do I need to empty all oil for valve adjustment?

[Trakrat]

Just curious if I can just drain the oil from the crankcase and leave the oil in the side tank when doing a valve adjustment??

I just recently changed the oil and don't really want to waste it all.

[rwest]

Some people jack one side up at a time and do the valves on the high side so there isn't any oil leaking out.

[JRSIII]

I'm pretty sure that unless your oil pump is super tight or you have one of those fancy check valves installed in the s-hose, your oil will drain from the tank to the crankcase anyway and you'll be dealing with a mess. Why not just drain it into a brand new, clean container and re-use it? Several threads on the forum about that.

[Gene Smith]

I have had good success jacking one side but I've adjusted the valves before. I would not have anything clean enough in my garage to consider re-using oil... The trick is to briefly run engine so scavenge pump drains sump into tank. Very briefly so as not to heat heads. 20 seconds at most. Then jack up one side. Be very sure to check tightness of rocker shafts. Also look at spaces between rocker shafts for oil. It is possible to have no leaks without seals or fancy rocker shaft kits but it takes patience. A good read before you start valve adjustment is the "backside method". It is very interesting although I still do it the original way.

[proporsche]

trakrat...basically do not worry too much.Lift the end put jack stands under your sway bar brackets for safety.
Drain the engine -that is all you have to do.Save the oil and after adjustment put it back in the car.
Lifting side to side take too much time when you can just drain it....always use new drain plug seal aluminium not copper...

Ivan

[OldSpool87]

Drain, save, reuse.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

^^^

Yep to what Ivan and BigWill(y) said - drain into clean container, and then filter through a paint strainer when adding it back to oil tank. I've always done that with any vehicle that had fresh oil in it that I needed to drain for some reason - no way am I throwing perfectly good juice away.

[cabmandone]

I have done it without draining but it's a bit more time consuming as you lift one side, adjust it and then do the other. Only hard part is keeping track of your rotation so you're sure which cylinder you're on.

[GregT2000]

It can be done without emptying any oil by jacking up the other side. I have done it that way, but found it a little harder than doing it level with the oil drained.

[Canada Kev]

I have done one side when I had a noisy valve after an adjustment. I could narrow it down to which side it was on by the sound and was pretty sure which cylinder it was. I just jacked up one side, and removed the wheel. Easy peasy and was done in a half hour.

However, if you're jacking for a full adjustment, just do 1, 2, 3, unjack then jack the other side then 6, 4, 5. Jacking one side then adjusting a cylinder and then jacking the other side and doing that one is dumb. Just do all of the one side, lower and then do the other. Just gotta keep track of what cylinder you're on so you don't mess it up.

For you, with your other valve adjustment questions recently and not a lot of experience, I'd recommend keeping it simple. Just drain your oil when it's time for a change and do the adjustment then.

[Hendog]

I have often jacked one side without draining any oil, adjusted the high side bank then did the same to the other side. Not an issue at all.

[T77911S]

no.
I have drained and saved it but ONLY for engine removal. you need really clean containers and trying to keep dirt out is a biggie.

I think I have done it both ways, jacked one side and not jacked one side.
when I know I need to pull valve covers I let the oil get low.
also don't let the car sit for days, more oil drains into the engine.

get the reusable gaskets

[JRSIII]

I bought one of these containers at Pep Boys for $7.99. It's 12 qt, has a wide mouth nozzle, and fits right under the drain plug on the oil tank. Alot cheaper than 10 qts of oil. That being said, it sounds like there are enough folks here that advocate the jacking up one side method to answer the OPs original question.

[Jesse16]

As everyone else is saying, doing one side at a time works just fine but I only did that once when I was uncertain I did a good/decent job. You might as well get comfortable knowing how to turn the engine to get to each cylinder and knowing the order. I always feel the rocker to make sure its loose as a double check. I try to do mine in conjunction with an oil change otherwise.

[Tippy]

Mine never loses that much oil. I jack the entire rear up and pull all 4 covers.

You guys sometimes over complicate things..... 😂

[nene]

I jack up my car one side at a time.

Why take the risk of draining the oil and have it pick up debris once you put it back.

[proporsche]

everybody does as they want..but i think it is a lot of wasting time to do one side at a time..just my professional opinion..that is all;-)

Ivan
nene...
where is the risk if you drain the engine in a clean container ???

[Trakrat]

Thanks all... I didn't want to try lifting each side, as it doesn't sounds very safe.

Well... I just drained it from the block... and left what was in the dry sump reservoir and it worked out fine.
I don't have anything clean to dump the oil in and don't really feel like trying to strain it through a filter.
Anyone have a guess to how much oil I drained out of the block only? I'd like to put a close amount back in before starting it and then let it warm up to get it at the correct level.

[proporsche]

any clean bucket will do for the draining the oil..use the one you or your wife uses at home;-)
When you drain the case it is about 3 liters of oil when cold.

Ivan

[proporsche]