I did my first oil change with a Topsider this weekend. For those of you who don't know, a Topsider is a vacuum oil extractor that allows you to suck the oil out through the dipstick hole instead of having to drain it out the bottom.

The verdict: LOVE IT! You can take my topsider away from me when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

Here's the procedure I used:

1. Run engine to get the oil warm (not hot).

2. Loosen oil filter housing so that it's oil will drain back into the crank case.

3. Pull dipstick.

4. Tighten hose clamp on the topsider & pump 40 times.

5. Put suction probe down the dipstick hole 'till it hits bottom.

6. Open the hose clamp.

7. While the oil is draining, replace the filter & o-rings.

8. Sit back & have a soda.

That's about it, although I did wind up giving it a few extra pumps during the draining process. The whole thing took maybe 10-15 minutes.

Now the big question: How much oil did it get? Answer: ALL OF IT!

When I refilled the engine I was very careful to measure the oil, and it took exactly 8.5 quarts to bring the dipstick back to the "full" mark. Although I will admit that I sucked a bit of oil back out because I like my oil level just a tad below full to be extra sure I won't have any foaming issues.

When you get about 7 quarts added be sure to run the engine for a minute or two to refill the oil filter housing or the dipstick will read artificially high.

Dealing with the oil is a snap as well. Just disconnect the vinyl hose from the topsider and you have a nice spigot to pour the old oil right back into the bottles. No mess & no funnel needed!

I used the Topsider on my 2002 Honda Odyssey with the same results. It got every drop.


In my book, the Topsider's a winner and has earned a permanent place in my garage.

 

Well, you've convinced me to buy another gadget for my Xfire!

Does the gadgetry ever end?

 

Sadly, no. I hate it when that happens!

 

bobs,

Did the topsider hold all 8.5 quarts of oil?

I saw some extractors advertised that held 2 gallons (8.0) quarts of fluid.

Here is the best one I found for the money:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45403

 

It's advertised at 2 gallons, but it will easily hold 2.5 - 3 gallons. They probably went conservative on the capacity to leave plenty of space for the vacuum.

 

It works fine guys. I emptied mine once during the process, as bob said, to get better suction, it really empties the oil completely.

Its fast, i could have gone with the electric pump and might still...but this really makes the changes easy.

Good stuff...thanks bobs.

 

There was a recent article written up on this device, basically to test to see if it actually works and is it better then the conventional method. They said yes it works, but is not as good as the old fashioned way of removing the drain plug. In their test they said the topsider did leave some residue/old oil in the bottom, typically found to be the bad stuff that gravity pulls to the bottom of the drain pan. So keep on loving it but I will keep draining from the pan like I have been with all my cars for what seems like forever.

 

i plan on doing my first oil change this week end and need a quick answer. everything i've read on my car says 6.1 quarts of oil, but on the forum its mentioned several times that the car holds 8.5 quarts. which is it. i'd like to buy only what i need.

 

It's 8.5 qts.

 

I'm with you CrossfireRSSS, these guy's using the Topsider probably have never seen what's in the bottom of an oil pan when you tear down an engine.

 

I have torn down a engine that used Mobil 1. The oil was changed every 25K miles on that car. Guess what Nothing in the bottom of the oil pan. Almost no wear was visible. The engine was only torn down as my friend that owned the car wanted to see how good Mobil 1 is. That was about 15 years ago. The oil is now better.

 

Right on aschrager, glad to see there's someone out here that is practical.

A gym teacher lined up the boys on one side of the gym, the girls on the other side of the gym. He told the boys that they could move towards the girls, but they could only move half way each time.

The boys that paid attention in math class knew that under those conditions it's impossible to ever reach the other side.

They rest of the boys knew even though that's true, they could get close enough for practical reasons.

 

WOW 25K between oil changes, I didn't realize Mobil 1 synthetic had been around that long. The Crossfire is the only vehicle I've ever ran Mobil 1 synthetic in, I have always used Valvoline in my vehicles and the engines that I have tore down in the past, (mine & friends) never used Mobil 1. I figured there were some differences in oil, but didn't know there was that much difference. Sorry to get peoples panties in a wad over this topsider device that was originally designed to get oil out of a vehicle that was overfilled.

 

15 years ago... my LT1 corvette in '92 used synthetic mobil 1 from the factory...

 

I guess I'm just getting old and just don't immediately think as '92 being that long ago.

 

Steve, I've been using synthetic oil since 1979. A friend I worked with brought in an article about how some "dirt track" racers were using it in their race car engines, and differentials, and were experiencing some good results. I believe the company was called "Olmo" or something like that. It also spoke about how some trucking companies were using it and extending their oil change intervals to 24k miles and saving a lot of money.
There was only one auto store in Akron that sold it, and it was less than 1/2 the price of Mobil1 at the time, so I started using it in my (then new) 280ZX. I still changed it every 3 or 4k miles though.
About a year later they stopped selling it in qt. cans, but only in 55 gal. drums, so I had to switch to Mobil1.
One thing in that article that I found interesting was it said not to use their oil in a "new" motor until it was adequately broken in. I wrote to them, and told them my 280ZX had 4,500 miles at the time, and when did they feel it was suffentially "broken in"? They responded by telling me not to use their oil until I had over 7,000 miles on the engine. That impressed me, since they didn't tell me to just run out and purchase their oil as soon as possible. It's funny how things have changed over time, and the engineers have determined that it's OK to use it right from the start now.
Coincidently, at just over 7,000 miles (and before I started using synthetic oil) my car miraculously seemed to "loosen up" and start performing better. I decided that it was just my imagination, and the power of suggestion. But I did notice a change for the better in fuel mileage, without changing my driving habits one bit.

 

I have a friend thats a salesman at the local Chrysler Dealership and his wife works at a lab for Perdue Foods. The lab does tests on oil in fleet trucks, so after he had changed oil in his daughters car that had around 4K on the oil, (not synthetic) he sent it with his wife to get it tested just to see how broken down the oil was. The results came back that the oil had very few contaminates in it and still had a high % of use left in it. I think oil changes are really over rated in normal driving conditions.

 

There was a thread a while back that stated the same thing. Oil changes at 3-4k were required back in the 1950's when both the oil and then engines were crap compared to their modern equivalents.

Now-a-days it's a waste of time, money, and oil to change it that often. But unfortunately this is more of a religious argument than a technical one. All the data shows that its not necessary but some people will continue to do it because that's they way they have always done it so there's no point in arguing.

Somewhere out there there's a Jiffy-Lube owner with a big smile on his face.

 

we are actually getting out of this. my wife's truck (2005 tahoe) give a percentage of oil life and counts down. i know it goes by hours instead of miles, but i'm not sure if it takes into account rpm and ect. probably not. but it does make me feel better seeing them get away from the whole miles thing. it can take forever to get 3,000 miles for some people, and for other less than a month.

 

I read the original Popular Science article in 1976 that featured Mobil-1 on the front cover. They'd tested the oil in a vehicle, ran 100,000 miles, ran another vehicle using conventional oil with recommended oil changes. The Mobil-1 was never drained, but the filter was changed at regular intervals, and oil topped off as needed. Then came the engine teardown, along with the required photos. The cylinders in the Mobil-1 car still had visible hone marks. Valve stems were clean, as were the valve covers. Conventional oil car...not so good. Caked up sludge on the valve stems, pockets of sludge throughout the engine. Actually...it looked pretty good...but the Mobil-1 engine looked amazing.