Folks who know me also know that I am always tinkering with something – cars, trucks, tractors, firearms, you name it. A few years ago a guy showed me how he could change fluids in his car using a vacuum siphon and I was intrigued but let it slide.
I recently went through all our old Toyotas and changed the transmission fluid to Valvoline Max Life and it dawned on me that it would be real nice to have a way to more precisely get the fluid right where I wanted it in the transmissions because I had slightly overfilled one car. Then I remembered the vacuum siphon and hopped on Amazon.
The EWK 6.5 liter (1.71 gallon) pneumatic or manual fluid extractor looked like just the tool for the job. I always pay close attention to reviews and this unit really had good ones – 277 reviews and a score of 4.4 out of 5 stars. That’s pretty good statistically – I like to get well past 30 reviews and the more the better.
At any rate, thanks to Amazon prime, I ordered it and the unit arrived two days later. I must say that I was impressed. The plastics are all well done and it worked like a charm.
In this next photo you can see the little adapter and hose extension that comes with the unit. They say three in the ad and the first hose is attached to the cap with a strain relief. The hose is about .39/.31 (OD/ID) and 39.3″ long. The other two hoses are basically extensions via a soft rubber connector. I am using the medium extension that is .26/.21 OD/ID) and also 39.3″ long. That diameter has worked fine for Toyota T-IV ATF, Valvoline Max Life ATF and also 10W30 engine oil. When I say it can suck, that is a compliment in this case 🙂
The next photo shows the pump handle and also the venturi vacuum generator. I have that air line on my dryer system and is running 90PSI off a 60 gallon IR two stage compressor. It really didn’t use too much air. No vacuum generator will win awards for air use but you don’t need to run it for very long – just while you are pumping the fluid out and that will probably be about 2-3 minutes for most engines and transmissions.
The first time I used it, I did so with an air line (it can use compressed air to create a venturi vacuum) . It actually pumped way faster than I realized and I had over a quart out of the car before I realized it. You can definitely reduce the air flow to reduce the vacuum – it was just faster than I thought it would be, which is good news.
I was so impressed that I used the extractor to remove all the ATF from a 94 Corolla in very short order. I let it pump until nothing else came out — no problem.
I recently needed to change the oil in my tractor – again, used the siphon and it drained it very quickly. This is noteworthy as I used the hand pump to create the vacuum and it really was effortless. This was also when it dawned on me I better take some photos 🙂 You can see it pulling out the 10W30 no problem at all.
In this next photo, you can see the unit with the hose cap off – it just twists off – and this is the pour spout to empty the unit also.
I’m still on my first set of hoses but they do have a variety of replacement hoses on Amazon in case you want just one hose or a set.
In summary, it’s a great unit. I’ve not had any problems at all and recommend it. Here’s the link one more time:
7/18/2023 Update: Still working just fine – it’s a lot dirtier from use but is still doing the job. A fellow did ask me if they have other sizes and the answer is “Yes”. Click here for the EWK store on Amazon.
6/28/2022 Update: Still working great. I’ve used this on cars, trucks, tractors and even to suck the hydraulic fluid completely out of my snow plow’s hydraulic fluid reservoir.
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