M
mickey
Guest
jmanner has me worried. He said he tried the suction method to drain his oil and had about 1/2 quart leftover. This led me to an interesting discovery:
As you can see from the photo a TDI's dipstick, fully inserted, won't reach anywhere near to the bottom of the pan. Note that the dipstick stops well above the bottom of the oil pump pickup tube...as you'd expect. However, even the PICKUP TUBE doesn't reach nearly to the bottom of the pan, and the next pic will show you why...
Notice that there is a weird plastic baffle in the oil pan! The pump actually draws oil from ABOVE this baffle. (I assume the baffle is intended to prevent the oil from splashing around, though I don't really know.)
The white circle is drawn around a small notch in the baffle. (It's difficult to see.) I'm pretty sure the tip of the dipstick is supposed to poke through the little notch. Below that, there is nothing to impede an oil suction tube from striking the bottom of the pan. The bottom is slightly bevelled along the edges, so you'd need the suction tube to bend on the bottom. If you feel it hitting the bottom and push it down another inch or two you should get more oil out. BUT: If the tube hits the plastic baffle you'll leave nearly a gallon in there!
Comments? To be honest, I've only used the suction method on my Mercedes...and it works great. Others have had success with TDIs, but jmanner may have run into a snag that we'll need to be aware of in the future.
-mickey
[This message has been edited by mickey (edited November 30, 2000).]
As you can see from the photo a TDI's dipstick, fully inserted, won't reach anywhere near to the bottom of the pan. Note that the dipstick stops well above the bottom of the oil pump pickup tube...as you'd expect. However, even the PICKUP TUBE doesn't reach nearly to the bottom of the pan, and the next pic will show you why...
Notice that there is a weird plastic baffle in the oil pan! The pump actually draws oil from ABOVE this baffle. (I assume the baffle is intended to prevent the oil from splashing around, though I don't really know.)
The white circle is drawn around a small notch in the baffle. (It's difficult to see.) I'm pretty sure the tip of the dipstick is supposed to poke through the little notch. Below that, there is nothing to impede an oil suction tube from striking the bottom of the pan. The bottom is slightly bevelled along the edges, so you'd need the suction tube to bend on the bottom. If you feel it hitting the bottom and push it down another inch or two you should get more oil out. BUT: If the tube hits the plastic baffle you'll leave nearly a gallon in there!
Comments? To be honest, I've only used the suction method on my Mercedes...and it works great. Others have had success with TDIs, but jmanner may have run into a snag that we'll need to be aware of in the future.
-mickey
[This message has been edited by mickey (edited November 30, 2000).]