Oshin11

Is it possible? Its supposed to be a lot more efficient if you run the car to heat up the oil but is it possible to do a cold drain? It would be left to drain for 48 hours and the valve covers would also be removed, I would think this would drain all the oil but not sure. What do you think?

CharlesJones

I've drained my oil from cold with no apparent problems. However, I've heard that ideally it is likely to be better to do when warm partly because all the bits of crud and dirt are still in suspension in the oil, and so drain out with the oil. If the oil is allowed to cool first a lot of the sludge and crud will settle, and so less of it comes out with the oil.

old man neri

Yes, 48hrs is more than plenty to drain the oil out. Remember, no matter what you do there is still going to be a few quarts of oil in there.

KCPSG

just out of curiosity....why do you want to drain it cold. Why not take the car for a little drive then change the oil?

Mike Murphy

Of course you can drain it cold. It will take a lot longer and you won't get at much out. A lot of people try to drain the oil cooling lines and oil cooler to get it all out, but the best approach is to just change your oil frequently. It achieves the same end result - long engine life.

3.2SLANTNOSE

Sure, the oil can be drained cold. You will not benefit as much as far as getting the crap out of the engine, as you would from the oil being warm/hot. Cold oil will leave a lot more of the crap that will have settled after cooling down. To sum it up. Can it be done? Sure. Would I recommend doing it this way? NO.

Oshin11

It is because my car is in many pieces. Muffler is out as well as the distributor and plug wires. I guess I could put in the plug wires and the distributor but I dont think I want to turn the car on minus the muffler hahaha.

Ian Ledger

I have a granite green coupé of 1987 vintage. Lovely grey colour! I cannot see, if the car runs , why one would think of changing the oil cold. If it cannot be run, cold seems the best option. Just to add my voice to contravercy I use Mobil 1 0/40, seems fine at 250000 km
Ian

JBO

If the junk settles to the bottom, and you are draining from the bottom of the engine and oil tank, it does not seem to me that it would make much difference, other than the oil draining faster if its warm.

Mike Murphy

Yes, the junk settles to the bottom - but on most cars, the oil plug is usually flush with the oil pan, so oil on the very bottom surface will have a difficult time running out. Since this is where all the junk is, you actually want to mix it all up and then drain it out.

The 911 has a tank with a plug at the bottom, so this is not a big problem, but the 2nd oil drain in on the engine block, which is flush with the oil pan. So it's best to start the engine and warm the oil in this case.