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When should I expect the engine to die? I cannot change oil on my 04 Odyssey because an oversized drain nut was used on the oil pan and cannot be loosened. Car was bought for $1500 and has over 240k miles so any money spent to change the oil pan is not worth it. Every few weeks I top it off with synthetic oil. Other than this issue, van has been running smoothly like a champ. Will the engine die and how many more miles I can get before that happens? Thanks.
Guys I know that own boats change the oil using a vacuum pump. They remove the oil check stick and insert a hose, then start the pump. You can buy a cheap hand crank pump and get the job done.
My brother took an old Dodge Duster with a leaky slant 6 engine, drove it for two years, never once changed the oil or filter, but kept adding a quart of oil every week or two. That engine never died, but it leaked and smoked. He eventually sent the car to the junk yard due to other issues with the vehicle.
My concern about the van with 250K miles that was bought for $1500 - it's going to die, and probably soon, but where? In the middle of the night on a deserted stretch of county two-lane? What will be the cost of towing it away once its dead?
You'd basically pump the oil out from the dipstick tube.
Albeit a quick search shows that a replacement oil pan is around the same price. Of course, you'll likely need tools, and other parts.
This, except that it's insane to spend $120 for an oil extractor.
I have a 12v oil extractor I bought on Amazon. You just clip onto the battery terminals to power it. I use old plastic gallon water jugs to collect the used oil. Car. Diesel on the boat. Lawn mower. Outboard motor on the dinghy. For $16.95 with free shipping, it's a very useful gadget.
In an old car where you constantly have to add oil, changing the filter occasionally is probably a bigger deal than changing the oil. 15,000 shouldn't be a problem. The oil filter will clog eventually so change that.
Guys I know that own boats change the oil using a vacuum pump. They remove the oil check stick and insert a hose, then start the pump. You can buy a cheap hand crank pump and get the job done.
I did this when I overfilled my transmission since it was on ramps when I did the drain and fill. I used a thin tubing and simply sucked on the hose to start the oil flowing and let gravity drain the oil over night.
this definitely works if you are unwilling to buy a used oil pan from an online salvage yard.
another alternative is to find a suitably oversized fumoto drain valve for about $20 and install that to have a spigot for draining the oil.
I have an '04 odyssey myself.....I just changed my oil over to synthetic myself at 135k. It only has 142k miles, but I have gone 7k miles....and plan to do at least another 1k. I think 15k is getting close to the life on the synthetic. I would just change the synthetic every 15k, and it shouldnt be a problem. Change the oil filter for sure, but 15k on synthetic is probably ok as long as it doesnt get low, that is what will cause an issue. Newer engines now can go 15k with synthetic on many vehicles. Just find a way to change it, if the vehicle runs fine without other issues it should last quite a time. The transmissions were much more of a concern on 99-04 ody's, but much more so on 99-02's. They overstate oil change frequencies on many vehicles, but are finding out that oil lasts a lot longer just so long as it is regular use.....not towing, dusty roads, or lots and lots of trips where the engine doesnt fully heat up.
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