I've been using a topside oil extractor for a while now. It drains all the oil from a BMW 540i and all but one quart from an S2000. I tried it on an RX-8 last weekend.

Drove the RX-8 home, shut it off and let it sit for ten minutes while I did other things. The dipstick measured halfway so I was down half a quart. Used the topsider and got just under 4 quarts of oil out. Considering a standard oil change is supposed to get 3.5 quarts I thought that was pretty good. I replaced the four quarts, idled the car for five minutes, then tried to drain the oil again. (Another nice thing about the topsider is you know exactly how much oil you took out, so you have a good idea of how much to put back in.)

This time just under two quarts of oil came out. I wasn't sure if draining immediately after shutting the engine off made a difference so I waited ten minutes then tried again. I couldn't get any more oil out.

I'll have to wait until the next oil change to try again, but at this point it seems like the topsider will work well with an RX-8. Since the oil filter is up top it means you can change the oil and filter without having to get under the car. I'm not sure why I could only get two quarts out the second time though.
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LovelyWendie

 

Changed my oil & filter this weekend, and did not have to get under the car, or jack up the car to get to the drain plug. I was able to reach it from the passenger side with no problems.

Use of a socket-type filter wrench bought at Wally World took the filter off with 3/8" ratchet and (2) extensions.

Noticed on the Mazda filter I took off it said to tighten to 3/4 turn beyond contact, while the new Mazda oil filter stated 1-1/6 turn after making contact.

30 minute job, and put in 4 quarts of 5W-20 Castrol.

 

Really old thread resurrection.
I want to buy an oil extractor so I don't have to crawl under my 8.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

I've had a PELA 6000 knock-off for years that works great.

This isn't the same brand but it looks identical.
http://a.co/dUppanv

Each rib on the tank represents ~ 1 qt.

If it ever breaks, I'll probably replace it with one of these that let you use the hand pump or an air compressor to generate the vacuum.
http://a.co/iIdsC0L

 

Old age or not I always see it as an opportunity to look around under there just to make sure there's not an undetected problem developing ...

 

Old age plus surgically repaired back & arthritis.
The jacking up and placing jackstands is the hardest part for me.
I do jack it up to rotate tires and check brakes when I do oil changes & periodic maintenance, but every 3-4k mile oil changes is a PITA, especially after several +2k mile road trips.
I plan on building some modular wood ramps/stands once I get caught up on other things.

 

Thanks, I like the air compressor concept.
I've seen some 12V ones also, and this Topsider manual one has good reviews:
Bigboy Topsider MVP Oil Changer/multi-purpose Pump

 

You S1 owners are lucky. I have to crawl under my S2 anyways to grab the oil filter...

Still curious though, will the extractor drain anything out of the oil coolers?

 

No, you have to break the oil hose fittings loose to drain those

 

You'd have to be nuts to do that every time you changed the oil!

 

Being pressed for time, I went to my local Northern Tool store to buy an extractor, the only one they had was the manual Topsider I mentioned above.
It worked well until it got to the bottom and started sucking air.
It would quickly lose vacuum and required a lot more pumping to get the last of it out.
Otherwise, I'm satisfied with it, and it'll come in handy changing oil in my mowers, generator, & pressure washer.

 

Hello everyone. I changed the oil by lifting the car on the driver's side. All is well, but after a 20 minute ride, I come home and discover that it is leaking fluid. I immediately think I've done something wrong but looking closer I see that liquid is dripping from the radiator. I removed the air filter and battery and discovered that it has leaked fluid from the water tank vent. My question is: is it possible that when I tilted the car to change the oil, air entered the cooling system? I take this opportunity to also change the radiator fluid but I hope something hasn't broken in the engine...

 

I really doubt that tilting the car or changing the oil did any damage.
Even if air gets in the system, that's what the tank is for - air separation.
If you are changing the coolant, a popular mod is to reroute the overflow hose away from the radiator and the wiring below, a longer tube so it vents hot coolant to the ground instead of on to the electric power steering connectors.

 

Thanks for your reply.
The radiator fluid has probably deteriorated or is not yours. I ordered the FL22 because between the cold engine and the hot engine the fluid passes from min until it reaches the cap and comes out. However, I made the change to extend the breather tube to the underbody.
Sorry for this ot.