I just tried using a Pela pump for the first time to change the oil on my 2001 Fabia SDi, but it only extracted about half the quantity ( two and a bit litres) compared to the amount I get when draining from the sump plug. Our driveway is on a slope, so I had the front of the car below the rear as I didn't bother with the ramps. Might this adversely affect the process?

I just tried using a Pela pump for the first time to change the oil on my 2001 Fabia SDi, but it only extracted about half the quantity ( two and a bit litres) compared to the amount I get when draining from the sump plug. Our driveway is on a slope, so I had the front of the car below the rear as I didn't bother with the ramps. Might this adversely affect the process?

In short, yes.

Push the hose to the lowest point of the sump and try for level ground. It depends on the shape of the lower part of your sump. Some cars, the oil tends to sit towards the front of the sump, others the rear. No idea how your sump is shaped, but I guess if it tends to collect the oil toward the front AND you had the car sloped the same direction AND the hose was positioned towards the rear of the sump it could account for the lower quantity of oil you extracted.

I've used a Pela on mine and it did extract pretty much all the oil. Every 3rd oil change though I'd go for dropping it by the sump though, just to be sure of draining all suspended particles.

In short, yes.

Push the hose to the lowest point of the sump and try for level ground. It depends on the shape of the lower part of your sump. Some cars, the oil tends to sit towards the front of the sump, others the rear. No idea how your sump is shaped, but I guess if it tends to collect the oil toward the front AND you had the car sloped the same direction AND the hose was positioned towards the rear of the sump it could account for the lower quantity of oil you extracted.

I've used a Pela on mine and it did extract pretty much all the oil. Every 3rd oil change though I'd go for dropping it by the sump though, just to be sure of draining all suspended particles.

Ok, thanks for that. Next time I'll try it with the ramps to level the car off. I change the oil every 5k miles, so hopefully one interval with just half the oil changed won't do too much harm.

I managed to get just shy of 4L out of a 2.0 TDI, that was below half on the dipstick when I started.

Capacity for that is 4.2L and min to max on the dipstick is 1L.

It's worth also getting the oil out of the oil filter housing (My figure includes this).

I assume you warmed the car up before doing the service and left it to sit for a while.

Other things you must do are remove the fillrr cap and loosen the oil filter. Sounds obvious but I have seen people wonder why the oil isn't coming out so fast before.

I managed to get just shy of 4L out of a 2.0 TDI, that was below half on the dipstick when I started.

Capacity for that is 4.2L and min to max on the dipstick is 1L.

It's worth also getting the oil out of the oil filter housing (My figure includes this).

I assume you warmed the car up before doing the service and left it to sit for a while.

Other things you must do are remove the fillrr cap and loosen the oil filter. Sounds obvious but I have seen people wonder why the oil isn't coming out so fast before.

Thanks. Yes, I ran the engine for 5 minutes beforehand, and sucked out virtually all the oil from the filter housing. I couldn't really feel when pushing the tube down whether or not it was at the bottom of the sump, but it did go all the way in.

When I do mine next I am going to wait until after a decent drive when the engine oil in the sump is above 50 degrees, then put the front of the car up on ramps so the oil naturally drains back toward the sump plug. Then loosen the oil filter cap before undoing the sump plug too. I would hope to remove plenty that way.

Just used the pump for the second time, this time with the car facing uphill, and got 4 litres out, plus the oil filer and housing residue. So, good result.