What's everyone's take on the 'easy' oil drain plug solutions?

I like my Fumoto, takes a while longer for oil to drain, but I just occupy my time checking other stuff on truck- with a heavy skid it’s an odd angle to reach your hand in to remove the oil plug the old way, always used to douse my hand in oil, Fumoto is so much cleaner. Skid also keeps the valve well protected

 

I do all my Toyota oil changes with 1 paper towel and no spilled splashed oil.

I had a fumoto on my 3rd Gen and it was nice because I cut a hole in the skid plate and ran the tube through and was able to reach up to release valve without pulling the skid plate. That’s the only truck I ran one, and it never leaked or gave me any issues.

Side note, my buddy put one on his GTI and ripped it off on an uneven road and didn’t realize it till his low oil light came on.

 

Been changing my oil nearly 40 years. Never had any issues with 1-10. I need maybe 4 paper towels. These threads are pretty hilarious. Just take it to jiffy lube if it's that hard to not make a mess.

 

Totally, we’re all too big of pussies to be able to change oil like a man. Speaking for myself personally, I got my valve for free, I like it because it’s convenient, I still change the oil the old way on several other vehicles and don’t hurt myself due to incompetence or being too weak to get the drain plug off

 

Yep, a lot of humor in this thread.

I have to say that I have absolutely no problem with "old school" and, on one of my trucks, I continue to do 'manly' oil changes. Nevertheless, once you try a Fumoto valve, you will be converted ... without a doubt

 

yeah, I have a fumoto for my 1st gen but have yet to put it on.

Mostly I want it for my skid plates. The front one weighs 60 pounds and it's pain in the ass to get the drain plug out so I remove the skid.
I use a floor jack for the skid which helps. However, every time my skid plates gets dented or bent and re-straightened it gets a little harder to put back on.

This way I can just attach a hose and run it out through the oil drain hole in the skid and be done.

I've taken it to a shop for oil changes a couple times when I was short on time.
One time they took off the skid plate off and stripped one of the captive nuts when they put it back on so I had to fix it. The captive nut wasn't stock. It was a M12 nut I welded to the back of some 1/4" steel I welded in place to replace the stock skid plate mounts that had broken off.

After that I won't go to a shop unless I remove the skid plate for them and what's the point if I'm doing the hard part anyway?

 

I have the ValvoMax drain on a couple vehicles, I dig it, nice quality. Certainly not needed but it lets me drain directly into a jug that they will pickup with my trash.

 

How do you round of the plug? If engine is warmed up first as it should be, plug should be easy to remove. And what is this about a washer? My 95 2.7 has never had one since I’ve owned it for the last 20 years and I change oil somewhat regularly. Hand tight and 1/2 turn

 

There are always two kind of people in the world. Them who do and those who do not.

 

That's a big risk.....thats how to lose all you oil.....when the stars line up....

for a bag of $8 washers.....that dont make sense...

and your over stressing the pan threads.


IF you continue...I would recommend carry around an extra plug and 5qts....

 

In 50 years of servicing my own vehicles this is something I have never seen or heard of. Guess the aliens are watching over me

 

Yeah pretty much every fluid connection on the truck has some sort of gasketing...or its flared..

pretty sure that was a good move.....on a constantly vibrating shaking machine...



and yeah I've had plenty of motorcycles, lawn mowers, generators that had no gasket..........but this a DOT vehicle that can leave you stranded....

for a 25 cent gasket that makes no sense...

 

I like my Fumoto, it's been great. Don't have to worry about stripping the plug (found out it's been stripped and tapped at least once) and I don't have to drop the skid plate. Money well spent for me.

 

C'mon now, 25 cents for a gasket for our Tacoma diffs and trans...............? Now THAT makes no sense....................

 

The behavior that always pisses me off is that the oil shoots out with such enthusiasm it hits the drain pan and often times bounces up and forms a stream that goes directly onto the driveway or all over the bottom of the skid plate I know a foam sheet/mat and solve this but it's kinda nasty to deal with. I ended up getting the Stahlbus, we'll see how that goes!

 

Too many horror stories about those valves failing or being knocked off where they hang down and get hit. That can't happen using the OEM crush washer and bolt...

 

Spent 20 minutes googling and didn't find a single "horror story" about Fumoto valves. There were a few (i.e. 1 or 2 over the last 15 years) accounts of the valve opening after running over rough stuff. There were more accounts of failure due to improper installation and one of an alleged faulty new valve. The only "too many stories" were from those who used them for many years on all sorts of vehicles and were happy with them. I got tired of reading them all.

I do hear you, though. They do hang down a bit and could potentially be damaged if you don't have a skid plate; however I'd bet that running over anything that could hit the valve is likely to damage a heck of a lot more than just the valve. Don't trust them? Then don't use them

 

I just use the one that came with the truck. You'll remove it 10-15 times every 100K miles....not really something I'd consider putting much thought into improving upon.

 

ftfy

 

I had a fumoto on my 06 Dodge Cummins and it was great. I could change the oil without any tools. I would also send oil samples in to Blackstone each time I changed the oil and it really helped when taking samples. Never had an issue with it, no leaks or anything. I don't have one on my taco, mostly because I don't change the oil myself anymore.