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Working on your own car can be very rewarding, but without the right tools, it can become a messy, disheartening affair. There are different types of fluids in your motor vehicle, including engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, differential gear lube, and more. Regular replacement of these fluids will ensure your car or SUV runs clean and smooth. As the name suggests, oil extractor pumps are used to remove engine oil, but they can also be used for any number of fluids that are vital to an automobile. Are Medical Needles Allowed On Airplanes
As long as the fluids being extracted are not for reuse, an extractor is the right tool for the job. These devices often feature a hose and a canister with a pump that sometimes resembles a bicycle tire pump. Some of these elements can be swapped out, say, if it’s an electric or dual-use pump. In some cases, like in that of a professional-style pump, it can be oversized and made of more durable materials.
These pumps are particularly handy when you’re working on complex engines in tight spaces, where any spilled fluids might end up on hot exhaust pipes or other places they shouldn’t.
No matter what style pump you buy, they all work by creating a vacuum that starts a flow of fluid out of one tank and into a container. This allows you to remove oil engine oil without putting the vehicle on a lift or climbing under it with an oil pan. Read on to learn about five of the best oil extractor pumps on the market today. Looking For Car Accessories? Match your car to your style with varied car accessories like seat covers, floor mats and more. Get competitive pricing from top brands here. Advertisement THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT EDITORIAL CONTENT. Please note that we do receive compensation for any products you buy or sign up to via this advertisement, and that compensation impacts the ranking and placement of any offers listed herein. We do not present information about every offer available. The information and savings numbers depicted above are for demonstration purposes only, and your results may vary. Explore Options On Amazon
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Thorstone Automotive Fluid Extractor Pump
Thorstone Automotive Fluid Extractor Pump
As one of the best and most well-rounded oil extractor pumps, the MityVav 7201 covers a lot of ground. Made of non-rusting polyethylene, the pump is 8.8 liters, which is one of the largest pumps available to consumers. The long-travel pump ensures you’re not making as many individual pumping strokes and overfilling is prevented via an automatic flow control valve. If you need to introduce fluids to the vehicle in a precise manner, this product also has a reverse function.
Customers complain of an inadequate owners’ manual, an insufficient variety of supplied hoses, and poor customer service.
Best Dual-Powered Oil Extractor Pump
Best Dual-Powered Oil Extractor Pump
SWANLAKE 6.5 Liter Pneumatic/Manual Fluid Extractor
A dual-powered oil pump gives you the choice of manual or pneumatic operation. Sometimes you prefer fully manual, while the powered mode allows for high-speed extraction. It has a large capacity of 6.5 liters and it can remove fluids at a quick rate, making an oil change a quick affair. Thanks to multiple hose sizes, it can be used for a number of different applications, depending on viscosity and rate of suction. The whole apparatus has a solid base, which provides peace of mind.
Best Professional Pneumatic Oil Extractor Pump
Best Professional Pneumatic Oil Extractor Pump
You don’t have to be a professional to need a pro-grade extractor pump. If you want to extract a lot of oil very fast, the Lincoln 3637 can get the job done. This massive 25-gallon extractor is similar to what automotive service stations use every day. You may be paying professional-grade pricing as well, but it’s worth every penny thanks to its numerous features. It comes equipped with a 7-foot discharge hose, a pressure gauge, as well as flexible dipsticks that are designed to work with unique applications (such as that of BMW and Volkswagen).
Best Syringe-Style Oil Extractor Pump
Best Syringe-Style Oil Extractor Pump
Syringe-style oil extractors are ideal for tight spaces, easy transportability, and various applications. If you are a boat owner, you can appreciate the notion of an oil extractor that doesn’t take up a lot of space–whether or not it’s in use. This has a 200ml capacity and a stable pump grip to get the flow going. This pump is made of corrosion-resistant polyethylene, which is also heat-resistant. It features a quick-connect system and is double-sealed at that connection point.
With a low price and small size, the Performance Tool W54170 is the ideal device to buy once and leave around the garage for when you need it. This is a very basic device that’s literally just the pump and a hose. There’s no reservoir tank, so you’ll need to have one on hand. The pump is powered by an external battery via two alligator clamps. You can clamp it literally to the car’s battery while you’re performing the oil change. It’s genius in its simplicity.
Most oil extractor pumps operate by a hand pump, like on a bicycle tire pump, or a foot pedal, but there are also pumps that operate on electricity or compressed air. Considerations in choosing the right oil extractor pump include pumping efficiency (how long it takes to extract a certain amount of fluid), the tank capacity (it should be big enough to contain all the fluids you need to extract without having to be emptied mid-task) and, as always, price. Caution: Every extractor reviewed here uses polyethylene or similar plastic, so unlike metal, these tanks could melt at high temperatures (above 176 F/80 C). Let your car cool down before an oil change if you’ve been driving it for more than 10 minutes.
We evaluate all oil extractor pumps on these weighted metrics:
Oil extractors work by creating a vacuum. The vacuum exists between two tanks, which are the tank full of oil (or other fluid) and the empty (aka recovery) tank. Some readers may have heard about siphoning gasoline to transfer it out of the gas tank into an external tank. It works by the same principle that the suction creates the flow of fluids and the vacuum does the rest.
If properly operated, the oil extractor should remove all of the oil and sediment., This should result in the ability of the owner or operator to install fresh oil and not worry about there being any contaminants.
We mentioned siphoning fuel in the first Q&A portion. The same concept should apply to motor oil, and it does. That same suction and vacuum physics that works for gasoline also works for motor oil.
For most oil extractors, there is typically a drain plug near or at the bottom of the device. While this is the most common type of drainage, there are other devices that have some form of tubing that allows for transfer into a container that can be transported to a recycling center. These need to be a specific type of approved container.
A smooth-running engine is dependent on clean motor oil. When changing the engine oil, it is crucial to clean out all the old oil, along with the debris and imperfections that might be in it. You should also change your oil filter every time you change your oil. Regular service intervals will prolong the life of your vehicle.
A car-crazy California kid, I’ve been writing and talking about vehicles for 25 years on TV and radio, in print and online, including AAA magazines in Arizona, Oklahoma, Northwest Ohio, South Dakota and the Mountain West, as well as BBC Autos. I serve as vice president of the Western Automotive Journalists, a professional group for automotive writers based in San Francisco, and have no relation to McKeel Hagerty of Hagerty Classic Insurance, who is younger, better looking and wealthier.
Syringe Needle Types George Kennedy has reviewed cars and provided car advice for outlets such as Consumer Reports, CarGurus, U.S. News & World Report, the Boston Globe, AutoBlog and others. He is the managing editor for UpShift, the official publication of the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts. George has owned multiple future-classics before they were collectible, including a 1986 Toyota 4Runner, an XJ Jeep Cherokee and a two-door Chevy Tahoe.