Similar to brushing your teeth, changing your car’s oil may not seem like much at first, but if you ignore it for too long, it will become unsightly and costly. There are now two methods for changing oil: the traditional method, which involves unscrewing the plug and letting the oil spill, and the more advanced oil extractor machine, which promises less hassle and mess.

Is it the automotive equivalent of using a spaghetti noodle to floss, or does it truly accomplish the task? Let’s get into the specifics, or should I say, the greasy details.

If you want your engine to avoid an early death, you need to change the oil regularly. Therefore, if you pay someone to change the oil, make sure they do a proper job. Normally, when you pay to get your oil changed, the mechanic is going to unscrew a plug on the bottom of your engine, and all the oil will fall into one of their pans.

There is another method, and that’s using one of the machines. These machines work by putting a suction tube into the dipstick tube, pumping it up and down, and all the oil gets sucked out of the engine.

But the question is, does this machine suck all the oil out of the engine, or is there still some left at the bottom? I used it to test this machine to suck out as much oil as I could, and then I undid the plug at the bottom of the engine to see if there was any oil left.

How to Use an Oil Extractor

Before changing your oil, make sure the engine is nice and hot, and unscrew the oil filler cap to help you extract the oil without causing any vacuum. Then simply feed the appropriately sized tube in as far as it will go. Pump the oil extractor or switch it on if it’s electric, and the oil will flow into the container.

When the tube starts to make slurping noises, try to move the tube around and continue to pump. If the extractor continues to make slurping noises even when you’re repositioning the tube, then the process is complete. You may see there’s no longer oil in the pipe.

The Test

There are downsides to the oil extractor. While I was testing, my car is supposed to take closer to four liters of oil, so therefore it can’t have gotten all the oil. Now it’s time to unscrew the oil drain plug at the bottom of the engine and see how much oil is left.

Here’s your answer. This is how much oil was left in the pan after draining it. Time to measure the oil. Click on the pop-out banner to guess how much oil you think is in the pan.

You can see this: over a liter was left in the sump after using the oil extractor. Not to mention the residue—there’s quite a lot of it in the oil pan still, which probably means about one and a quarter liters were left in the engine after the oil extractor was used.

These machines never extract all of the oil, and the oil at the bottom of the engine is generally the worst stuff. It all comes down to where your dipstick tube is located on your engine.

My Recommendation

Therefore, I can’t recommend using one of these oil extractors to change your oil. If you want to get your oil changed, make sure whoever does it undoes the plug at the bottom of the engine as intended by the engine designer.

I know you can’t get rid of all the oil because there’s always going to be residue in the engine. But undoing the plug and letting the oil drain out will remove more oil than using an oil extractor ever could.

The most filthy oil from your engine remains on your driveway like that one partygoer who won’t leave, even when oil extractors might stop a few drips from accumulating.

If you genuinely care about your car (and your wallet), use the time-tested drain stopper method. Even though it’s messier, it’s worth getting your hands dirty when it comes to engine health. After all, if you had to choose between an engine rebuild and an oil stain, which would you prefer? Grease warrior, it’s your turn.