Mityvac MV7201 Manual Fluid Evacuator and Dispenser Plus

I use this tool when I am doing mid-interval oil changes on my 2014 Honda CRV. These are the oil changes where I am just changing the motor oil, not the filter. This tool allows me to vacuum the oil out of the oil pan without having to crawl under the car. I also use it for evacuating the transmission fluid from the automatic transmission. In both cases, I to slide the tube down where the dipstick goes and extract the fluid. When the schedule calls for doing the transfer case for the rear wheels, I'm sure it will come in handy. I usually have the garage do that work, but now that I have this tool I can do it at home. If your experience is like my own, you've had disappointments working with garages. I like the peace of mind of doing these simple maintenance tasks myself. They are simple, but they are critical.

This tool has been on the job with me for a year and a half and I use it multiple times a day. My boss uses a second one that we bought and his is maybe a month newer than mine and he uses his daily as well. These two we use for evacuating oil out of the crankcase of all sizes of generators from 8 kilowatt up to 250 kilowatt units. I just ordered another one that I intend to use for putting fresh oil back into the generators after evacuating the old oil so this one will have only fresh oil in it.For evacuating oil we used to use an electric pump and a large 5 gallon tank when I came on board to the company. I used this method for a short time and it was cumbersome and sloppy. Powering the electric pump was sometimes not possible and we resorted to using gravity on those units which is time consuming and you run the risk of the small pan overflowing if not emptied before filling. There had to be a better way so I researched on the web and zeroed in on this product.I have become very proficient on its use and the main reasons for continuing to use it are time saving, jobsite neatness, and ease of use in that order. Generators, unlike automobiles, are a stationary machine and so our customers can't drive them into a repair bay for us to work on them. We have to travel to where they are and once there, we have to carry our tools and equipment to where the generator is located on the customer site which can be a great distance away from the service vehicle, sometimes on the roof of large buildings. This thing is a lot easier to deal with compared with a pump and 5 gallon jug.Pictured in my post is the setup that I made to connect to just about any oil drain port and is currently connected to a Kohler 10KW water cooled generator. The previous time that I serviced this generator I had to pull the hose off from the fitting that I'm currently connected to on the inside of the generator and connect it to a barbed fitting on the end of my hose. The barbed fitting and ball valve are still on the end of the hose but now is connected to the adapter shown. It turns out that Kohler uses this method of oil draining on many of their generators with solid metal housings. When my adapter is not connected, there is a standard automotive drain plug there sealing that port. Nobody at the company used the port. They would loosen the hose clamp on the inside of the case, pull the hose off requiring a considerable amount of effort and then use the hose to drain from. It is so much easier using the port. This 10KW unit pictured is really cramped for space inside the case and you have to be a contortionist to get to and loosen the hose clamp and then get the stubborn hose off of the barbed fitting. What a time sucker that was. I include this description in my review because many people tend to use a product as delivered. The fitting in the picture fits an automobile drain hole. There is a whole series of that fitting for just about any oil drain port in the crankcase pan. Notice also that there is a ball valve on that fitting. It is intended to be placed in the drain port on the oil pan and then left there for future maintenance. This may be helpful information for some users and potential users of this product.Now I turn to the durability of the product. It speaks for itself about how durable it is that my unit has gone through almost two years of daily use multiple times a day. I have had only one issue with it that I consider minor, that I solved myself. I started noticing a steady stream of air bubbles in the evacuation hose while in use, not evacuating oil, but disbursing it into the waste oil tank. It puzzled me for a while but I suspected something inside the tank was leaking the pressurized air above the oil and it was making into the exit tube. When I disassembled the top of the unit, I discovered that the tube that the oil enters and exits through is a loosly fitted pressure fitting that is just inserted into a hole in the container top. I removed the hose, added 4 to 5 layers of teflon tape and then reinserted the tube into the hole and reassembled the top of the unit. No more issues with air bubbles. BTW, this lowers the efficiency of the work that you do to evacuate the tank if some of the pressure is escaping during evacuation of the tank. Should the fitting be air tight from the factory? Absolutely! But you have to deal with what you get and I wasn't about to send it back because of this minor issue. Both of our units did this, and I expect the one that I just purchased to do the same unless the factory finally figured out that the pressure fitting was too loose on the inside of the unit.Finally, I really enjoy my job. I retired from 35 years of teaching in an occupational education program in computer repair and networking. Being outside every day and solving problems are very satisfying aspects of my job. That includes solving issues with my equipment. I can't say enough good things about this pump. It is awesome. If my original one should break, it owes me nothing and will be replaced immediately. If that did happen, my clean oil unit would be immediately switched with my unit for use with dirty oil and then the new unit, once it arrives will be used with clean oil. I try to anticipate problems. That's one of the things that my boss likes about me. When he hired me, he let go of three others.So, get out there and get to work.....using this workhorse!

I really enjoy the Mityvac 7201 Fluid Evacuator Plus. I can't say that it makes changing the oil much quicker than using the drain plug or even that much neater but it certainly does make it easier.If you have a car with the oil filter located where you can access it without getting under the car, I would recommend the evacuator without hesitation. If you have to get under the car or truck to change the filter you might as well just drain the oil with the plug.I bought the evacuator about a year ago specifically for use on my 2007 Mercedes E320 Diesel which has the drain plug in a very awkward location. Since then I've used it about a dozen times on both the diesel and my 2002 E46 BMW 330i. I have never had a problem with the performance and my only complaint is that it does not have enough capacity for the Mercedes. This car holds 9 quarts of oil and I have to stop halfway through the evacuation and empty the reservoir. Once the evacuator has been filled, the film of dark oil clinging to the walls prevents seeing the oil level under any lighting conditions. So, I always evacuate about 3 quarts, empty the evacuator, and then evacuate the remainder. This is not a problem with the BMW since the evacuator can empty this car in one step.Before I purchased the evacuator I read some reviews that warned that their evacuator did not come with a gasket between the lid and the side walls. I took mine apart on arrival and it did not have a gasket either. However, the plastic parts fit tightly together and make an air tight seal. It is my theory that some of the people that could not get their evacuators to empty their crankcases have a problem with the length of the suction tube inside the evacuator. For the evacuator to work in pump mode, versus vacuum mode, there is a tube that extends to the bottom of the evacuator, much like drinking a milkshake through a straw, that allows you to pump out the evacuator contents. In my evacuator the tube has very little clearance with the bottom of the unit. I believe in some units the internal tube may actually touch the bottom of the evacuator and prevent or limit the vacuum pulled in the tank from drawing the oil through the suction tube. If you should order an evacuator and then find that it does not work (I suggest testing it in the sink first using water) you should try taking it apart and checking the internal tube length. There of course are many other reasons the units may not work but I thought this tip was worth passing along.Many other reviewers have commented on this as well but I also wanted mention that the unit works much better when the oil is warm. However, I changed my oil once on a 40° day when the oil was at ambient conditions and with a little patience I was able to suck every last drop out. So, it can be done but I would not recommend it.I also wanted to give a couple of tips on tubing. In my cars, the largest tube which will go down the dipsticks is ¼". I buy it in bulk at my local Ace hardware for $0.12 a foot. I only use the ¼" tube one time, discarding it after each use in order to prevent the introduction of dirt into the engine internals and also to avoid the mess of storing an oily piece of tubing. I feed the ¼" tube from the spool it is supplied on into the dipstick until it touches the bottom of the oil pan. I then cut the tubing off the roll, leaving about 6" of tube sticking out of the dipstick tube. I have shortened the length of the factory large diameter tube that is directly connected to the evacuator so that it reaches just from the evacuator when it is sitting within 1' of the fender to the dipstick. The 2 different size pieces of tube are then connected with the included rubber adapter. This gives me the shortest possible run of tubing with the largest diameter tubing possible for each section of the run. I have had very good success with this setup.I do not clean my evacuator after each use but I also don't leave oil in. I immediately switch it into pump mode and pump the oil, using only the large diameter tube, into a container to transport the oil for recycling. Once the evacuator is emptied I will stretch out the large diameter tube to a rag on the ground and allow the oil in the tube to gravity flow out over night. The tube can then be wrapped around the evacuator and it will snap into clips on the side of the unit. I don't like to use the drain plug on the top of the evacuator to empty it. The plug is difficult to get out even when lubed with oil and is it is difficult to pour the oil into other containers.The evacuator should allow you to change the oil with the minimum of mess possible. However no matter how careful I am, I always seem to drip or spray 1 or 2 drops of oil onto myself or the floor. This can be an improvement over the drain plug and pan method though. For example on my Explorer you must carefully control the flow from the drain plug or it comes out with such force that it splashes or sprays the under car components. With the evacuator you also don't have to worry about sloshing oil out of an open pan, oil splashing on the top of one of the closed-top funnel-type pans, or spilling when you transfer oil from a pan into another container.For those car enthusiasts who have a true passion for their cars and this type work, I would recommend having your oil tested periodically by a lab. I recommend Blackstone-labs. Their testing service is very affordable and they can help you determine the true required interval between oil changes for your driving habits and vehicle.For hard to find oils like the Mobil 1 Type M ESP used in all new diesel Mercedes, I would recommend mail ordering your oil from AVlube. This oil is available through the dealership and at Pep Boys but I have found it to be less expensive and more convenient to mail order the oil in bulk.Properly set up, I have found the evacuator to be an indispensible tool for service on my German cars.