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MG TD TF 1500 - New way of XPAG oil change

Gentlemen,
Recently I was presented with a new toy, or tool depending how you look at it, for my work shop. As most “New Tools” are viewed by me with a healthy dose of skepticism, I was reluctant to try it as it promised to make oil changes painless. I say painless as too many years of racing motorcycles have reduced my knees to semi functional and I’m not keen on replacing my original equipment just yet. The tool in question is an “Oil Extractor”, It works by sucking the engine oil out of the pan through the dip stick tube. It has a large vacuum chamber/ reservoir that will hold up to six and a half quarts of motor oil. It operates by inserting a long tube down the dip stick tube to the bottom of the pan and then give the handle on the top a few pumps to create a vacuum and it will slurp up six quarts in less time than you can down a can of Boddington's. You do not pump the handle constantly like a tire pump, just a few pumps and it does the rest. My buddy Craig Cody introduced me to this concept of oil maintenance as he lives on a large yacht and this is how you change the oil on his ten liter Diesels. Once the pan is empty and the extractor full, you simply pour the used oil into the plastic jug your new oil came in and then off to the Recycle station. I took the attached photo after using it on the MINI in the back ground. The reservoir is transparent so you can see the visible level. There are also external ribs denoting one quart increments, so you can see its progress. I did the oil change and filter on the MINI in about six minutes with no groaning or kvetching. It is also nice as the threads in the sixty three year old alloy pan on the TD are getting a little tired. I’ve seen these available from various different companies, I got mine from West Marine http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--manual-oil-extractor-6-5l--11047123 for about $95, considering the mess and hassle changing the oil on a T type is, this little gem is worth it. I thought I would use it on my girlfriends BMW, but that new, fangled german wonder machine no longer has a dip stick! You check your oil level electronically!

Cheers lads,


A Peddicord

I've got a version from Mityvac that I've been using for several years for all my cars. An oil change on the wife's Mercedes is particularly easy as the filter sits on top of the engine. I can do the whole change standing up with the car on the ground.

The type I have hooks up to the air compressor so you don't even have to pump it. Helps a lot to have the oil good and hot when using one.
David Littlefield

The good side of the conventional procedure of emptying the crankcase through the oil drain plug at the bottom is that the oil scavenges the particle deposits and slag laying on the bottom of the case.

This is probably not a big advantage in modern engines with little wear or in well maintaiend engines with frequent oil changes.

Jesús
J Benajes

Jesus. That is exactly my way of thinking. On our old engines its better to remove the drain plug and let the oil flow take anything we don't want in there with it.
Dave H
Dave Hill

"The good side of the conventional procedure of emptying the crankcase through the oil drain plug at the bottom is that the oil scavenges the particle deposits and slag laying on the bottom of the case.

This is probably not a big advantage in modern engines with little wear or in well maintaiend engines with frequent oil changes. Jesús"




As above, sometimes older ways are better, especially if you have a drain plug with a magnet. The magnet is an inspection gauge that allow you to see ferrous material circulating within the engine (even more important than scavenging). Maybe, before serious damage occurs.

WHTroyer

I am with Jesus and David. I posted recently that I use inexpensive ASDA/Walmart oil but change it frequently. I go one stage further though and a while ago bought two containers of oil. After draining the used oil out of the engine, when hot, I filed it with new oil and let the engine run for about 10 minutes to warm up once again. I then drained this into a clean plastic container and refilled again with the second container of new oil. The oil that had only been used for 10 minutes I keep and use it to flush out the engine at 3 more oil changes and then take it to the recycling dump. I know flushing oil was easily available a few years back but I haven't seen it for some time.

On thing that is on the agenda for the next oil change is to fit a magnet in the sump plug. I know these are really useful in a gear box but one in the engine will not do any harm.

Jan T
J Targosz

No mention of changing the filter, yet. I still drain the oil through the drain plug, and while I am down there, just a few inches away, is a big screw-on oil filter easily accessible. Much easier to unscrew than those little ones. I slightly modified an "oil filter relocation kit" so it would bolt right onto the block, and made up some oil lines. Much better than the sintered bronze filter that was there before, and it increases oil capacity by at lease 2/3 quart. Shown is a Mobil 1 M1-301 filter same size as used on early Ford 302 engines. About 4" long by 3.5" dia.

D mckellar

Jan. If you fit a magnet to the sump plug, make sure it is high temp magnet made of the correct alloy as anything else will lose most of its magnetism at engine temp.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Hi Dave,

I was going to take a magnetic sump plug out of a car in the scrap yard and modify the TF's one to take the magnet. It would be easier to buy one for the TF. Anyone know if one is available.

Jan T
J Targosz

There is a recess in the std sump plug, so if you buy a suitable sized magnet of the right alloy, you can bond it in with JB Weld.
Dave H
Dave Hill



Tom Lange was selling magnetic plugs for the sump and transmission.

Jim
James Neel

See http://mgtrepair.net/DrainPlugs.html Tom Lange sells them. Bud
Bud Krueger

Doug at From The Frame UP has them.
M Grogan

This thread was discussed between 06/10/2016 and 08/10/2016

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