EF99

I only have about 2600 miles but I've had the car almost a year so I suppose I should do the first complementary oil change at the dealer.

They normally suck the oil out from the top, and claim they get more oil out that way.

Part of me thinks--if there is any debris in the oil pan--that a gravity drain would be better. But (depending on the shape of the oil pan) I suppose sucking the oil from the dipstick tube could get any debris as well.

Anyone have reason to prefer a gravity drain over a "vacuum out from the top" drain? Is your answer different for the first oil change versus all the subsequent ones?

Goony

Definitely time for an oil change......and go for the gravity drain.

ryan_qttro

I work at a dealer
I prefer to drain the V6's and V8's out the bottom
Let it drip til it stops dripping

B8 S FOR

Drain

slasher016

There's probably no discernible difference. They don't ever drain boats.

gk1

I did drain... once...

redrocker55

Drain...Every 3rd oil change I "flush" the pan with another quart of oil. I wait till the engine has fully drained old oil and then put another quart of fresh oil in. It always comes out a little darker than when it went in at the beginning.

Sucking might be a less messy job, save time and money (labor) since you don't have to remove the plastic engine cover but I don't see any benefits vs draining the oil properly from the pan. The plug is placed in a specific place on the bottom of the pan for a reason. Personally I would never allow a suck oil change vs gravity drain.

EF99

What makes you say that? Miles are very low. I've never seen any real proof that (with very low miles/hours) oil degrades in some dangerous engine-harming way with time. Maybe after 5-10 years, but I wouldn't think a year or 2 with barely worn oil would be a problem. The engine is probably exposed to less dirty/worn oil than one that gets driven 15k miles/yr and has oil changes every 3 months.

I'm planning to change it so my question is more of a curiosity. I guess the only real way to know would be to send out for an oil analysis.

LeoR604

The by-products of combustion can result in the formation of acids in the oil. That is the only real reason I have ever heard as to why you should change your oil based on time as well as mileage. When preparing a car for long-term storage, a fresh oil change is always recommended to get the contaminants and acids out of the engine. How much of this is fact and how much is historical belief, I don't know. An oil change at least once a year, regardless of mileage, doesn't sound like it should be too much to ask for.

Oh, and I suck, lol. If you look at the shape of our oil pan in the S4 Engine Study guide, you will see that the area around the drain plug is actually raised, so any metallic particles that sink to the bottom of the oil pan will likely not be drained out anyway. Contrary to popular belief, you will NOT get every last drop of oil out of that pan by draining. Regardless of suck or drain, it's probably more important to get the oil up to temp and get all the contaminants into suspension before getting it out.

Goony

My point had little to do with time. This is the initial fill and metals are generally higher in the initial changes......due to break in. Heck, I did the initial change at 2500; had an analysis at the next 2500 interval and then ran a 5000 mile interval. The metals were far lower on the 5000-10000 mile odometer run than they were on the 2500-5000 mile odometer run.