Oil Extractors

[travisdecpn]

Does anyone own/use an oil or fluid extractor? I've been thinking about getting one to make my oil changes a little less messy. I like the units that Pela offers, but does anyone have any real world experience with them? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

Travis

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

Are the Pela ones similar to the ones offered by Griot's Garage? I have always liked the looks of those, though I've got no experience with that type of extractor. I've actually used a turkey baster to **** fluids out of overflow resevoirs in the past.

[travisdecpn]

The Pela units and the ones offered at Groit's are almost identical. The difference I have noticed is that Groit's actually has a list of vehicles that the extractor will not work on, while Pela does not. The major advantage of the extractor is that you can siphon out all of the oil, whereas when you just drain it, some residual fluid may stay in the pan.

[89sv21]

Beware of the Griot's Garage fluid extractor, I bought one a couple of years ago and after using it w/o any problems for a few months i went to change the oil on my friends 98 corolla and the tube that goes down into the oil pan via the dipstick tube disentegrated, leaving a long nasty piece of plastic in the oil pan! Defintely no good if you ask me, though its a bit dirtier to do it the old fashioned way, you can't really mess it up unless you don't check your work. just my .02

[travisdecpn]

89sv21,

I never even thought about that. How had your been storing the tubes? I figure that I would probably have to replace them every once in awhile (which is okay because I have easy access to vinyl tubing), but having the tube fall into the oil pan sounds a little scarey. Did the tube show any signs of wear previous to that event?

[89sv21]

I had been storing the tubes in a cabinet in the garage. The tube was in pretty good condition before i did the fateful oil change so i don't know what would've caused it to fail so quickly.

[travisdecpn]

I'll have to keep that in mind if I decide to go the extractor route. Regular oil changes don't really bother me, but I like the idea of not having to get under my truck and cutting my hand when removing the drian plug. Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

[Superior Shine]

This is what I use -




I do oil changes to my vehicles the old fasion way but I change the oil in my equipment with it. I have had it for over two years and it works great.

[MB///HRV]

I have heard good things about a product called the "TopSider". BTW do your research with anything from Griots. 99.9% of the time it can be found SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper somewhere else.

[the other pc]

Originally posted by travisdecpn
... The major advantage of the extractor is that you can siphon out all of the oil, whereas when you just drain it, some residual fluid may stay in the pan.

That's tue if the dipstick tube is above a lower point in the pan than the drain plug. If the pan has a sloped or stepped shape with the plug at the lowest level and the dipstick tube leading into a higher area you'll get more oil out by draining.

Originally posted by MB///HRV
...BTW do your research with anything from Griots. 99.9% of the time it can be found SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper somewhere else.

A very good point. But one may also want to consider that Griot's gives a lifetime guarantee on all their products.

89sv21, Richard may not come to your garage and fish the tube out of your friend's corolla but he'll at least replace the tube or maybe even give your money back.


PC.

[00GREENMACHINE]

I know a buch of fellow vwer's use it because we have a bell pan that we have to take off to get to the drain plug. I am pretty sure everyone is using the pella one. I am going to try one soon as I can cough up some cash