Argo 6x6 hd 650 - oil and filter change challenge!

HI ALL,

Changing the oil on my brand new 6x6 HD 650 was a too much of a challenge and I quit after two days or trying to do it myself.... the Manual should be used in a James Bond movies when he picks up is car from Q and shoots it to smithereens. Reverted to going back to the dealer to see how it's done. There's no two way about it....you need a to suck out the oil from the dip stick...This I tried with my hand pump that I use for my inboard-outboard Mercruise 3L engine. Just not enough suction power to do it. Also, you cannot get at the oil plug since it is hidden behind the tranny. Furthermore, one cannot easily remove the oil filter, even with tools purchased at Napa...where I found an oil filter for $20 Cnd. It was on special, reduced from $23...what a deal!

Anyway, back at the dealer, an hours drive from my place, they used a car gasoline pump fitted with 1/4 plastic tube hooked up to a 12 Volt battery to suck the oil. This works well and took about 15 minutes or so. Any vehicle gas pump will do and will now look to see if I can find one from the scrap yard instead of paying $150 for a new one. The dealer goes through at least two pumps a year as it klogs up with oil after many changes.. To change the filter, the mechanic removed the belt and the clutch (nothing mentioned in the manual about this) and used regular filter pliers to remove it.

I also tried to install a bilge pump, and again the instructions are wrong, my local dealer does not follow them. The hose of the bilge pump rubbed against the belt and broke. We changed it and it is now installed going to the front of the Argo and around the metal support before coming back to the exit hole on the passenger's side...avoiding belt and chains....:rofl:

Anyway, I guess it's live, learn and pay...the lesson cost $173 parts, oil and labour.....not counting my gas to get there and back...

Hope this post will save a few bucks to new owners of an HD 650.

I share your oil change pain after too many times pumping out 80% of the oil through the dipstick hole and loosing 20% through the sump drain into the bilge of my Argo Avenger.
My Avenger has a 25 hp Kohler and the drain plug is on the front of the engine, but underneath the starter where it is impossible to see. In addition there is no room under the drain to put a pan to catch the oil. (I have used Zip-Lock bag for this but they are hard to hold in place and still messy.)

To solve this problem I removed the drain plug (using a mirror and socket wrench one last time) and replaced it with a brass hose barb with a 3/8” MIP thread. Then I attached a four foot length of neoprene hose to the barb and secured it with a hose clamp. The loose end of the neoprene hose leads up the front of the engine compartment and lays over the top of the air plenum alongside the rad. It’s higher than the oil pan so no oil will run out, but to be safe I attached a second hose barb with a screw on brass cap to close the loose end. This second hose barb is the correct size to fit my hand pump.

When it’s time to change the oil I remove the brass cap, attach my pump and bingo all of the oil comes out without any mess. It works better if the engine oil is hot as the oil is thinner and easy to pump.

Mityvac evacuator works well. Around $90 at Napa.

9-1/2 Litre Pneumatic/Manual Fluid Extractor | Princess Auto

These things are awesome. It works by hand pump or compressed air. Very simaler to a Mityvac (also avalible on Amazon)

As Avenger Bob mentioned I used a hose screwed into the drain but I had a wire beaded hydraulic hose made up ($22 at a hose shop) and screwed a ball valve on the outside end to hook to my sucker pump, same as the oil drain on my welder. Before rigging this in my welder every time I changed the oil it never failed, I'd spill oil all over in the back of my truck, now not a drop! I still plug the valve just to make sure theirs no way I might loose my motor oil. To pull the filter I fashened a plastic catch pan and when I back off the filter the oil goes into the little pan and I suck it out with the vac pump and theirs next to no oil spilled. Those sucker vac pumps are also great for sucking out the Argo tranny, truck diffs, power steering pumps, bleeding brakes, sucking out radiators, anything your servicing so it's not a one use pump.

When we owned an Avenger we had to suck out the oil too. The previous owner(s) messed up the drain bolt ugly. I would have had to remove the engine to get the drain plug out.
Instead we used a wet-dry shop vac sucking the oil into a jug. Slow process but got it several time.

I worked at a small engine shop for a while and we came up with a fairly smart way to drain oil. We used a vacuum pump (we had electric but I now use air) this was hooked to the TOP of an old freon tank (I now use an old propane tank!). There was a valve on the bottom that was used to drain the oil out, and a second valve high on the side that was connected to a long section of 1/2" fuel line with about a 2' piece of 1/4" OD hard plastic tubing on the other end. We used it to suck the oil out of every mower that came in the shop, never once pulled a drain plug. Worked like a charm then and mine at home continues to work today. I use the same air vacuum pump for this as I use to repair car AC units. They sell them through harbor freight very inexpensively an they have NPT connections so its easy to convert back and forth.

Jason