FloTool 5060TSMI Topsider Extractor Multi-Purpose Vacuum Oil Change Pump for 4-Cycle Engine, ATV, Boat, Large Vehicle, 8-Quart, Blue

Awesome product! Never again will I have to raise, remove belly pan, remove oil plug to drain the oil from my 2000 VW TDI! Simple, quick and clean. It makes oil changes/car maintenance a love affair again. This product is so much better than the plastic versions available at department stores and is....made in the USA.Oil and filter change finished in about 15 minutes. I would recommend this product especially to those whose engine oil filters are located on the top-side of the motor. VW TDI Mk IV owners (as well as top-mount oil filter autos) who do their own oil changes - this is a must have.P.S. - What I call "belly pan" is not the oil pan - but a plastic shield covering the underside of the engine and acts as a sound dampener on VW diesel motors. Also, put a little grease/ petroleum jelly or oil on the o-rings/gaskets! This will help ensure the vacuum/seal. Before using the pump I read the reviews posted here. I followed the instructions to the letter. Additionally; I put petroleum jelly on the gaskets, insured a proper fit to the siphon & pump handle ports on the reservoir, tested the integrity of the vacuum/suction before use.Then I proceeded wth my oil change and was careful when using the pump: 1. Hold the pump cylinder with one hand; 2. the other hand for the pump handle. You will feel the resistance build while pumping as the vacuum increases - so use good judgement on knowing when to stop pumping. I pumped it 30 times then I felt the vacuum was sufficient - it was. The device worked perfectly! But the reviews here do have a point - it is fragile at the caps (pump cylinder & hose) - so use caution. Be careful, follow the directions and it will work fine. It was worth the $50 I paid for it.

A while back, I had this guy's little cousin, the LiquiVac. I used to use it for all my small engine stuff because it is so much easier to change oil over pulling a plug or tipping a machine on its side. Well, I went searching for another because that was 20 years ago and who knows what happened to that thing in that time. I have moved at least 4 times since I had it and I literally have no idea where it went!Well, I was going to get another when I saw this. It is about the same in capacity - 8 quarts. But, it is so much heavier duty! The pump tube is metal and not plastic like the LiquiVac. And the tank is solid metal as well. It is just as easy to use as the LiquiVac too! In short, it makes my life so much easier to service all my small engine stuff from my rider to my push mower.My hats off to the customer service of Hopkins Manufacturing, who makes this and the LiquiVac. My Topsider was missing the black insert that allows the small tube to fit into the larger tube, I wrote them an email and within a few days, I had the insert in my mailbox and I was up and running!I have only used it with my rider and push mower so far, but I am looking forward to using it with my wife's Caravan someday as that is a cartridge up on top of the engine and it would be so awesome if I don't have to crawl under it anymore to change oil! i guess we will see, I have heard I might need a different tube to do that, but Hopkins can help with that as well! Thank you Hopkins for this wonderful product and your awesome customer service!

These siphon units on Amazon are all cheaply made. This one from topsider is the only one with metal, hard to topple over because its a wide base canister AND all the fittings are on TOP of the unit.All these design choices together adds peace of mind that you will not accidentally spill used oil everywhere. The others on the market are missing at least 1 if not 2 of these design elements making them inferrior.With that said, the gauge of metal is not the best, and its hard to tell the strength of the vacuum, which seems to be a consideration since the manual forewarns you many times not to over pump the unit.So I was careful not to pump it too much because you are flying blind.Also, because its all metal design, you cannot tell how filled it is. I had to just go by weight. I held 5 quarts in one hand and this filled unit in the other, and you can tell theres more than 5 quarts in this unit. Very crude but works well enough.the fittings are less than perfect fitting and I lacked confidence when assembling the hoses. I just couldn't tell if I had pushed them in well enough. There is no satisfying click or full connection. You just have to push the hoses together "as far as you can make it go" and then see if it can pull a vacuum.Lastly, you only get one set of hoses, caps, and gaskets. At this price PLEASE include SPARES in an orange back and zip tie it to the handle. Mark it as "SPARES" so that when you go to use it again, you know you have all the piceses you need, even if you misplaced something from last time. We are talking pennies here, for a night and day difference in your diy experience.At the end of the day this is a great solution, and definitely works. Took me less than 30 minutes to do the oil change my very first time doing ANY oil change of ANY kind AND assembling the unit. And even then a good amount of the time was just waiting for the suction to siphon out the oil.I highly recommend. Especially if you have a Euro car, because everything including your filter is accessible from the top of the engine. We are talking 10-20 minute oil changes for cheap, for life. Really great.