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DIY: Drill Pump Oil Extractor (vs Motive Vacuum Extractor)

51K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  cn90 
#1 · (Edited)
The other thread is getting a bit too long:
DIY - BMW E39 Oil & Filter Change (vacuum extraction method):
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371807


I just put this DIY: Drill Pump Oil Extractor for you guys since most of you own an electric drill (either cordless or plug-in type). My local hardware store (Menards) sells the electrical drill for $20.

For about $10, you can put this wonderful Drill Pump Oil Extractor together. Any hardware store will have all of these items:
- Drill Pump............$6.00
- Clear Vinyl Tubing (4-5 feet) with I.D. 3/16"..........$2.00
- 1/4" x 1/2" Barb Fitting (Watts A-193C)..........$1.50
- 1/4" FH x 1/2" FIP Adator (Watts A-672)....$1.50
- Teflon and Garden Hose O-ring

* Use Teflon to connect 1/4" x 1/2" Barb Fitting + 1/4" FH x 1/2" FIP Adator together.

- The rest is straightforward, hook up an electrical drill and you are ready to change engine oil in Tuxedo....:)
- Just empty the engine oil into an empty milk jug, or empty windshield washer container......see pic.
- Don't forget to set your Drill to Clockwise Rotation!

 

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#7 · (Edited)
I guess your pump used the 12V boat battery which is not as powerful as household current of 120V.

This is the same setup using Drill Pump, except that these people siphon gasoline (which is thinner than oil itself), but you can see with gasoline it flows pretty fast with the 120V electric drill (you can see how fast it flows at 1:22 time marking):



PS: Do NOT use this for gasoline as these people do! Risk of fire caused by gasoline fume and sparks from electric drill!
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
i bought one when the tub clogged and needed to get the water out before dumping in the tube-cleaner (HA!).

i had to prime it first though which i found weird since the outside said: NO NEED TO PRIME! huh...
 
#15 ·
It does NOT work!

I just tried drill pump method today, it did not work. I got the drill pump from Harbor Freight, $3.99 and fittings and tube from Lowes, get everything ready and started, nothing pumped out so I tried pumping water to see if the pump works, it didn't. So off to Homedepot and get another one for $6.95, looks like to have better quality, tested pumping water first, worked, then I inserted tube in dipstick tube, after pumping for about a minute or so, I can see a oil came out very slowing through the tube, nothing like in the video, more like dripping coming out from the other end of the pump, keep pumping for about 5 more minutes, I was only able to pump out like 1/3 qt of oil and the pump was hot and my hand was tired by holding the trigger of the drill (I use wired drill). At this point, I realize the oil it too thick for the pump and it could take forever to pump 2 gal of oil out. Yes, I drove the car before attempting to pump oil out.

So I gave up extraction method and went back to traditional gravity method. I run to Advanced Auto and bought a set of ramp for $44, drove the car up to the ramp, got under the car and removed the drain plug, whala, within half hour, the oil change is done. Used 8 qt of Mobil 1 0W-40 and NAPA Gold oil filter (manufactured by Wix).

So, I would say don't waste your money on drill pump and fittings (not cheap, cost more than the pump) and just do the traditional gravity way of oil change, no surprise there. With the V8, the drain plug is right under the oil pan not on side of oil pan so just position your oil catch container directly under the drain plug, no spillage, really clean and easy.






 
#16 ·
The drill pump from HF is junk. :thumbdwn: It is really low quality. The one that the guy uses in the video from Lowes, is good but one word of warning is that inside the drill pump attachment is a white/clear glob of grease. Once it comes out, the flow is fine. I am not sure about the 0w40, but it can surely move ATF fluid. I have used a drill pump to "flush" the power steering system for the past few years now. :D It does not have that much force like a true an electric pump, but it is good enough to move and push the fluid through the system. If done right, it is not messy at all. I found that it works best by using gravity to your advantage, that is to have the new fluid up high and to invert the container (think funnel with a hose attached to the bottom and the other side attached to one end of the pump) make sure the pump is fully saturated and has a continuous flow of oil through the pump attachment on both sides. If you are trying to just pull air through it, then you will have lousy results especially when the liquid quite viscous. :eeps: You also do not want the hose diameter on both sides to be too wide or one to be wider than the other since you will lose pressure and also have lousy results. :tsk:
 
#17 ·
That might be it, the fittings are quite expensive, the part list by OP cost a lot more, the adapter is more than $6 and the barb connector is $2 (plastic, cannot find copper one), so I don't feel to get two set of fittings and tubing.

Anyhow, before the oil change, the "Service Engine Soon" light was on, after oil change and scanned the code, got 5 codes, P1341, P1343, P1345, P1349, P1351, multiple cylinder misfire, I erase the code, will drive for while to see if those codes come back.
 
#18 ·
The intake hose the OP has is fine, but for the output side (the large garden hose type attachment) is too large and this is where the pressure is lost. It should be no larger than 5/8" O.D. x 1/2" I.D. I have detailed pictures of parts and sizes that I used. Check out my adventures with the pump below. With my method for P/S flush, it is a one person operation. :thumbup:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5057178&postcount=40
and here:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5057239&postcount=41
and here:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5057316&postcount=42

I have improved a bit since but all of the parts I use is still the same. In the illustration above, you shall see that cheap HF drill pump I used. The ATF kept bleeding from the chuck. I had no issues with the Lowes one, except for seeing that clearish grease glob that came out and almost contaminating my steering system. I think they had it in there for lubrication or some type, since the lubrication seemed quite water proof. HF's drill pump never had this but it was quite messy and highly not recommended. One of these days I'll have to do a full write up with my improved setup. :bigpimp:

Good luck with the codes...I've been dealing with a P0430 that was sporadic at first, but now seems fairly consistent :(
 
#19 ·
Walkinator, I wonder if your input tubing is collapsing in the hot oil. I had the same issue with my Accusump extractor. It uses a vacuum pump and goes into it's own container. Then you have to transfer to the one that goes to Shucks or Autozone for recycling. Any how....the tube that goes down the dipstick tube was collapsing so I got some that has some fiber reinforcing and so it does not collapse.

It does look like some folks use clear plastic tubing and theirs seem to work. You might check it as you did get some oil out.

This system is cool as you can dump right into your disposal jug. I like and will mess with it soon.

Cheers!
 
#20 ·
1+,

When I tested this project using water, it works great.
A hand drill powered by 120V current should be better than the hand pump thingy (Motive Vacuum Extractor).

I think Bruce is right, use some rigid plastic tubing and you should be fine.
 
#21 ·
I used a similar set up with the drill power to fill the tranny on my 2002 540iA and it worked great. HOWEVER, it is a one use process. The ATF ate the fins in the pump, so when I went to use it again, I found the fins had disintegrated when I opened the pump to find out why it didn't work.
 
#23 ·
Bruce may be right, it is possible the clear plastic tube collapse in the hot oil, but the car has been sitting for about an hour with outside temperature around 35 degree before I started. I will give it another try since my other car is up for oil change soon. I might also buy another set of fittings for out end so both in and out ends won't have different pressure and change to more rigid tube. CN90, where did you get your fittings so cheap? Menards? We don't have Menards in my area, both Lowes and Homedepot are much more expensive, like 3 times more.
 
#24 ·
Yes, I got my parts from Menards.

On the same topic, I wonder if there is any guru on "utility pump". The kind of pump that plugs into 120V and pumps water from your basement or pumps oil from one container to another.
This way you don't have to deal with the drill and "drill pump".

I am making the assumption that any pump good enough for water is good enough for oil (safe assumption).
Once you use for oil, just keep it for oil, don't use it to pump water.

Here is an example of a 120-V utility pump. This way you can pump oil straight into the container(s) for disposal:

 

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