Just prior to Feb 11, did you have your car in a shop, particularly in a dealership? I ask because of the remote possibility that your dipstick somehow got swapped with one from an Accord.
BTW, I drain my oil for about a half a hour, but that is because I’m old and slow now and it takes me awhile to remove the old filter and prep and install the new one. Maybe not a full half hour, but certainly a lot longer than it use to take me. I don’t believe it hurts anything.
We did have a poster here a long time ago that claimed he let his car drain for 24 hours. I’d worry about bugs crawling up the drain and getting into the oil pan during that much time, or worse, spiders building webs around the drain.
Yes, letting an engine drain that long is overkill. I sometimes pour a tiny bit of fresh oil in once the flow is about nothing and then let that flow slow to a drip. This is probably overkill as well. If you change the oil according to schedule, the remaining old oil won’t be that dirty or broken down.
I do that too once in a while, but I’ve never admitted it before. After each oil change, I drain the residual oil from all the bottles into an old bottle in the shed. Eventually when this accumulates a half quart or so, I use it to flush the sediments that accumulate in the bottom of the oil pan. This is just between you and me, I don’t want the other regulars to find out, they will think I’m nuts.
If you want to ensure all the old oil is out - an easier way would be after 20 minutes then pour a quart of clean oil in. Then wait it you see the clean oil coming out.
I only use an ounce or so of “rinse oil” when doing a change. I usually don’t use all 5 quarts in a container so using a small amount for this isn’t the end of the world. Then there is some left for the next change. When I empty one out I try to let all the last oil drop out into the funnel which is filling the engine. This is as much to throw less oil in the trash because the local recycling regs say DO NOT recycle motor oil containers. They want them thrown in the trash. I figure throwing small amounts of oil in the trash with them isn’t all that great either. The empty jugs also make nice used oil containers to recycle the old oil as well. Again, they can’t be recycled so it is good to re-use them for this purpose.
Actually I do that with my snow blower and lawn mower sometimes but have never done it with the cars. I guess mainly because I never thought of it and secondly, the small engines hold so little and hard to get all the old oil out. I’ve never told anyone before either so keep it quiet.
I do this on small engines and that is somewhere it probably makes a difference. The oil always looks terrible on these even when I change it ahead of schedule when compared to car oil. I put a few ounces in, disconnect the plug wire, and pull it a few times. I then drain it out and refill until next time. I am getting a little less picky about small engines after a few things failed no matter how well I took care of them. For example, I had a thread here about a plastic camshaft wearing down the lobes and it became harder and harder for the engine to start and run decently.
No, no such luck. Today I compared the dipstick with a new one at a dealership parts department. Except for cleanliness, new and old are identical dimensions. That hole goes all the way through. Again, there is no play in the metal stick/plastic handle interface, and the O-rings are intact.
I want Bing and Keith to know that I read their posts about them pouring good oil into engines to flush the accumulated sediment out when they do an oil change and their secret is safe with me…
I appreciate it. I have a sweatshirt that reads “what happens in the garage stays in the garage” and I live by that. Unless I gotta call the fire department or ambulance or something, then I’d have to report what happened. Never happened yet though.
