Like the title says I need a better oil drain pan. The last two times I changed my oil I had this problem where the oil hits the bottom of the pain and then vomits a large amount right back out, well over the cardboard I put down, and onto the garage floor.
Words were said.
I need a new pan. My car takes 10 quarts so some headroom above that would be good. Also I would like one that's easy to pour. Either into a used oil jug or I can just hand it to the auto parts store person. If it's latter it needs to not leak in my trunk.
The local parts store didn't have anything compelling so I'm looking for suggestions.
How high do you lift your vehicle?
A 5 gallon bucket is great, because you can snap a lid on it and take that in for recycling.
Barring that, get an open top drain pain. You need depth to prevent splashout.
If that's a no-go too, you can make a kind of splash corral out of cardboard or other formable flat things like Coroplast.
I went through this same process a year or two ago. I was surprised at how expensive the auto dept pans were. I also found that the auto dept pans were hard to store after using since they're open and oily. Walmart $6.79 The Lisle above is $43 and has no lid (though it does have a spout.) They are both 4.5 gallons.
I just walked out to my garage and took pictures of my solution, I'm years into it I am very happy with it. Closes tight when not using and I keep my oil funnel right there in the box. 18 quart! So,when I change the Prius at 3.75 qt, it barely fills the bottom. I then use the funnel to transfer the used oil back into the empty oil containers.
The tote with a lid was cheaper than an auto dept pan and was twice the volume. I got the inspiration from another GRMer who was using an under-bed style tote as a radiator drain pan (or maybe it was trans drain pan) but either way the tote provided a very large catch area.
Have you ever sloshed the liquid or oil when trying to slide the pan out from under the car? I have been know to put the empty pan on a small one of these so as to smoothly get the pan out from under the car once filled.
I was hoping for a closed top but I have my reservations that they work. I've used the big open tops before like that lisle. It's fine. I used it in a shop setting though, not at home.
The Subaru has a fumoto so I don't even lift it. Just slide the pan under and let it drain. No issue. The Boxster goes up on jack stands. That's the problem car. 10 quarts drains fast through the massive drain plug hole. The splash makes it outside of the edge of the car sometimes. The worst. A shield would work but I'm willing to spend a little for a better solution.
The Hefty tub is really interesting. I would be worried about the oil attacking the plastic over time but that's a hunch with no data. But I'll take your word for it. I like being to seal everything up too. Currently I store my oil funnels (3) and an oil pump in the pans. Closing it up would keep it all cleaner. How does it pour? I'm also frustrated by oil running down the sides of the pan instead of into the funnel.
I've been doing my oil changes with a fluid evacuator through the dipstick tube. It goes a lot faster if the oil is hot. I'm not sure that very many can hold ten quarts, though.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I agree with this except fo possible sludge in there. My car takes just over 8 quarts and and has no dipstick. It also metal freezes it's drain plug to the plate it is mounted to, semi dry sump. A guy at a place I went to self service it at wanted me to take the plate off to get the stripped flats of the plug out but when I told him it had near 9 quarts in it he ran and got a cold chisel since I had another plug. They had a lift and one of those large drain deals that raise up to the pan on a lift and can fit more oil than I had too. I buy a new magnetic aluminum plug every oil change...
I think the pan I bought from the local place is 8 quarts, so I leave the oil filter on until I drain the rest and empty it.
I do try to be mindful of what might be the totes limitations such as I don't know it's melting point so no super hot oil swaps. Otherwise, I have not yet noticed oil breakdown of the plastic's integrity.
Clear is also nice for old oil inspection such as glitter, etc.
In reply to preach :
Sludge won't come out of the drain plug either, so it's a wash.
Get one of those anti splatter pads on the Amazonn site. They look like over size scotchbrite pads.
wae
UltimaDork
8/26/24 8:09 a.m.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
There are not many things about the way my Mercedes is engineered that I think are actually improvements, but the fact that an oil change is completely done from the top is one of them. The filter cartridge comes out from the top without having to reach around anything and the oil gets sucked out through the dipstick tube. The only part of the process that requires any actual work is that I have to stop with about 2 liters to go to drain off some of the oil in the extractor because the engine has a 9-litre oil capacity and I was too cheap to buy an extractor that was big enough.
I do like using plastic bins as drain pans, though. I've been using the long under-bed ones for collecting coolant for years since that stuff seems to go everywhere. I haven't tried them with hot oil but I have manipulated them with heat guns in the past and it takes a bit to melt them. They might get a little loose, but they won't come apart on you or anything.
I did make the mistake of leaving a real drain pan under the motorhome when I was breaking in the lifters. 2500 rpm for 15-20 minutes about 24-30ish inches under the exhaust manifold of a 454 will definitely be enough to melt one of those!
for those of us who work on the floor (ie, no lift)
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-gallon-mixing-tub-46936.html
no lid
but also no worries about being attacked by oil / brakleen / carb cleaner / etc.
big enough for coolant dumps, and I use mine as an impromptu parts cleaner, too. I have 2.
ime the key to reducing splashing is getting the car and the pan as close together as possible for the first part of the dump. Not certain how that would work out on a Boxter, tho. I usually just hold up one end of the (empty) pan while I finish unthreading the drain plug.
I bought one of these to use on the motorhome since it holds 7 gallons of oil. I now use it on everything. No spilling, and a pump to dump the used oil back in the jugs to take to the waste oil station. Its only disadvantage is it's not small so storage can be an issue. Amazon carries them.
16 or 18qt closed top I bought years ago from somewhere flotool deal. Easily handles everything I drain into it.
