Oil Drain Pan - Free

by ppowell14

12K73

Intro: Oil Drain Pan - Free

Hi All - This is my first Instructable and it's really simple. I've been changing my own oil for decades and have been using this simple free drain pan rather than the plastic ones that you can buy which are large and difficult to cleanup after use.

STEP 1: ​First - Select a Suitable Oil Bottle

    1. I use Castrol but any oil bottle which is 5 quarts will be fine for cars of most sizes
    2. Using a Utility Knife make a cut to start the process
      1. Be careful with utility knives when cutting plastic as they can easily slip and bite you

STEP 2:

  1. Using a slight up and down sawing motion cut parallel to the reinforced molding of the bottle
    1. Again be careful that the blade doesn't slip and cut you
      1. You can use a good pair of scissors instead of the knife to be really safe
    2. Continue cutting around the shape of the bottle until the center falls out
    3. You want to make the opening as large as possible while not weakening the structure of the bottle as it will be holding hot oil.

STEP 3: All Done

  1. You now have a very efficient oil drain pan which you can either reuse or wipe out and recycle

Enjoy !!

3 Comments

buck2217 8 years ago

I have had a commercial version of this for years, the only real difference is the side has a big screw cap with a grille unde (to catch the sump plug when you inevitably drop it) however this is good as a homemade cheapie (mine cost about 5 pounds 10 years ago)

discostu956 8 years ago

another one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas!! Very neat. It looks like it would be a lot easier to empty than the normal pans with those tiny little spouts as well. I'm either stuck emptying for 5 min, or spill oil everywhere trying to pour at half the normal accepted pouring rate! I just need to find a bigger than normal oil bottle do I don't over fill it