Oil Changes and Ramps

[Elkins45]

Originally Posted by perfect_oil
Originally Posted by billt460
Help me out here. I'm gathering the whole point of this thread, is over concern that draining oil with the vehicle on a ramp will somehow prevent the pan from completely draining every drop, due to the angle.


Yes you are correct, that is the whole point of this thread. The drain plug on my car faces the rear, so the more I raise the front of the car, the more oil comes out. What I might do is go ahead and put the car up on ramps and drain the oil. After all the oil is drained with the car up on ramps, I might slide the floor jack in between the ramps and see if I can get more oil to come out.


So to maximize the effectiveness of this, wouldn't the absolute best approach be to let the car set for a few minutes on a level surface so the greatest amount of oil would drain down from the top end? Then tilt it and let it drain.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by Elkins45
Originally Posted by perfect_oil
Originally Posted by billt460
Help me out here. I'm gathering the whole point of this thread, is over concern that draining oil with the vehicle on a ramp will somehow prevent the pan from completely draining every drop, due to the angle.


Yes you are correct, that is the whole point of this thread. The drain plug on my car faces the rear, so the more I raise the front of the car, the more oil comes out. What I might do is go ahead and put the car up on ramps and drain the oil. After all the oil is drained with the car up on ramps, I might slide the floor jack in between the ramps and see if I can get more oil to come out.


So to maximize the effectiveness of this, wouldn't the absolute best approach be to let the car set for a few minutes on a level surface so the greatest amount of oil would drain down from the top end? Then tilt it and let it drain.

Only if you be sure to shake it in between the tilting process.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by atikovi

That's why I said "or something"...but to your point, how is laying a rim flat any more dangerous and time consuming than wood? Better than what these👇 2 are doing.....‚

I saw a few fools in AAP parking lots from time to time working like that w/o jack stands, or even shoving a wheel under the car. I quickly left not to see them win a Darwin Award.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Lubener
Hydraulic jack and jack stands for me. I won't crawl under a vehicle supported by ramps.


Then you have the wrong kind of ramps. Proper ramps much safer than jack and jack stands.

No, you have the wrong jack and jack stands.

 

[jeepman3071]

Having the car safely on ramps > getting every last drop of oil out

With the Jeep I don't even need ramps, just slide right under it. There will always be a little bit of the old oil in the engine anyway, no sense obsessing over it.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by jeepman3071
There will always be a little bit of the old oil in the engine anyway, no sense obsessing over it.

Would it be BITOG if someone didn't obsess over 3 drops of barely used oil being left in the pan and contaminating oil that won't see redline nor towing yet will be changed long before it is worn out?

 

[Eddie]

Most engines leave ~ 12 oz of oil in the oil galleys and head so another few oz that remains in the oil pan is a non-issue in my opinion. Ed

 

[WyrTwister]

I have used ramps on the old full size V-8 cars . But we now have a 2015 Chevy Sonic & a 2006 Buick Lacrosse . I am concerned that they are too low to the ground to allow me to use ramps w/o something scraping / dragging ?

 

[ted s]

really?

Originally Posted by BHopkins
If you are draining oil with only the front end on ramps, you are doing it wrong. A car should be level for an oil change.

Personally, I hate ramps. Many of the cars I've owned have too much overhang to even begin to get onto ramps. And it's a PITA to have to fiddle with laying out 2x8 boards to raise the front end up high enough to get on the ramps. Can't do any wheel work with ramps. I have never understood why some people like ramps so much.

Buy two sets of jack stands and a floor jack. Study up where the lift points are on your car. Jack up the front, put the front jack stands in place. Repeat for the back. I can do that about as fast as getting out ramps, trying to position them in just the right place, and then trying to get the right run up onto them so they don't skid out from under the tires.

Now the car is level. Not only are you better situated for the oil change, you can also check brakes, flush brake fluid, check or change transmission fluid if needed, change diff fluid. Inspect brake and fuel lines. Rotate tires. And anything else that requires the car to be level or the wheels to be accessible.

Admittedly, not all cars are easy to find good jack stand points. My daughter-in-law's Kia Sedona is one of them. But since it has such a low overhang, it would also be a pita to get up on ramps. So I use the mityvac to do oil changes on it.

I've seen many mistakes when people are trying to get a car on ramps. But I've never seen an instance when a car unintentionally comes off of jack stands.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Originally Posted by BHopkins
If you are draining oil with only the front end on ramps, you are doing it wrong. A car should be level for an oil change. - my drain plug points towards the rear of the car, so ramps work just fine for me.

I have never understood why some people like ramps so much. - because they're lighter and easier for me but to each his own.

Buy two sets of jack stands and a floor jack. Study up where the lift points are on your car. - but you couldn't find the jack points on your DIL's Kia?

Admittedly, not all cars are easy to find good jack stand points. My daughter-in-law's Kia Sedona is one of them. But since it has such a low overhang, it would also be a pita to get up on ramps. So I use the mityvac to do oil changes on it. - I have a Sedona and it gets up the ramps just fine without needing anything else. I've also supplied you a pic showing the front jack points for the Sedona, courtesy of my Haynes manual.

I've seen many mistakes when people are trying to get a car on ramps. - and those are usually the same people that cross thread their drain plugs and really don't have any business getting under a car to begin with....

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister
I have used ramps on the old full size V-8 cars . But we now have a 2015 Chevy Sonic & a 2006 Buick Lacrosse . I am concerned that they are too low to the ground to allow me to use ramps w/o something scraping / dragging ?


If you build 2x10 ramps … just extend the first board on bottom longer so it does two things
1) pins the ramp against sliding right away
2) lets you get under air dams and reach your tires

I do everything from Z71 PU to Chevy Cruze to Fusion Hybrid with my glued and screwed Pine-O-Ramps
Even go up on 4 of them with the Tahoe or Z71 if needing to be level like for differential gear oil

 

[bbhero]

Originally Posted by Eddie
Most engines leave ~ 12 oz of oil in the oil galleys and head so another few oz that remains in the oil pan is a non-issue in my opinion. Ed



I agree Eddie..

 

[Polyalphaolefin]

When my car is on the ramps, I use this pump to suck (i put a hose in oil plug hole on the oil pan) aditonal 300-400ml of oil which would stay in the oil pan due to car angle.