I am looking for a liquivac(DIY oil change without crawling under the car).This is a purpose built piece of kit-reservoir,vacuum handpump & tubing that slips down the dipstick into the sump.
I havent seen this accessory for sale in this country. Does anyone know where they can be obtained please?
Simon
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I remember this piece of kit being advertised many years ago but haven't heard of it for a long while.
I would have thought the main problem was its inability to remove all of the old oil and especially the swarf and deposits which gather at the bottom of the sump.
Far better to use the conventional method of sump plug!
Regards
Adrian
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Adrian is right; if you are going to do the job, do it correctly. Drain the oil via the drain plug when hot and when it stops flowing, flush through with a small quantity of fresh oil to remove the dregs from the bottom of the sump. Change the oil filter at the same time.
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Too right. The only way to remove the suspended dirt is to drain the oil hot. Probably quicker than sucking it out as well. Changing the oil filter usually requires going underneath so there is no escape. Just get some disposable overalls from B&Q, disposable gloves and get everything ready before you start. Its easy!
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You might find one at a boatyard / chandlers. Many inboard engines are fitted with very limited access to the sump. The sort of pump you describe used to be very popular, and on some engines was the only way to change the oil.
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Most grateful to you all for your advice, I am on the dreaded Assyst system for oil changes(You only need to change it when your Grannie dies) & dont subscribe to their philosophy of leaving it there interminably for the pollutants to accumulate, like rats in a barrel. I am fortunate that my oil filter is on top of the engine & easily accessible so I carry out intermediate oil changes as per HJ recommendation.
Stuart B. Most impressed with your suggestions & will explore. I had located a USA source (Topsider?) but they have lost their supplier! Apparently they are thick on the ground in every Motor Factors in Holland but my wife wont let me have a free weekend in Amsterdam,. to get one.
Simon
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I have a friend who has one of these oil pumps that he won in a raffle at work, a few years ago. It is still lying unused in pristine condition in its shrink wrapping in his garage. He could let you have it for a tenner plus post & packing. Post your reply here if you are interested and he will contact you.
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Simon,
I cant see that Liquivac is on sale in UK, online in USA @
www.cal-products.com/liquivac.html $38 plus tax plus shipping plus VAT plus whatever else Customs & Excise throw at you.
As far as I can see the ones in UK integrated with a reservoir are quite expensive.
If you just want a pump its something that is used in the maintenance of yacht diesels, as I am sure you can appreciate, draining the oil in an engine mounted down in the bilges is difficult and danger of spills/ pollution great.
Therefore if you want to buy in person you might like to try a yacht chandlers, failing that on line at the following.
www.smarttune.co.uk/servicing.htm £25.00 Vacuum oil change kit
These are based in Wales
or
www.southernmarine.co.uk/index.htm based Dorchester
click on Engineering Link to find
51816 Little Pal manual oil change pump 5 lpm £27.99
51812 Handy Boy manual oil change pump 7 lpm £38.42
51808 Portaquick portable self contained oil change system 12V £181.93
Hope that this is some help, are you based London, then chandlers on Thames might be worth a pop.
Best regards,
Stuart
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Simon,
I am looking at an ad for the tool you want on the back of this months Car Mechanics magazine. It is available for £69 (+£6 post) inc vat from Tools By Post, Hastings. Tel 0870 444 86657 or 01424 437189. Does exactly what you describe.
Looks like the one made by Sealey Tools but as I haven't their full brochure can't confirm this.
Have a farmer friend who uses this for all his tractors and thinks it's great. I don't use one and wouldn't as I'm geared up to get under and drain anyway.
And yes I know what you guys mean by the satisfaction of draining out via the sump plug. But actually in a modern engine you aren't looking for swarf or grit in the old oil. Most of the elements you want to get out are chemicals and fine particles suspended in the oil, and this tool will do that OK.
David
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Dave
I take your point regarding swarf and grit from a modern engine but I still doubt whether a flexible tube could be passed down the often complicated shaped Dip Stick tube to reach the bottom of the sump with any certainty. Maybe for interim oil changes it would be ok.
I treat some of the products i've seen advertised in Car Mechanics and the like with suspicion. Anything that is supposed to make a job easier invariably doesn't seem to do it as well as the traditional method.
I can well remember seeing advertised 20 years ago a cradle that was designed to turn the whole car on its side to allow work underneath. I dread to think of the strain it put on the suspension and chassis, never mind the impracticalities involved of draining the perol and battery removal etc!
I always expect to see such devices in the DT's Good Idea At The Time section!. Has anyone out there got or used such a contraption maybe I'm mistaken and it's the bees knees!
Regards
Adrian
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One of the weirdest I've seen was a sort of 'pneumatic leg' brake bleeder. One bit was fastened to the drivers seat frame, another bit to the brake pedal. An air line was connected, and with the aid of an extension air line and a couple of buttons, the leg could be made to pump up or down. Sometimes a dodgy seat runner would cause problems and the seat would go backwards and forwards rather than the brake pedal going up and down. As with most contraptions, it took a long to set up and went wrong often. Sometimes it worked, but it wasn't worth all the time and effort.
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The theraputic value of lying under your car as hot black oil drains into your bowl or whatever should not be ignored. You also get a chance to check underneath for exhaust fixings about to let go, plastic bags round the brake hoses, drive-shaft gaiter condition and tools which may have previously escaped your grasp and be hibernating quietly on the undertray. Also you are obviously unavailabe for dealing with trivial tasks like the washing machine flooding, bike punctures and the pepper grinder jamming.
I'll stick with the old-fashioned sump plug and hot-oil-down-the-sleeve method ;-)
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Darcy,
Have you got a laptop on the jetski?
David
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I change the oil on the motorbike every 2,000 miles (about every 5 - 6 weeks, and it is rare to avoid either hot oil running down my arm, burning my knuckles on the exhaust or dropping the sump plug into the container with the old oil ! :-)
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You can get one from Sealey Tools in Suffolk, about 65, or RS components do the same thing. They work very well, I've used one for years, saves a lot of hassle. When I use it for the first time I always take the sump plug out just to see what's left, and it's always about an egg-cup full. Forget all the rubbish about sludge and swarf. You don't get it anymore, and if you did it would get treapped by the filter anyway.
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Brian,
I know the feeling, but what sort of bike do you have to change the oil at 2000 mile intervals? If you are doing 4-500 miles per week you must be doing fairly long journeys with the engine upto temp all of the time. What sort of oil do you use? I would suggest that you should be able to go to at least 3000 mile if not 4000 between changes using a high spec synthetic. The oil in by Blackbird is changed approx every 4000 and still looks like new, thats using a Silkoline racing synthetic.
On my old Harris Magnum I have to take the exhaust off to change the oil, its a right pig.
Bill
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Seeing as we are on a tool-time thread, this web page gave me a right laugh. The title of this post says it all!
www.consolidated.fsnet.co.uk/tool_humor.htm
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Bill
I do 400 miles per week on a Honda 250 CDU (Benly replacement, actually 233cc) in 40 mile runs, 25 on fastish country lanes and 15 in London. The service interval is 3,000 miles but, as you say, the engine is up to working temperature after the first couple of miles so I stretch the services to 4,000 with a mid-point oil change, semi-synthetic. The oil is far from clear on changing and I consider the fiver or so a good investment.
Fuel consumption on that mixed run is 4 litres for the daily 80 miles, = 90 mpg.
The last engine was still fine at 85,000 miles, so the regime works, but the bike bits were starting to wear out.
Best wishes, safe riding
Brian
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Jon,
Does your pal still have this tool for sale ??
TIA
Martin
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