FloTool 5060TSMI Topsider Extractor Multi-Purpose Vacuum Oil Change Pump for 4-Cycle Engine, ATV, Boat, Large Vehicle, 8-Quart, Blue

I'm one of those guys that prefers to change his own oil... I always have since my dad taught me. I like buying quality oil, quality filters, and knowing that the job was done right. Does changing your own oil save you time or money? Probably not. But do you get the satisfaction of knowing you put high quality oil in, that your filter wasn't over tightened, and your drain plug wasn't over tightened and/or stripped? Yes. The problem for me is... I rent, and now that I don't live near family, I don't have any place I can go to jack my car up and drain the oil from underneath. Even if I did, then I have to deal with a messy drain pan. Where am I supposed to store that in my apartment? So I just recently found out that products like this exist and you can suck the oil up through the filler tube. A lot of people worry that you aren't getting all of the oil, or that it doesn't get all of the contaminants that settle to the bottom. Well - I did a lot of research, and what I found indicates that this way might even be BETTER than the traditional method of draining oil. The product came in a small box and is a lot lighter/smaller than I expected. It holds up to 8 quarts. It was super simple to put together and use. It took probably 15 minutes to suck up all of the oil from my car, and I did have to pump it up a few times toward the end... but it worked great. I dumped the old oil back into a container and I got almost a full 5 quarts (which is what my car takes). So, it definitely didn't leave any behind. The beauty of this is that you can screw the provided caps on, and store the oil without having to deal with transferring it from a drain pan into something else. This particular oil evacuator is not as popular as some other brands on Amazon... but I liked that this one was made of metal. The downside is that you can't see how much is in it, but that doesn't bother me. I was nervous that the plastic tube wouldn't fit into the dipstick of my Chevy Sonic, but I had no issues with that at all. All in all, I highly recommend this. Time will tell if it lasts, but for $60... this product allows me to change the oil in my car without spilling a drop. This means I can do it in the parking lot of my apartment complex. I'm quite happy!

This oil extractor is well-made, with a steel body. From reading other reviews I knew the hose might be too large to fit down the dipstick tubes on my vehicles (Ford Explorer, Dodge Caravan, both with V6 engines), and unfortunately this was the case. The hose fit down the dipstick tube, but there is a constriction at the block that is too small to allow the stock hose to get into the oil pan. However, another reviewer said that Air Power America would send a smaller hose on request, so I went to their website, customer service, and filled out a message form explaining the problem, mentioning the smaller hose, and including my address. A few hours later I received an email saying they had shipped a smaller diameter hose for free. I received it two days later via first class mail. That's great customer service, though it would be better to simply include the smaller hose with the extractor. Other reviewers mentioned that it took a lot longer to extract the oil with the smaller hose, so I carefully measured the distances on both vehicles and used about a foot of the small hose just to get from a few inches above the constriction to the bottom of the oil pan. The small hose fits snugly into the stock hose, which I also cut to just a few inches longer than necessary to fit down the dipstick tubes. This maximizes the flow rate. I also read that the hose clamp tended to reduce the flow rate by making permanent dents in the fat hose, so I discarded the clamp. I simply slid the hose down the dipstick tube and started pumping, and the oil started flowing. No need to complete the pumping before starting the oil extraction. The fat hose was long enough to allow the pump/tank part to sit on the driveway, so gravity assisted the oil flow. I should have let the engine cool longer though, the fat hose softened and collapsed somewhat towards the end of the process. It only took 10-15 minutes, and judging by the amount of fresh oil it took, I'd say it essentially got all the old oil out. This was very convenient and a lot easier than the jacking, crawling, and mess of the usual process. I didn't change the filter, will do that every other time from now on.

Use to change oil in by diesel Cayenne. Since this is an every 5K mile job, I find it is a real convenience and time saver since the oil filter is also on top of the engine. Just big enough for the 8 qt oil change. You have to pay attention to placing the gaskets securely to get a proper seal and the vacuum pump has a tendency to pop off the threads if you but much sideways stress on the barrel. This is no problem once you know about it. The male threads on the can are just pressed or rolled into the sheet metal and they could stand to be a little less rounded. Really a threaded insert with a proper acme thread would not be too much to ask, but it works fine for the limited time I need it to. Did a very good job of getting all the oil out of the pan - better that draining thru the plug. I did have to give it a second pump of 15 pumps to get the last bit of oil out after I had removed the oil filter, but it worked fine. As other reviews have stated, the suction is slow due the small tube and you need to expect 15 minutes or so to drain the oil. I don't see this as a big deal as there is plenty of other stuff to do while I am waiting. I think it is worth the price for the convenience of removing and handling the oil.

This is a tool that I should have purchased a long, long time ago. I've been changing my own oil for about 12 years now and this is such a clean, easy method compared to dragging a pan under the car and draining the oil from there. Especially for those home-mechanics that have to work outside where a gust of wind can ruin your day (ask me how I had to wash my parking lot neighbor's car when I was changing the oil on a truck 7 years ago)! The construction is pretty solid, the vacuum pump feels substantial and looks like it can take a whack or two from a clumsy user. I got about 5 quarts into the pan from the car and it looks like you can get a bit more in there with no issue. Quick hint: There are two tubes and a spacer included in the vacuum hose - one tube is a thicker, flexible clear plastic tube and the other a thinner, more solid and opaque for inserting into the dipstick. The instructions say to get soapy water and insert the thinner tube into the black plastic spacer, then insert both into the clear tube. It's actually a lot easier if you use the hot water trick: First, heat up a pot of water on the stove, just enough to see the vapors rising and maybe a slight simmer. Shut the heat off, then quickly (for no more than 3 or 4 seconds) dip about a half-inch to an inch of the end of the clear plastic tube into the water. This will soften the clear plastic and allow you to slip the thinner tube and spacer combo into the end of the clear tube easily. Let it cool and it should have a solid, leak-free fit. In summary, if you're the kind of person that insists on changing your own oil but accidentally spills enough oil to make the EPA declare your driveway a superfund site, buy this immediately. I changed the oil 15 minutes ago and have literally a drop of oil that hit the pavement thanks to me not paying attention to a drip coming down the side of the oil filter. It's the best standard maintenance tool I've owned since my first wrench, and it is worth every penny.

BOTTOM LINE: BUY SOMETHING ELSE SUMMARY: 1. Doesn't work on many vehicles. This is not well advertised. 2. Very easily can have gasket problems requiring fixing frequently or buying parts. DETAILS: The Topsider seems like a nice tool and the accompanying Youtube video showing it in action seems like it works well. Unfortunately, that's where it ends. First, the plastic tubing that is supposed to enter via your dipstick tube is too big for many cars. This is not advertised very well but there are many cars it does not fit. I have a 2005 Buick Rendezvous and a 2004 Malibu Classic and it fits neither. I'm not sure it fits anything GM other than large SUV's and trucks maybe. It seems a few smaller imports like Audio, BMW work out OK. It just depends how big the dipstick is. The tube only went half way down on my Rendezvous and that's a larger crossover style vehicle. So yeah, totally useless for me. Second, the product broke after 1 attempt. I installed following instructions, pumped it 35 times per instructions and tried to get it to suck the oil from my plain jane oil can used to collect used oil and it did not work at all. I then tried it a second time after releasing and re-pumping and I get lots of air escaping when pumping now after cliping the tubing closed pinched extremely tightly. So the gasket isn't working anymore or something. Great. I was going to return it anyway and give it a 2 or 3 star because it's not well advertised that it doesn't fit a lot of vehicles, but now it can't even take liquid out of a bowl after trying to use it once.

Awesome product! Never again will I have to raise, remove belly pan, remove oil plug to drain the oil from my 2000 VW TDI! Simple, quick and clean. It makes oil changes/car maintenance a love affair again. This product is so much better than the plastic versions available at department stores and is....made in the USA. Oil and filter change finished in about 15 minutes. I would recommend this product especially to those whose engine oil filters are located on the top-side of the motor. VW TDI Mk IV owners (as well as top-mount oil filter autos) who do their own oil changes - this is a must have. P.S. - What I call "belly pan" is not the oil pan - but a plastic shield covering the underside of the engine and acts as a sound dampener on VW diesel motors. Also, put a little grease/ petroleum jelly or oil on the o-rings/gaskets! This will help ensure the vacuum/seal. Before using the pump I read the reviews posted here. I followed the instructions to the letter. Additionally; I put petroleum jelly on the gaskets, insured a proper fit to the siphon & pump handle ports on the reservoir, tested the integrity of the vacuum/suction before use. Then I proceeded wth my oil change and was careful when using the pump: 1. Hold the pump cylinder with one hand; 2. the other hand for the pump handle. You will feel the resistance build while pumping as the vacuum increases - so use good judgement on knowing when to stop pumping. I pumped it 30 times then I felt the vacuum was sufficient - it was. The device worked perfectly! But the reviews here do have a point - it is fragile at the caps (pump cylinder & hose) - so use caution. Be careful, follow the directions and it will work fine. It was worth the $50 I paid for it.

Edit: After using it twice I let my wife pump for a minute and she pulled the handle right off the thing. The handle is barely held on, just by 2 little barbs. Now when I try to use it the handle always comes off and my hands got cut from the barbs. This has taken a 5 star product and made it useless, I cannot use it as it just injures me this way. What a terrible design, this is a huge weak point of the device. I am not happy to pay so much for only a few oil changes before it breaks.... The company itself looks to be tough to contact, guess I will call this a loss. I looked at a lot of other similar products before buying this. Many were made of plastic which have a hard time dealing with even warm oil. Some of them get too warm and collapse under the vacuum and get ruined. I wanted something that was sturdy and this thing is made of metal. There are some reviews on here showing this one caved in as well but I think there might have been user error involved there. Be sure to read the instructions on how to assemble all of the rubber washers/seals. They must be done a certain way for this to work properly. If you install them wrong you will not get vacuum or much of it anyway. Make sure when installing them and screwing things down that the seals do not get pinched. Being careful with all of that will pay off. If you are not getting suction after making sure the seals are correct then the next place I'd look would be the plastic hose crimp. I had an issue with that where it looked sealed but I had to really bear down on it and get it one more click. Then it sealed and I got good vacuum. I used this to change the oil on a newer VW Jetta diesel with no issues. Followed the instructions and pumped it up to get good suction and released the hose crimp and oil flowed into the can. I had to adjust the tube a few times when it started to suck air. This was the least messy oil change I've ever done. The tube did collapse a little bit towards the end but it didn't seem to stop it from working. The oil was warm but not hot. I don't have an exact number but it got most of the oil out. This was the first change I've done on this vehicle so I cannot compare it to the amount removed with a regular oil change. It didn't require a crazy amount of pumping at all but you do have to do a little work to get it going.

Bought my daughter a 2000 Mercedes with 260,000 mi, on it for $2400. One thing about folks who can afford these new-they keep up on the maintenance! Being a old shade tree mechanic I perform all PM on my vehicles. Never anything as high brow as this. Found a great Youtube video (Mercedes mechanic show you all the tips and tricks) that walked me through several supposed repairs that only the dealer could do. Being an old fart I don't crawl much under cars, so I was looking for a way to do oil change from above (especially since the filter is located on top in engine compartment) The Youtube guy tested a bunch of these and this came out as #1. Worked like a charm. Would be nice if there was a way to gauge if all oil is removed; but my daughters car took 8 quarts and this devise can hold up to 8 quarts and it was full. Will have to guestimate for cars that take less, but that's easy. I highly suggest. Also when you pump it the 30-40 times it will not have much resistance and lead you to believe it's not holding a vacuum; Trust me it does! You wont be able to tell when it's done by looking for bubbles in extraction tube (do to oil coating it). UPDATE: You can use this to remove oil in lawn mowers etc. without having to tape tube around filler hole to maintain vacuum. Did a lawnmower tune up today, and other than the tube being very long (You'll have to rig it so it can remove oil in a fluid flow which is basically just adjusting it) and having to pay close attention to extractor tube, so it wont come out and also to basically sweep it into the nooks and crannies to get all areas, it made short work of the job. With small engines like this you can actualyl hear the slurping sound (Like when you finish a milk shake) and see bubbles as described in the manual. Cars not so much due to more oil and it coating inside of tube. All I have to say is-Where has this been all my life!