“Easy” oil change drain plug

SPF Required

Well-Known Member
FCBO Gold Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2017
Messages
951
Reaction score
1,293
Location
California.
Anyone out there ever install one of these to make your oil changes a little easier?

Amazon.com

Any alternatives??

Thanks!
 
Haven't seen one. As long as it stays tight and doesn't hang down far enough to get caught on road debris it might work well and be pretty handy.
 
IMHO, there's not much to gain. You still have to crawl under the car... and now you have more to go wrong and leak or come undone and dump your oil.
 
I can see the long-term benefit as many drain plugs have become "cast" rather than machined. Being softer, they will wear with time. Then consider that the bung (with the threads) is a thinner nut spot-welded to the inside of the oil pan. MAYBE THREE full threads in it. Not quite as substantial as suspected!

OR . . . why even use the drain plug at all? Get an electric extractor pump. The one I bought from Amazon to do oil changes on my zero-turn mower uses a long, small diameter plastic tube that goes into the dipstick tube. Unlike some of the $8.00 manual pumps, it came with one LONG plastic tube rather than the two different-size tubes the manual pump came with. So it should work better in all respects. Use the dipstick length to gauge the length it should go in and add a few for good measure. Works well. About $30.00 USD about 6 years ago. Just have to have an empty container for the oil to go into. Same on ATF changes, too.

I bought my pump via Amazon, then found out the local Home Depot also had them, for a few dollars more.

Still have to get underneath to get to the filter, though.

Whatever works,
CBODY67
 
I have a Valvomax drain valve on my '67 300, and all of our other vehicles. Makes oil changes clean and easy, even when the oil is hot. Been using these valves for well over 5 years without a problem. Highly, highly recommend. As I recall it's a veteran-owned company, and they make the valve in the USA.

 
why even use the drain plug at all? Get an electric extractor pump.
Coincidentally (ironically?)…. I tried the manual pump on my F150 yesterday. It was a pain and I am glad I only spent $7 on the pump. This thread started by looking at options for a better plug for my 2015 truck. If you are not aware of fords brilliant design for their ‘single use’ oil drain plug, take a look on line…

That’s when I got to thinking about my 68 300. I can get under my truck to change the oil without jacking it up, but I can’t get under the 300 (at least to do any work) without jacking it up. My thinking was I can lie next to the car and reach the plug with my hand and take a few steps out of the oil change process. IDK…. Just thinking it through. And you folks are always generous with the advice.

As always…. Thank you.
 
I have a Valvomax drain valve on my '67 300, and all of our other vehicles. Makes oil changes clean and easy, even when the oil is hot. Been using these valves for well over 5 years without a problem. Highly, highly recommend. As I recall it's a veteran-owned company, and they make the valve in the USA.

[/URL]
Excellent! Made in the good ol’ USA! And veteran owned to boot!
IMG_2365.jpeg


Amazon.com On Amazon too.
 
Dorman offers, or maybe still offers, something similar. I've sold tons of them, with no customer complaints. As far as the dumbest design ever offered by Ford, find something to replace it with. In this day and age to design a one time use plastic drain plug, that can't degrade over time and it's covered in oil! Make absolutely no sense. Not to mention when the design was brand new, you could only buy one from the dealer and they were near 20 bucks. Shitty all around.
 
$45? How hard is it to remove the drain plug? Been at it for 100++ years and still works.
 
Ive put the the Fumoto valve on most of my daily drivers. Once you open and close it a few times to get the hang of it you can do it without looking. Just reach under with your arm. No jacking. Plus for some cars the plug is in a recessed area of the plastic underplate making wrenching less flexible. No drain tube is needed either. If the car is too low for your normall drain pan then I use a hot water heater drip pan which also serves as a nice drip pan for the fury.

I have a subaru with the oil filter on top of the engine. Not including putting the old oil in my recycle jug I can change the oil in about 15 min.


1731503724526.png
 
Not including putting the old oil in my recycle jug I can change the oil in about 15 min.

This is why I like the Valvomax: since it has a drain tube, I drain the hot used oil from the oil pan on the engine directly into the recycle jug and skip this step.
 
At least for a BB Chrysler, and my other old vehicles, removing and reinstalling the OEM drain plug is the easiest part of the oil change. No jacking req'd. I do like magnets on them though, for observation sake. Also like to wrap the threads with PTFE tape as a belt n' suspenders thing....

If your vehicle is a newer Phord or has a plastic bung plug or other inferior/shite hardware, I can see the advantage to this type of upgrade. Get some!
 
The 2 cons for me are:
1. Some sediment and oil will remain in the oil pan since the drain hole is slightly higher now
2. Slower draining

My lawn mower engine has something similar, but it's plastic, and I have to go find the hose for it when it's time to drain the oil. It's mounted horizontal, so point #1 doesn't really apply. I still prefer a drain plug, it's simple, cheap, & easy.
 
I put something similar on my 383, because it was partially stripped when i got the car, i was going to try and retap it, but the steering was in the way, didn't feel like taking that all off, it has a tube you put in there, it sort of push and twists in after you take the plug out, it drains very slow.
 
Back
Top