for the lazy DIY mechanic..

[SiPMerlin150]

I've made this contraption today after again failing to undo the sump plug on my car as the last service at some garage has probably rattle gunned my sump plug down way too hard and it refuses to budge. Its a steel plug in a aluminium sump, so I'm not taking any chances to strip the sump threads.

I revert to sucking the oil out of the dipstick hole, just like you do on some auto transmissions and even some cars (yes, I believe the smart cars have no sump plug).

I've used some old water filtration system, some 6mm tubing and a form of vacuum pump as the source of extraction. The filter vessels are empty and thus serve the purpose of collecting the oil. This system is not fool proof, as once both cartridge vessels are full, eventually the oil will make its way into the vacuum pump and make a mess as its discharged.

Mine is slow and has taken 1 hour and half to drain the 3.5 liter sump on my car. A better vacuum pump will increase the volume extracted and shorten the time.

My car sees new oil and filter every 3500-4000 miles so no sludge is in the bottom of the sump to create problems. If you have sludgy oil, then use your sump plug the drain that lumpy crud out!

Heres my contraption...bit redneck but its working!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Last picture was wrong, heres the correct one

 

[Wozzaaah]

1 1/2 hours to drain the oil?!
In the 8 years I spent as a mechanic I never came across a sump plug I couldn't undo.
A ring spanner and a clout with a hammer will defo shift it.

 

[rtbcomp]

I had one on a Perkins 4203 in my Landy that wouldn't shift. Eventually removed the full sump lying under the vehicle on my back. The easy bit was lowering it onto my chest, but I spilled quite a bit over me when shuffling out from underneath!

 

[brightspark]

a bit of heat on ally and a steel plug works wonders. and if it was half knacked id just empty it and clean it up and put it back in with loctite as u have nowt to loose

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

Surely it's easier to drill and tap say an M12 thread and use a short bolt?

or drill the sump plug and use a big stud extractor, Work wonders on sump plugs!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

1 1/2 hours to drain the oil?!
In the 8 years I spent as a mechanic I never came across a sump plug I couldn't undo.
A ring spanner and a clout with a hammer will defo shift it.

Tried that...snapped the ring spanner!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

I had one on a Perkins 4203 in my Landy that wouldn't shift. Eventually removed the full sump lying under the vehicle on my back. The easy bit was lowering it onto my chest, but I spilled quite a bit over me when shuffling out from underneath!

Yeah! Thats not going to be viable, landies have more ground clearance and the sump on the fiesta is narrow at the bottom and widens at the top like a funnel, so my guess is the oil level at normal will be above the sump to engine block mating faces....that won't be too good if i unbolted it

 

[Wozzaaah]

Tried that...snapped the ring spanner!

Was it a cheap spanner?
If you think it's been done up with one, how about using a rattle gun to undo it?

 

[SiPMerlin150]

a bit of heat on ally and a steel plug works wonders. and if it was half knacked id just empty it and clean it up and put it back in with loctite as u have nowt to loose

At home I dont have any heating torches, Next time i'm at work and I put the car up on a ramp, the first job i'll be doing is getting the torch out on the sump plug. That loctite is some strong stuff! , as a joke one of the lads dripped some onto the threads of a spark plug and screwed it into an old duffed scrap engine, then tried to remove that spark plug... that plug never came out the way it went in!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

Was it a cheap spanner?
If you think it's been done up with one, how about using a rattle gun to undo it?

Nope....A snap on....it became a snap off!

This has happened before, for example, before working in a garage, I used to take my car to a backstreet mechanic who my dad and other mates of his have used for years, and my 2 previous cars have had services there and come out with the same problem... Needless to say I'd never go there again!

 

[gaz_moose]

its a pretty common thing now in garages, most main dealers do it for the first service. i use one like this,http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-To...221?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item53e8131105

when its full you turn a valve and you can pump it all back out. its great for draining fuel out of tanks,

 

[brightspark]

At home I dont have any heating torches, Next time i'm at work and I put the car up on a ramp, the first job i'll be doing is getting the torch out on the sump plug. That loctite is some strong stuff! , as a joke one of the lads dripped some onto the threads of a spark plug and screwed it into an old duffed scrap engine, then tried to remove that spark plug... that plug never came out the way it went in!

verry true but loctite has one enemy and thats heat , it soon breaks it down when u want it off ,

 

[SiPMerlin150]

its a pretty common thing now in garages, most main dealers do it for the first service. i use one like this,http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-To...221?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item53e8131105

when its full you turn a valve and you can pump it all back out. its great for draining fuel out of tanks,

We use something that resembles a garage oil drainer receptical, and once full we connect an air line and purge the contents via a valve out into a waste storage tank, ready for collection via the used oil reclaiming services.

As mentioned, smart cars do not have a sump drain plug, so oil has no ther way of getting out except for the dipstick tube. A bit silly really, but thats how they were designed. + 1 on the fuel tank draining, especially for the customers who miss fuel.. Thats always fun!

 

[SiPMerlin150]

verry true but loctite has one enemy and thats heat , it soon breaks it down when u want it off ,

Didn't know that, what is the stuff, some kind of superglue? The oil drain plug gets quite hot as the oil tends to reach 110oC in most cars, not surprising really as some of the hottest parts of an engine can reach 1000oC in some places, but the action of the oil and coolant keep things from melting.

I'd of thought that the heat would eventually cause it to fail is the worse place possible...

 

[brightspark]

Didn't know that, what is the stuff, some kind of superglue? The oil drain plug gets quite hot as the oil tends to reach 110oC in most cars, not surprising really as some of the hottest parts of an engine can reach 1000oC in some places, but the action of the oil and coolant keep things from melting.

I'd of thought that the heat would eventually cause it to fail is the worse place possible...

it takes more heat than the engine produces apart from exhaust manifolds studs ect

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I admire the OP's ingenuity, but my Pela oil extractor has been doing that job much more quickly for years.

 

[SiPMerlin150]

I admire the OP's ingenuity, but my Pela oil extractor has been doing that job much more quickly for years.

I know, but i made this in literally 6 minutes! Its not everyday that something thrown together does a job well and should last for a while, as said the pump was a large aquarium pump that delivers 20 litres per minute at low pressure,
meaning low vacuum, though the use of a proper vacuum pump, and a wider bore extraction pipe, performance is going to be better. It did the job though, and I did other stuff in the mean time.

 

[dannyp]

it has been known to use the manifold vaccume from a scrap car to do this before

 

[SiPMerlin150]

it has been known to use the manifold vaccume from a scrap car to do this before

I just had that thought too... I don't have a scrap car, but something like and old fridge compressor from somewhere will do that nicely!