Fumoto Valve

I'm pretty sure all the Fumoto valves require you to pull down on the valve before it will turn. Some have an additional add-on lock that keeps the valve from accidentally being moved down and turned.

My Fumoto came with a locking device. I must pull down on the handle before turning on. After closing the handle locks back in place. CAN NOT move the handle without pulling it down.

I have a Fumoto on my Ram and my Jeep. I think I'll take it off the truck because I have the dealer change the oil.

I use a Fumoto Valve on my Duramax.

As for drain time I open the Fumoto Valve first. Then I grease the ball joints etc. By the time I am done greasing the oil is completely drained.

I use the spring clip on the Valve to deter someone opening the Valve as pliers are required.

Safety clip

If your worried about it somehow popping open you can keep it locked with either one of the wire expanding hose clamps or fumoto sells a clip that does the same thing.

As one person mentioned, they were concerned that the drain plug location posed a possible hazard for road debris breaking it off. If that is the case, IMHO that's the only valid reason to not use it. I have seen some drain pans where I would be concerned.

And they sure let you keep your hands cleaner, engine bay cleaner, and less splash etc.

Both of my vehicles have them. A+ in my books.

I used a Fumoto when I was changing oil myself. Worked great. Does take longer. I just attached a hose to the nipple and fed it to the pan. No mess - ever. No lost drain bolt. etc.

I also added a stainless hose clamp for peace of mind so that the lever could not accidently get bumped into the 'drain' position. The horror story was 'what if a dog/coyote/alligator (I'm in Florida) wandered under the truck when it was parked and bumped the valve' ? Pretty remote possibility for sure but adding a hose clamp prevents the lever from moving.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
I'll chime in on this one too. I have them in all my vehicles, except the bikes. They are perfect for pulling oil samples for Blackstone Labs. I always made a mess with the truck because the oil just gushed out and I always dropped the plug in the hot oil.

Up to you but samples are supposed to be taken mid stream as the first oil has more contaminants.

I don't trust people, very easy to let all the oil out. I use a milk pail to drain oil with zero splash or spills.

Exactly, trying to get a sample from the gush of oil when the drain plug is pulled makes one heck of a mess. I open the Fumoto valve, let it run for a couple seconds, and can easily catch a sample mid stream with no muss, no fuss. That actually was the main reason I thought about the Fumoto valve in the first place. I send a sample off to Blackstone Labs at every oil change.

As an aside, I went over my usual oil change interval on the last one because we were out traveling. Did over 4500 miles instead of the usual 3500-4000 miles. But the Delvac did great. Blackstone said

"While it's impossible for there to be absolutely no bearing wear in 4,599 miles, it is possible for it to be so low that we can't measure it, and that's what we've got here."

Cummins just makes a fine engine.

fj12ryder wrote:
I'll chime in on this one too. I have them in all my vehicles, except the bikes. They are perfect for pulling oil samples for Blackstone Labs. I always made a mess with the truck because the oil just gushed out and I always dropped the plug in the hot oil.

Up to you but samples are supposed to be taken mid stream as the first oil has more contaminants.

I don't trust people, very easy to let all the oil out. I use a milk pail to drain oil with zero splash or spills.

otrfun wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:
. . . The only thing to consider is if the drain plug goes straight down and is unprotected then don't use the fumoto valve with the nipple on it. Otherwise use the fumoto valve with the longer nipple and slip a piece of tubing on it when you drain.

I guess I'll be the lone dissenter here. I really wanted to use one on our Cummins. All that splash from my first oil change was plenty of incentive to use one. But, I just couldn't bring myself to use one after seeing how open and vulnerable that oil pan area looked to me on our Cummins. I'm sure the odds of road debri dislodging a Fumoto are low. However, I've personally experienced how fast things go south when there's no oil in the engine---just seconds. Anywhoser, once I discovered a 3.5 gallon paint bucket works flawlessly for oil changes, I never gave the Fumoto another thought.

Yeah, I kind of thought that myself since I have a Fumoto valve on my Cummins. But the possibility of something smashing the valve off seemed to be remote enough to not be a worry. I tried using the bucket but still ended up dropping the drain plug in the bucket and had to fish it out. Once was all it took. :) Of course if I was doing any offroad excursions it would be a different story, but all my driving is on pavement.