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NOHOME
NOHOME PowerDork
12/19/16 8:33 p.m.

Did my own oil change on the FRS for the first time this fall. Turns out warm 0-20 oil comes out of the plug hole faster than my catch funnel can transfer it into the container. I am going to go out on a limb and say that sticking my thumb over a flow of cold oil rather than hot oil is gonna be my preferred method from now on.

GameboyRMH
GameboyRMH GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/20/16 7:39 a.m.
former520 wrote: I know of an old method that borders the cold/ hot line and helps flush as well. You need a helper to do this, but it is the best. Get the car up in the air and hot. You need one person below and one above. The person above needs to have at least a gallon of fresh oil ready and funnel in fill hole. The person below needs be ready to remove and reinstall the plug. When everyone is in position, with the car running, pull the plug and start to refill at the same time. Keep doing this until the fresh oil is coming out and has cleared the engine of the old oil. It may take 2 gallons. Once it is coming out clear, shut down the motor and put in the plug to keep as much of the oil in as possible. Now you can remove the filter, install the new one and top off to spec knowing you have flushed all of the old stuff out.

AKA arctic oil change...except when done in the cold you have to do those last steps quick before the engine has much chance to cool down!

PeterAK
PeterAK Dork
12/20/16 10:04 a.m.
GameboyRMH wrote:
former520 wrote: I know of an old method that borders the cold/ hot line and helps flush as well. You need a helper to do this, but it is the best. Get the car up in the air and hot. You need one person below and one above. The person above needs to have at least a gallon of fresh oil ready and funnel in fill hole. The person below needs be ready to remove and reinstall the plug. When everyone is in position, with the car running, pull the plug and start to refill at the same time. Keep doing this until the fresh oil is coming out and has cleared the engine of the old oil. It may take 2 gallons. Once it is coming out clear, shut down the motor and put in the plug to keep as much of the oil in as possible. Now you can remove the filter, install the new one and top off to spec knowing you have flushed all of the old stuff out.
AKA arctic oil change...except when done in the cold you have to do those last steps quick before the engine has much chance to cool down!

That sounds like you are risking damage more than preventing it. Why not just change your oil a little more often and not worry about it?

When we buy used cars we don't ask about how the oil was changed... We just want to know that it was done with reasonable intervals.

I overthink a lot of things. Changing my oil is not one of them. I love that my Accord has an oil life monitor. I don't even need to pay attention--it tells me when it's due!

BA5
BA5 GRM+ Memberand New Reader
12/20/16 10:13 a.m.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is one of those things that don't matter. Either way you're changing the bulk of the oil, you're trying to figure out how to get that last 0.5%. It doesn't matter, even over the long run. Do it whichever way makes you feel good.

DanVolvo
DanVolvo New Reader
12/20/16 10:42 a.m.

With modern oils, I don't take near the precautions I used to 20 years ago. I leave a few more drops in the block than I did back then. Also depends on the motor, newer cleaner motors, I just do a 5 minute drain after driving it up the ramp. I am not worried I only got 90% of the old oil out vs 94% (totally made up but accurate for discussion), I do fill my new filter, sometimes I pour a few ounces of new oil in the filler to wash more old oil out while draining, but I think in the grand scheme, its not necessary . Please the demons inside your head and do what makes you comfortable

APEowner
APEowner GRM+ Memberand New Reader
12/20/16 11:17 a.m.

The only way you're going to get all of the old oil out is to disassemble the engine. Anything less is a compromise. A reasonable one but a compromise none the less. The important thing is to change it regularly using whatever technique is reasonable. It'll never have all virgin oil in it but it won't just keep building up crud either.

BA5
BA5 GRM+ Memberand New Reader
12/21/16 9:06 a.m.

I'm going to start disassembling and hot tanking my engine at every oil change now. No compromises!

MattW
MattW New Reader
12/21/16 9:25 a.m.
BA5 wrote: I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is one of those things that don't matter. Either way you're changing the bulk of the oil, you're trying to figure out how to get that last 0.5%. It doesn't matter, even over the long run. Do it whichever way makes you feel good.

Ding ding. We have a winner.

jimbbski
jimbbski Dork
12/21/16 10:32 a.m.

The only reason to change oil on a hot engine is time, or lack of it. A quick change oil place has to do this in order to make any money. As a car owner I have the time to change the oil how and when I want and take as much time as I want.

Some have mentioned "tiny" bits of "stuff" in the oil that can pass through the filter and running the engine will put them in suspension. I say if that "stuff" is that small that it passes through a filter then it's going to stay suspended in the oil and not settle out much.

Run the engine enough to get it on ramps or into the garage, it you park your car in a garage then let it run for a few minutes, then shut it off pull the plug and go have a beer.

I later crank the engine over a few times before I remove the filter. I can get a few more ounces of oil out this way. And before you say that I can damage the engine remember the engine has been run and has oil at the bearings & cylinder walls so I do less damage then a cold "dry start" would. And we do that every time we start our cars after sitting a few hours don't we?

Just a few weeks ago I did the first oil change on my VW TDI. The dealer did the first few. Other then the possibility of dripping oil from the filter as you pull it from it's housing it's an easy no fuss job. Other then the odd to me oil filter (Just a paper element.) since I'm used to the traditional metal can oil filters and the hard to find "special" synthetic oil VW specs it's as easy an oil change as you can have.

dj06482
dj06482 GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
12/21/16 10:43 a.m.

I always change the oil after the car has gotten up to temp. I also let it drain for a while, it gives me a chance to give the rest of the vehicle a once-over. Not saying I'm right, it's just what I do

Tyler H
Tyler H GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
12/21/16 11:20 a.m.
jimbbski wrote: Run the engine enough to get it on ramps or into the garage, it you park your car in a garage then let it run for a few minutes, then shut it off pull the plug and go have a beer.

I always put a piece of tape that says NO OIL on the steering wheel, in case 'a beer' turns into beeeers.

RX Reven'
RX Reven' GRM+ Memberand Dork
12/21/16 12:41 p.m.
PeterAK wrote: I love that my Accord has an oil life monitor. I don't even need to pay attention--it tells me when it's due!

I changed the oil on my wife’s 2016 Explorer last weekend and I forgot to reset its oil life monitor – thanks for the reminder.

Just so you guys know, the whole “warm up your engine first” thing is total B.S…ever notice that it takes the exact same amount of time to suck down a quick beer??? Coincidence; I think not.

DaveEstey
DaveEstey PowerDork
12/21/16 1:32 p.m.

My concern has always been with the start after the oil change. If the engine was run before being drained there's at least a little oil on the bearings still, which you'll depend on until oil pressure comes up on the restart.

Maybe I'm just paranoid.

On my RX7 I can easily crank the engine until pressure comes up and then start it. My Highlander Hybrid - nope. No control.

edizzle89
edizzle89 Dork
12/21/16 1:50 p.m.

in my line of work i have seen test engines that have had oil changes done after 2x the regular interval length there whole life and during tear down all the wear surfaces never really look any worse then engines done in the regular intervals. most of these oil changes were done after the engine had sat over night, so they maybe spend 60 seconds driving it into the shop in the morning, but nowhere near full operation temp.

So double the interval and 90% of the oil changes done with the engine cold and the extra wear is minimal. that says to me the most important thing is to just do oil changes at regular intervals and you should never have a problem, regardless of oil temp at the time of change

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
12/22/16 11:36 a.m.

I sent this link to Red Line Oil's Cameron Evans.

His reply: "Drain when it's warm! That simple. Pulls what’s in the engine or gear case out with the oil…"

iceracer
iceracer PowerDork
12/22/16 5:31 p.m.

Define "warm"

Is it warm enough in April ? That's when my next change is due.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/22/16 8:14 p.m.
BA5 wrote: I'm going to start disassembling and hot tanking my engine at every oil change now. No compromises!

I see you have a Biturbo.

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/22/16 8:16 p.m.
David S. Wallens wrote: I sent this link to Red Line Oil's Cameron Evans. His reply: "Drain when it's warm! That simple. Pulls what’s in the engine or gear case out with the oil…"

They also sell oil that says "Shake well before pouring" on the bottle. Um...

(This at least IS true for their Shockproof gear oils, which have some calcium somethingorother as an additive. That breaks down remarkably quickly, so you need to change the oil every 1000-2000 street miles)

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