When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Well, I purchased a MityVac last week and put it to use today, and I have to say, two thumbs way down. It took more energy, time, and didn't do the job completely. Next time I'm just going to get on the ground and do it properly. I don't know, maybe there is some flaw with mine but I regret wasting money on it.
Longer version:
Hooked it up and pumped away. It was slow. After a while it became clear it wasn't doing much more than bubbling air through the ~6 quarts of oil it collected (it's the P400, so definitely not all the oil). I measured the dipstick and the dipstick tube and I was definitely getting in further than the dipstick. I played around with the tube a bit and there is indeed a point where you can get it to go further if you play around with it a bit, but I implore anyone here to NOT DO THAT. First, you'll get no extra oil. Second, it will hang up on you. This only took me 30 seconds to free with some gentle finesse - I have experience working on fiddly aluminum motorcycle engines (easy to over torque things, I assure you), have rebuilt several down to removing pistons and heads, and have done plenty of other car maintenance. I'm not new at this but I can see a real danger to those who are new to this stuff, so definitely avoid over-insertion. In any case, at that point I had played around with things for too long, already used up my time for cleaning the interior, and wanted to get it done, so I just swapped the filter, refilled, and settled for a partial change. It definitely would have been faster to get underneath and do it the right way. I don't know - maybe some Defenders are just different or something. It appear some really enjoy doing it this way, but I don't see it being worthwhile. Now I have this giant MightyVac taking up space in my garage, too.
My experiences are the polar opposite with the 2.3 gallon Mityvac. I'm a total novice and wouldn't know my head from a hole in the ground when it comes to engines.
Ridiculously simple oil change with it. I've done two with it now. A few pumps and it's job done. Set it and forget it. I take the filter off while it's sucking out the oil. Clean it up, lube the gasket with oil, (a little dab'll do ya) and pop in new one once the oil is out. Hand tighten.
Gets ever bit of oil out. No worries. 8.8L out 8.8L in.
Five minutes of "work" and the rest of the 30 minutes or so is having a beer and pondering life's little unponderables.
Even getting rid of the oil is made easier. Just reverse the vacuum and it pumps the old oil into your empties.
This really makes me wonder if the vehicle actually needs to be tilted slightly to the front, or to the rear, or slightly to one side... or if some are constructed somehow slightly differently. I see someone on Facebook ran into the same issue I did, and there were others in this thread. It was definitely not "fast", "easy", nor did it do a good job. Sure, the filter change is easy (and I used a torque wrench because I have two), but that's thanks to Land Rover engineering.
This really makes me wonder if the vehicle actually needs to be tilted slightly to the front, or to the rear, or slightly to one side... or if some are constructed somehow slightly differently. I see someone on Facebook ran into the same issue I did, and there were others in this thread. It was definitely not "fast", "easy", nor did it do a good job. Sure, the filter change is easy (and I used a torque wrench because I have two), but that's thanks to Land Rover engineering.
No tilt in my garage. Assuming your pump is working correctly, I can proffer no explanation for the difficulties you experienced. It's a real noodle-scratcher.
No tilt in my garage. Assuming your pump is working correctly, I can proffer no explanation for the difficulties you experienced. It's a real noodle-scratcher.
My experience is the same as yours. Fast and simple, with complete extraction.
@D-Fens - Sorry to hear about the challenges with yours. Mine has worked flawlessly several times. When I first started to use it, I had the same problems until I rechecked one of the couplings. It was bleeding out air and not pulling a complete vacuum. I suggest taking off/removing each of the couplings and re-attaching. Either that or (sad to say) you may have a defective unit that doesn't hold a seal/vacuum well enough. One huge caveat is that I've been under my Defender a lot doing various mods / work and if you have to pull the drain plug, that's going to be a huge expedition. I hope you get the vacuum fixed as the traditional way has a lot of barriers in the way. Good luck!
As long as it meets or exceeds STJLR.51.5122 or STJLR.03.5006 (or both) standards, the oil is approved by Land Rover for use in our engines - both P300 and P400 versions. It doesn't have to be Castrol, that's the brand they recommend, not mandate. Keep the receipt.
The manual in my 2021 P400 vehicle only specifies the STJLR.03.5006 as being acceptable. Liqui Moly also makes a version that meets that spec:
@D-Fens - Sorry to hear about the challenges with yours. Mine has worked flawlessly several times. When I first started to use it, I had the same problems until I rechecked one of the couplings. It was bleeding out air and not pulling a complete vacuum. I suggest taking off/removing each of the couplings and re-attaching. Either that or (sad to say) you may have a defective unit that doesn't hold a seal/vacuum well enough. One huge caveat is that I've been under my Defender a lot doing various mods / work and if you have to pull the drain plug, that's going to be a huge expedition. I hope you get the vacuum fixed as the traditional way has a lot of barriers in the way. Good luck!
Since I own it, I'll probably give it one more try. I did try both of the provided tubes, but I have to say the fittings felt generally loose, so maybe some wraps of tape or something will help me out, especially since it would almost require constant pumping to keep anything moving once I got the first quart out. I guess I could also block off the end and see if it can even hold a vacuum or if it's leaking elsewhere.
Since I own it, I'll probably give it one more try. I did try both of the provided tubes, but I have to say the fittings felt generally loose, so maybe some wraps of tape or something will help me out, especially since it would almost require constant pumping to keep anything moving once I got the first quart out. I guess I could also block off the end and see if it can even hold a vacuum or if it's leaking elsewhere.
The fittings should not be loose. Snug, air tight connections all round are the norm.
04-07-2023 | 02:19 PM
