Oil extracting question

I had always figured the extractor would only get "so much" out of the pan. While I've been doing my build though I got a good look at just where the drain plug actually is located in the pan on my AHU. There is no way you could actually drain the pan completely via the plug, the hole on the inside isn't actually at the very bottom of the pan! There would always be about a cup or two of oil sitting in there unless you jacked the front of the car up.

That actually has changed my mind about the extractor. I think it might actually get more out than the drain plug would, at least on the engines with the older steel pan.

vanbcguy said:

That actually has changed my mind about the extractor. I think it might actually get more out than the drain plug would, at least on the engines with the older steel pan.

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Neither draining or extracting will get all the oil out of the engine. This is a fact of life. Both methods leave a little oil behind (sometimes each for different reasons). There will always be some residual oil in oil channels, oil cooler, cylinder head, and lots of other little spaces. The purpose of an oil change is to replace most of the oil and to pump it all through a clean filter. Even if I drained my oil, I would still use my extractor to get the oil out of the oil filter/cooler assembly. I have always been surprised how much oil is in there even after draining "all" the oil from the oil pan.

There have been members here who have extracted their oil and then tried draining it. There have also been members here who have done the opposite (drain first then extract with the car level). Both have gotten a little more oil out, but neither has gotten out enough to justify doing both methods, especially since both work best with the car to be in a different orientation (front end up or down).

Have Fun!

Don