Oil change
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7th Gear
Joined: Feb 2012
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Oil change
I'm about to change the oil in my 97 for the first time. I was thinking of driving up my Race Ramps to change the oil and then using a siphon inserted in the drain plug hole to extract the rest of the oil and avoid raising the rear of the car because the drain is in the front of the pan. Is there any reason this wouldn't work?
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7th Gear
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Former Vendor
Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Philadelphia PA
It's unlikely that a siphon tube would work. Routing it to the remaining oil through the drain hole and submerging the end of the tube below the oil level would be very difficult. I have evacuated plenty of oil through dipstick tubes and that works since the end of the siphon tube is facing downwards and you can maintain a vacuum until the very bottom of the pan. Whether or not you could siphon the oil from the Corvette engine dipstick tube is a separate issue. I know it did not work on my Northstar engine.
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Why would you not want to lift the rear end of the car up? Once you are on the Race Ramps, simple enough to put a floor jack under the rear cradle and lift away. Just be sure you do it properly and use jack stands. I'm not sure you could siphon out the oil through the dip stick tube.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Norman Oklahoma - The Only State in the Union with no Blue Counties!
I'm about to change the oil in my 97 for the first time. I was thinking of driving up my Race Ramps to change the oil and then using a siphon inserted in the drain plug hole to extract the rest of the oil and avoid raising the rear of the car because the drain is in the front of the pan. Is there any reason this wouldn't work?
No way will you get all the old oil out using that method! My $00.02
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2011
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From: Marana, Arizona
My driveway is on a slant - top to bottom. I back my car into the garage, put my race ramps about 8 feet down the driveway so the rear wheels will still be on the edge of the garage floor. With the front wheels on the ramps, the nose of the car is slightly lower. Works great. Good luck.
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