Fair play 🙂

Btw in the US it’s normal to spec a 5k oil change interval, and there’s lots of chat on the car forums about why – since it’s usually 10k everywhere else. So some folk are using fully synth and having it analysed which can be rather interesting. Seems to depend heavily on the driving being done and the car. Safe to assume that 10k is a minimum for most cars tho – you can usually go much higher with no ill effects it seems.

The longer intervals are largely due to manufacutrers specifying synthetic oils which don’t degrade over time, running mineral oil in the midget (BL 1500, an engine known to cook oil) I notice the change in consistency after its done a couple of long motorway runs, must remember to fit an oil cooler this year………..

what would you suggest then? cars a mk4 golf tdi 130, 160k on the clock. I use cheep’ oil and filters (to spec) it dosent cost that much… and seems to be keeping the car fresh.

As far as I am aware, from VW forums, PD engine is really picky about it’s oil. Cheapest I can get it is 30 quid for the five litres, plus filter, plus lunch for my wrenching mate.

I use the longlife oil, as far as I know it is what has always been used in my car, so I stick to it, as well as changing at 10k, but I know that if I go over it the longlife is ok for a bit.

I have thought about those pumps syphons and quite fancy the idea.

I’d rate most cheapo DIY axle stands as crappy, they are too narrow at the bottom for stability. I once had the rear wheels (brake on) slide sideways on a road camber, and the front came off the stands. I don’t even like doing it with rear wheel chocks.

These days I’ll only go under with two socking great tree-trunk logs, one each side, packed with boards.

neilforrow – Member
Waste of time and money if you ask me
what would you suggest then? cars a mk4 golf tdi 130, 160k on the clock. I use cheep’ oil and filters (to spec) it dosent cost that much… and seems to be keeping the car fresh.

Cripes. I’ve got the same engine in my Ibiza. It’s an 03 on 150k miles (and a bit). I recently went from 10k miles services/oil changes to 15k miles as I do quite a few miles and servicing was getting expensive. Speaking with my local garage, they were pretty confident that as it spends most of it’s life sat at 70mph on the A1 at about 1800rpm, the extended oil change shouldn’t really be an issue. Not really been doing it long enough to say whether it’s a good idea or not, but it doesn’t seem to be causing any problems……

Mate of mine had an X reg A4 1.9TDi that he never did any servicing to at all. Never changed the oil, just kept an eye on the level and topped it up. He never had any issues with it – not sure when he got it, but he had it for about 4 yrs after I met him, until he got rid and bought an SL500 instead!!

As far as I am aware, from VW forums, PD engine is really picky about it’s oil

Yes, you need specific VW PD oil. It’s widely available though and it’ll either say ‘For VW PD engines’ on it or it’ll have the VW spec number, which I don’t remember of the top of my head.

VW have a long-life option on their cars which they can swtich on at the dealer. It uses oil temperature and engine revs to calculate how long the oil is likely to last but you need to be using their longlife spec oil too, so it knows how it’ll behave. AFAIK if you do lots of motorway miles it’ll be 18-20k miles before the light comes on. However by default it comes on after 10k.. which is a con if you ask me.

£22 oil and filter change – no thanks. I wouldnt trust them to get the right grade oil let alone use decent oil and filters.

The quality of filters makes a HUGE difference. Some cheap ones use cardboard valves and have poor filter area.

I always use genuine filters as they are surprisingly cheap but I can also get them cheaper by buying from AEP Direct up in Glasgow. I buy all my filters in bulk to save on postage and annoying trips out to get filters when the car needs doing.

For oil I use fully synth Fuschs from GSF for the diesel. £16.50 doesnt break the bank.

5k oil changes is very extreme. Only way I would do that is if the car was very short journey and 5k was the annual mileage. Use a decent oil and filter and stretch out your intervals a bit sooner – unless it is a highly strung turbo charged petrol that needs regular servicing.

The interval for most modern cars is 20k now so even 10k is being very cautious with your engine and cuts your service costs compared to 5k.

As for supports – stands, ramps etc but on uneven ground you can’t beat some spare wheels – with inflated tyres – and a nice wide scaffolding plant under the front subframe to spread the load onto the wheels. I’ve had a car knocked off jacks before by a van and had a scissor jack collapse due to uneven ground. Even with stands I always put tyres underneath – they can save your life.

Regards to the sucky thing and sludge – you really shouldnt have sludge anyway. I took the sump off my knackered 1.6 peugeot engine and it was clean as a whistle. The car was cooked a lot before I got it so the valve seals are shot but I use decent oil which helps reduce the consumption and always use good filters and there is no sludge.

But I would worry that I had left old oil in there so wouldnt use them.

Why don’t you just cut a hole in the undertray under the drain hole? Would make future servicing a lot easier.

Drain it. Cut a hole in the tray next time it’s off. DIY gives you control over what is used. You should be able to reach the drain plug with the car on its wheels, if not, a couple of inches using a plank under the tyres should suffice, and a shallow tray collects the oil which can be taken to the Council recycling place.

So what do you mechanics think of fancy oil like Castrol Edge, with regards longevity?

Yes, you need specific VW PD oil. It’s widely available though and it’ll either say ‘For VW PD engines’ on it or it’ll have the VW spec number, which I don’t remember of the top of my head.

It wasn’t “widely available” back when I had a Passat, unless you mean “widely available at VW dealers.” It was the only place I could ever find it, and at fifteen quid a litre it came with a free sore bottom.

Can get it in Halfords round my way, and sometimes in service stations. I bought a litre at one for top ups, 7 or 8 quid iirc.