Oil change - do you remove oil pan?

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Dec 5, 2011
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Texas
Do you ever remove your oil pan during an oil change, just to clean out every last possible drop of old oil? If so how often?



I admit I haven't dropped an oil pan in probably 20 years, can't even remember which vehicle it was but I do remember it was easy to drop. If my current Astro wasn't so hard to drop the pan I'd do it. It bugs me that I have never dropped that oil pan to clean it out and inspect the inside...
 
Originally Posted By: CaveatLector
Do you ever remove your oil pan during an oil change, just to clean out every last possible drop of old oil?

Heck no. I don't even remove the oil drain plug.
smile.gif
 
No.

Its not like there is a filter to inspect or change like an AT.

Its not like there is something to inspect for wear like with a rear end.

Perhaps you could look for debris. However, without a really good reason, I'm not pulling a pan for a few drops of oil.
 
Ive dropped the pan on a few cars for various reasons. Never just to get the last drops out. Never seen much of a reason, its always lean in there and the amount of remaining oil is so slight that it is insignificant.

Now if an engine was known to be sludged or abused, it may be worth it, but even still, removing the pan will not help all the nooks and crannies where oil sits.
 
Originally Posted By: hooligan24
dropping the pan is not going to get all the oil out of the engine.


What was I thinking. I should have spelled it out. Meaning within the context of dropping the oil pan at an oil change, not as in disassembling the entire engine and cleaning every last drop from each part. I am talking "oil change" not "complete engine disassembly".
 
But what are you trying to achieve by dropping the oil pan as part of the oil change? As has been mentioned, those last few drops of oil are meaningless considering that there is still oil in many other parts of the engine. And whatever is left is meaningless compared to the amount of fresh oil you'll be putting in.
 
Wow that's a first for me. I never knew anyone that even mentioned dropping an oil pan to get all the oil out. I've heard of people letting it drain overnight, 24 hours, pouring in a qt of oil to flush the old oil out. But dropping the pan? That's a first for me.
 
whatever floats your boat...

the only time I have removed oil pans is to replace a gasket/seal or to do rod bearings.

never found any problems. oil pickup screens were nice and clean.
 
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
I think BITOG just jumped the shark.


No reason whatsoever to do this.

A waste of time and effort.
 
Never. The only time I've dropped an oil pan is to replace a leaky gasket.

The two cars we have now would need lots of work to drop the oil pan. The Fit's is an odd shape that looks integrated into the transmission bellhousing, while the Cruze's wraps around the exhaust. About the only time I'd do it on those cars was if the pan gasket were catastrophically leaking oil or the pan itself needed to be replaced.
 
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
I think BITOG just jumped the shark.


haha. +1. Somehow the the oil lubricating the engine successfully minutes previously is completely invalidated when the owner decides to change it.....
 
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
I think BITOG just jumped the shark.

I guess I haven't been here long enough to start jumping on people who haven't yet learned to lockstep. Remind me before that happens so I can stop visiting. Sorry that my single thread has turned down your entire experience here.
 
Originally Posted By: CaveatLector
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
I think BITOG just jumped the shark.

I guess I haven't been here long enough to start jumping on people who haven't yet learned to lockstep. Remind me before that happens so I can stop visiting. Sorry that my single thread has turned down your entire experience here.

It really has nothing to do with that. The entire subject is completely absurd. Billions of cars have been run trillions of miles without removing the oil pan during oil changes. Not a single bit of harm has fallen on engines because their pans were not removed during a routine oil change.

You also realize that up to a quart of old oil can remain hidden in engine passages. What's next? Full engine teardowns and putting all the parts in the dunk tank to remove every single last drop of oil during an oil change?
 
Originally Posted By: CaveatLector
Originally Posted By: hooligan24
dropping the pan is not going to get all the oil out of the engine.


What was I thinking. I should have spelled it out. Meaning within the context of dropping the oil pan at an oil change, not as in disassembling the entire engine and cleaning every last drop from each part. I am talking "oil change" not "complete engine disassembly".


you took my statement out of text. By me saying dropping the pan is not going to get all the oil out of the engine, it was meaning that there is no reason to try to get the 1/4 cup of old oil that might be left in the pan after a drain. the 1/4 cup is useless since there is still more oil left through out the rest of the engine.

I had my pan off for 3 days once while waiting for a new gasket to show up. Even after 3 days of dripping, I still had oil dripping on me while installing the new pan gasket. So removing your oil pan to get all the old oil out is a waste of time, since a week later, you will still have old old dripping down from above
 
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