I am SUPER embarrassed to be posting this, but I was draining the oil in my 2011 XC90 with an extractor pump through the dipstick tube, but when I retrieved the hose, it appeared to be cut on the end. It looks like a portion of the hose was cut off in the oil drain pan. I am not sure how much of it is missing. The dipstick still works exactly like it did before, so I know it is in the pan. How dangerous is this? I ran the engine after the oil change and it heated to temperature appropriately, and the engine sounded no different. Please help!!!

 

This same issue arose on the Honda Odyssey forum and the general consensus was no worries. But if it really bothers you then drain it via the drain plug and see if it comes out. Once the pan is done draining, and if it didn't come out, use a coat hanger or something similar to see if you can retrieve it. Did it have a metal tip on the end? If so a magnetic retriever may be of use also. Worst case scenario is drop the oil pan.

Quite frankly, especially now hearing of two such occurrences, I personally would never use an extractor. You have to get under the car to get to the oil filter so what are you really saving?

 

That's what I was figuring. Unfortunately, no metal end on it. I tried fishing it out before I refilled the car with oil, but couldn't find it. The reason I was using the extractor was because the oil filter is on top of the engine, near the dipstick. I was hoping to get away with not getting under the car if I didn't have to, but lesson learned! Thank you for your reply!

 

You mean "fortunately" it doesn't have any metal in it. The plastic tubing piece will probably get sucked up to the oil sump screen and never really do any damage. Metal on the other hand, could get tangled up in moving parts.

Can you tell us how this happened. Was it an old brittle piece of tubing that just broke off? Others out here that use that method also.

 

This is why I don't use vacuum pump for oil change.

The broken piece of plastic will do no harm, it will stay in the pan for the rest of its life. Or until the pan is removed for servicing.

 

It wasn't old or brittle, the tube was new. It was almost the exact diameter of the dipstick tube, so it was pretty snug on insertion. Then when to was time to remove the tube I started pulling and it gave some resistance, so I pulled harder and it came loose. Once I had retrieved all of the tubing, I could see that it had been cut off on the end.

I will definitely not be using it again, that's for sure!!!

THANK YOU ALL for taking the time to answer my question! I truly appreciate it!