Removing excess engine oil from 6.9

[p. rex]

Hello all,

My shop put too much oil in my 6.9.  They confirmed that they understood how the dry sump system worked, so I think maybe they measured the level right after the coolant reached temperature, before the block and the oil had really warmed up.  800 pounds of iron and 12 quarts of oil takes longer than most folks expect.  Anyway, it's a good inch over the max mark.  The car runs just fine, but I want to lower the oil level before I set off on a big road trip tomorrow.  I am thinking I will just hoover the extra oil up through the fender storage tank with a turkey baster, since I do not want to mess with the several oil drain bungs.  Any reason why this shouldn't work?  Should I be wary of doing it with the engine running, if I can't get enough oil out with the engine on?  I know the tank is enormous and the baster is unlikely to get anywhere near the oil suction inlets at the bottom.

[daantjie]

The dry sump tank has it's own drain plug just tap some from there.

[TJ 450]

I wouldn't be concerned about sucking some out. Just warm it up to lower the viscosity and go for gold. I would kill the ignition though.

I wouldn't open the drain plug on the tank as it will be messy.

Tim

[oversize]

Suck it out should be fine just don't drop anything in there!  Be careful with the tank plug since an overtightened, partially rounded, or corroded plug can easily present a big problem.  I keep some spares since you never know if they'll go NLA....

[p. rex]

oversize, I assume you're talking about the oil tank drain plug?  Is it an odd size?  If so, I'll probably order a couple of spares, just to have them.

One of these days, I am going to have to do the oil supply hoses.  I am NOT looking forward to that.  I'm not sure if they're all NLA, but certainly at least one or two of them are, and whatever's still available is going to cost an arm and a leg, even in the US.  One more thing for the to-do list...

[daantjie]

Heads up on those 3 hoses. They are on there EXTREMELY tight due to rust. You have to remove the tank and do this on the bench. Lots of heat is usually required which may destroy the rubber anyway.

[raueda1]

Heads up on those 3 hoses. They are on there EXTREMELY tight due to rust. You have to remove the tank and do this on the bench. Lots of heat is usually required which may destroy the rubber anyway.

^^This.  I just went through this on 2 cars.  Both were exactly the same.  The heat required will burn the hose, for sure. Save yourself grief and just remove the tank at the start.  Otherwise you'll just end up removing it anyway, but only after losing skin and almost certainly damaging the fittings.  Don't hesitate to cut the hoses to get the tank free.  Measure lengths before you do though.  They're slightly different.  With hoses cut you can probably unthread the anodized ferrule off the fitting by hand and the hose along with it.

If you take care to salvage the fittings they can be reused.  Put the hose itself in a vise and protect the ferrule with a good layer of duct tape.  The ferrule can then be unscrewed from the hose with curved vise grips without damaging the ferrule.   The hose itself is relatively cheap.  I've seen replacements on the interwebs offered from time to time and they're horrendously expensive.  See thread below for more info.  Good luck!
https://forum.w116.org/mechanicals/6-9-oil-tank-hoses-and-related-issues/

[UTn_boy]

oversize, I assume you're talking about the oil tank drain plug?  Is it an odd size?  If so, I'll probably order a couple of spares, just to have them.

One of these days, I am going to have to do the oil supply hoses.  I am NOT looking forward to that.  I'm not sure if they're all NLA, but certainly at least one or two of them are, and whatever's still available is going to cost an arm and a leg, even in the US.  One more thing for the to-do list...

The oil hoses going from the oil tank to the oil pan aren't available separately, and they never were.  They all come together.....all three of them.  They are still available, part number 100-180-00-82.  Current list price is $565, and wholesale is around $398. 

If your 6.9 happens to have an oil cooler on the left side of the radiator there are two more oil lines for that.  The top one is no longer available, but the bottom one is.....with a list price of $735 and a wholesale price of around $520. 

[p. rex]

I stopped by the shop that overfilled the oil on the way out of town and we pulled the excess oil out of the overflow tank with a homemade hand-pumped tool that the shop had.  Much quicker and easier than doing it myself.

As for the hoses — it must be a symptom of 6.9 ownership that around $400 wholesale for the set of three doesn't sound so bad.  Mine is a US car, so no oil cooler.  It's probably a job for next year.  I haven't heard of these hoses failing, but one of them quitting would be bad enough that it should be done eventually.  Fun times.