McSumps - Ranked

"McMike" (mcmike) 04/28/2014 at 07:51 • Filed to: drivewaymechanic, tutu153, mini, vanagon, twowheelsbad

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4. 7th gen Honda Civic

Hard to reach. Either have to drive up on a 4x4 timber, give it a few pumps with a jack, drive up on ramps, or one tire up on the curb (like I did today) to access. Plug is in the rear of the sump. 17mm plug head.

Ease of plug removal: 3/10. (since a lift is necessary) Oil on 3 fingertips.

Ease of drain: 10/10 - I walked away, no drips or spills upon my return.

Oil filter is on the back of the block between the engine and the firewall. Ramps are required. I hate that shit. That one gets a 1/10 when I do it in 5K miles.

3. BMC A-Series.

Easy to reach, no jack or ramps required. 15/16” plug head. Aluminum construction, doubles as transmission case.

Ease of plug removal: 5/10. Without raising the car, the 1/2 drive ratchet doesn’t have a lot of room to move. Maybe 2-3 ratchet clicks per movement. Oil on 3 fingertips.

Ease of drain: 10/10 - I walked away, no drips or spills upon my return.

2. Volkswagen Waterboxer.

Again, easy to reach, no jack or ramps required 13mm plug head. Aluminum construction.

Ease of plug removal: 10/10. It’s right there, look at it! Oil on two fingertips.

Ease of drain: 10/10 - I walked away, no drips or spills upon my return.

1. Harley-Davidson 96ci twincam.

Also easy to reach, no jack or ramps required 1/4” hex or 3/8” wrench. Aluminum construction.

Ease of plug removal: 6/10. I had to refer to the shop manual a few times to make sure I wasn’t draining the transmission. This is only my second oil change on the thing. Easy to reach.

Ease of drain: 10/10 - I walked away, no drips or spills upon my return. Oil on two fingertips

Why did it win? This is the newest vehicle I have, it’s clean, and I get to do this one in the garage.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > McMike 04/28/2014 at 09:34

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'97 BMW F650 "Classic"

Strange remote oil tank in the frame, plus signifficant sump volume means there are two drains. The sump drain is easy enough, the tank, not so much. Also, the system remains presurized after the engine runs, this is great for immediate engine lubrication on startup, more on that later...

Ease of plug removal: 2/10 - technically you can drain the oil without removing the lower bash plate, but if you do you'll regret it later. OK, the bash plate is held on with 4x5mm allen bolts, remove and set asside. put the bike on the center stand and turn the wheel to full lock (either side, it doesn't really mater, you're screwed either way). Open the filler/dipstick to releive system pressure in the resivior tank. be patieint, give it several minutes as it will "burp". The first thing you notice is that the drain plug for the tank is right above the (hot) exhaust. you'll need an extension on your 10mm socket to avoid burning yourself on the pipe, but not a long extension or you can't fit the wrnech in between the radiator and the bolt. There's three schools of thought on removal: 1: loosen it slowly until oil starts to dribble out and just know that you'll get it all over the pipe and possibly start a fire and have to clean up slop for a half hour. 2: take it off quick and try catch the (still pressureised? WTF?) flow with a large mouthed bottle before it gets all over your tire and wheel and misses the catch pan entirely. unless your catch pan is U shaped and can slot around the front wheel you WILL miss the pan. 3: fabricate a chute/funnel and hose collection tool that hangs off the exhaust and catches the susrprisingly spurty stream, hope the system has de-pressurized enough that it just doesn't shoot out straight all over your tire. What ever the method, you'll have to wait for the oil to drain as you'll be left holding/wiping/praying that your duct-tape funnel holds up while the tank drains. Oh, the drain hole is very small, so it takes a long time to drain, maybe 1 full minute and a half of strong flow and another 20 minutes of dribbles. No mater which you do: oil all over fingers, tools, exhaust and everything else. Have lots of paper towels or shop rags on hand. Wearing rubbler gloves isn't a bad idea either. Maybe a set of coveralls...

ok, now, onto the sump. This seems easy enough, it's right at the bottom, but it's far back on the engine and when you open it has a tendancy to spurt rearwards, the center-stand makes positioning your catch-pan tricky and you'll probably miss. also, the plug has one of those wierd "mushroom" threads that means oil will begin seeping out well before the plug is fully removed. Also, the plug's head is VERY THIN, meaning indelicate application of tourque can easily lead to a damaged head. Oh, some of them may be wired.

Hope you didn't clean up too throughly from the tank drain, because you'll get oil all over everything again here.

Total time to drain oil (including bike cleanup) 1.5+ hour. Total time to clean self, driveway, and tools up -variable, 1-2 hours.

Oh fuck. we still have to change the filter and refill it...

McMike > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 04/28/2014 at 09:43

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That's nuts.

I think they should all be like my van . Plug at bottom of engine, free to drain straight out into a nice open area where you can put your oversized pan. Filter near the plug. Filter near the bottom of the engine nowhere near any other sub-frames, suspension components, or parts.