any time I get things packed in large zip bags from McMaster, I save them
Same here, I got a whole drawer dedicated just for storing Mcmaster bags.
How Clean Should a Funnel Be?
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Same here, I got a whole drawer dedicated just for storing Mcmaster bags.
joshmodelskidoo
Well-known member
I just wipe them before and after with a garage paper towel not the white household paper towels. I rip a towel down and pull it through and store the rest of the towel in the funnel to help keep debris out
This I have a funnel for oil, antifreeze, power steering then I use a custom made vacuum bag for an atf funnel than I roll up and clip it shut. Keeps the dust and **** off and if a little different oil mixes I think life goes on.
JRC3
Well-known member
One of the best things I ever bought. Wish I had done it sooner.
Here's a 25% promo code for Advance Auto. HJS3BX https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...nel-lis24680/11622594-P?searchTerm=spill+free
the intimidator
Well-known member
I'm in the camp of bang em out and a quick wipe with a rag before use is good enough!! although I have cringed at the funnels I've seen farmers use I'm not sure banging them out does much but apparently that's what oil filters are for 
my funnels sit in the drain pail after I've used them except for the service truck ones I've banged snow out and proceeded to use them hundreds of times a small bit of coolant or water turns to steam rather quickly in a engine imo
my funnels sit in the drain pail after I've used them except for the service truck ones I've banged snow out and proceeded to use them hundreds of times a small bit of coolant or water turns to steam rather quickly in a engine imo the intimidator
Well-known member
One of the best things I ever bought. Wish I had done it sooner.
Here's a 25% promo code for Advance Auto. HJS3BX https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...nel-lis24680/11622594-P?searchTerm=spill+free
be warned the black "lid' part of that funnel is not a high temp item!!! I was using one of those to burp a new water pump install on a hemi truck thought the lid might be handy to contain the splash and it melted down to about half it's original size/shape
demarpaint
Well-known member
For funnels used in oil or ATF, I clean them before and after each use, and store them in a sealed plastic bag. Coolant funnels get rinsed before and after each use and stored the same way.
nitroracer20
Well-known member
Ive transitioned to paper funnels. Toss em when your done. Save your time and brake cleaner!
BDT/NWMN
Well-known member
Dedicated file cabinet drawer is lined with paper towels. Dedicated funnels are briefly wiped out before being returned to their dedicated spot in that drawer.
PhantomEB
Well-known member
Spotless. I usually swish mine around in the parts washer after. Still use a lint free rag before use.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
My funnels are kept in a bucket with a piddle pad in the bottom to help soak up the dipping. If one looks dirty when I go to use it since they are stored in the open, I hit it with some brake clean and carry on.
Haven’t read all the replies but these funnels are great:
http://store.cleanfunnel.com/
Get the real deal.
Just checked the website, doesn’t seem to be working. Probably another Chinese casualty.
http://store.cleanfunnel.com/
Get the real deal.
Just checked the website, doesn’t seem to be working. Probably another Chinese casualty.
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Jeepster04
Well-known member
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And I thought I was picky about my funnels.... Ill let them drain for a bit then wipe them out and hang them on the peg board. Before I use them Ill wipe them out again and away we go. I don't intermix funnels at all. Transmission funnel gets ATF and I've got my favorite funnel for engine oil.
Never used a funnel for antifreeze but I did get the 'burp' funnel for christmas. Eager to give it a try but I've never had an issue burping a cooling system.... Just wanted it.
Never used a funnel for antifreeze but I did get the 'burp' funnel for christmas. Eager to give it a try but I've never had an issue burping a cooling system.... Just wanted it.
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MikeF2316
Well-known member
I hit mine with a little brake cleaner, then a clean rag or paper towel, then a little more brake cleaner to rinse out any lint from the rag. Then let it dry.
I have a funnel holder that allows them to be stacked above the used oil barrel. Any excess oil slowly drips down through the funnels and into the barrel.
Cleaning depends what I'm doing. Adding oil during a change, a shot of Brakleen and blue paper towel.
Cleaning depends what I'm doing. Adding oil during a change, a shot of Brakleen and blue paper towel.
BrandoJames
Well-known member
Easiest thing for me: I have color-coded funnels, lol.
Black = Oil; Red = ATF; Blue = Coolant; White = Brake Fluid. The Blue Coolant funnel pulls double-duty for windshield wiper fluid. But I rinse/dry all of these before & after I use them.
Black = Oil; Red = ATF; Blue = Coolant; White = Brake Fluid. The Blue Coolant funnel pulls double-duty for windshield wiper fluid. But I rinse/dry all of these before & after I use them.
JRC3
Well-known member
BrandoJames
Well-known member
Why not buy a yellow one for coolant. It's absolutely insane to use a blue one.
Whoa, my coolant isn't yellow. Toyota Factory Red for my '02 Camry, while my wife's '10 Corolla uses the newer Toyota Factory Pink coolant.
I could switch both vehicles over to Honda Blue Coolant to match my funnel! Problem solved.
JRC3
Well-known member
But yellow is more universal for coolant. Even look at the coolant filler kit I posted early (yellow components, but clear funnel for sight), other brands are also yellow. Not using a yellow funnel will void your factory drivetrain warranty. It will also give you cancer.
BrandoJames
Well-known member
Isn’t the universal coolant = Green IAT (that gunk probably will kill you). The Yellow coolant sounds like Ford Motorcraft Gold, which I ran in my ’09 Ford Ranger. I gave that truck to my son when he graduated med school. His Camry needed work, so we switched vehicles.
One of the YouTube mechanics (maybe FlatRate Master) said that if he was forced to pick just one coolant to use as a universal, he’d choose Ford Motorcraft Gold. He said that would do a much better job across different makes/models than the green IAT.
JRC3
Well-known member
Just tell me you're gonna buy a yellow funnel for coolant...I need to sleep at night. LOL
jgromada
Well-known member
i keep a long one in my BMW to fill power steering fluid so it sits in a plastic bag after use
Ones i use to pour oil for instance are kept so debris can't collect. If i see an particulate matter on it I wash it out and throughly dry it
Ones i use to pour oil for instance are kept so debris can't collect. If i see an particulate matter on it I wash it out and throughly dry it
BrandoJames
Well-known member
Ah ok, yellow funnel added to my shopping list. Now I'll need to buy a new Ford truck to go with it. See what you did.
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rsanter
Well-known member
I put mine in a big ziplock to keep them clean between uses. Then they go into the bucket
VinceG
Well-known member
Just use them once and throw them out
It's the American way
demarpaint
Well-known member
I clean and dry mine after each use and store them in an airtight plastic bag.
Geez, the efforts some of you are putting into this...
I generally just give it a quick wipe - mostly so it doesn't drip (too much) oil or whatever onto my shelf than to keep the funnel clean. Then next time I go to use it I look at it and see if there's a bunch of dust or residue sitting inside. If so, I might wipe that off. Other than that, its ready for use.
The amount of mixing of chemicals that might happen between a funnel that's been wiped out and the new fluid is miniscule. Especially since the funnel has probably sat there for several days in-between, giving any residue a chance to drip out. Using your funnels more often than that? Get more funnels.
This reminds me of another thing I've wondered about. I have heard multiple people say to rub some CLEAN oil around the rubber gasket of your oil filter before install. Why would it need to be clean?! It doesn't go back into your engine.
I sometimes just touch the new filter's rubber to the old filter's rubber. That way my finger doesn't even get dirty.
If the old oil is all gummy, black, sooty, gritty or whatever, sure, that could compromise the seal I suppose. But if your engine is healthy and you change the oil on time, it doesn't even look that dirty coming out. I don't see the problem.
I generally just give it a quick wipe - mostly so it doesn't drip (too much) oil or whatever onto my shelf than to keep the funnel clean. Then next time I go to use it I look at it and see if there's a bunch of dust or residue sitting inside. If so, I might wipe that off. Other than that, its ready for use.
The amount of mixing of chemicals that might happen between a funnel that's been wiped out and the new fluid is miniscule. Especially since the funnel has probably sat there for several days in-between, giving any residue a chance to drip out. Using your funnels more often than that? Get more funnels.
This reminds me of another thing I've wondered about. I have heard multiple people say to rub some CLEAN oil around the rubber gasket of your oil filter before install. Why would it need to be clean?! It doesn't go back into your engine.
I sometimes just touch the new filter's rubber to the old filter's rubber. That way my finger doesn't even get dirty.
If the old oil is all gummy, black, sooty, gritty or whatever, sure, that could compromise the seal I suppose. But if your engine is healthy and you change the oil on time, it doesn't even look that dirty coming out. I don't see the problem.
rlitman
Well-known member
The difference is this. In gasoline engines, used oil is carcinogenic. Feel free to rub used oil on the gasket, but do so with gloved fingers (which wastes a pair of gloves for me, so I use clean oil), unless you're working on a diesel.
My oil change procedure is this (this should explain what I'm talking about):
Open fill cap, and replace very loosely (I always open fill caps before draining, but put it back in place to prevent anything from falling in, since I work under a tree).
Glove up and pull drain plug.
Remove old filter and place face down into drain tray.
Replace drain plug, and clean up drips.
Remove my oily gloves.
With clean hands, I can take the clean filter out of the box, go to the shelf and open a new oil bottle, dip my finger and oil the gasket. It just doesn't make sense for me to put new gloves on to save that single drop of oil, or get the outside of the filter oily before it's been installed. Especially since I'll be opening a new bottle to fill the oil momentarily anyway, and a new full bottle always has an oil level my finger can easily reach.
Now if you're working in a shop with a dispensing gun, maybe you do things differently.
degree of cleanliness needs to be proportional to the amount of damage that x amount of chemical X could do to the next thing it is used for
trans. oil to motor is different than pesticide to your kids' food
sounds like some of you work in an ****ytical chemistry lab
trans. oil to motor is different than pesticide to your kids' food
sounds like some of you work in an ****ytical chemistry lab
APEowner
Well-known member
For automotive work dirt is a bigger issue than fluid cross contamination. A little bit of coolant in any of the oil systems will burn off as soon as the system reaches temp and a touch of oil in the coolant won't hurt anything either. However, it doesn't take much dirt to hurt any of the systems that use oil.
After each use, my shop funnels are quickly wiped down with a paper towel inside and out before being put away. I keep all my funnels, manual fluid transfer pumps, form-a-funnels, and gearbox suction/filler hand pumps in a shop file cabinet drawer, so they remain protected from dust and shop grime between uses.
That setup works well for me, because I have about 20 funnels in my file drawer, I use a funnel about 3 times per week on average, and I usually don't use the same funnel for two jobs in a row. If I had a couple funnels that were being used constantly, I would probably have them set up like many others have shown, where they sit on a peg out in the open at all times, and drain into a waste oil bucket or barrel.
That setup works well for me, because I have about 20 funnels in my file drawer, I use a funnel about 3 times per week on average, and I usually don't use the same funnel for two jobs in a row. If I had a couple funnels that were being used constantly, I would probably have them set up like many others have shown, where they sit on a peg out in the open at all times, and drain into a waste oil bucket or barrel.
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Shiftless
Well-known member
In my old garage I put a special port through the wall so I could rinse my funnel out with a proprietary cleaning solution.
“YOU’RE IN” good company with that convenient garage fixture.
Miss the Pontiacs
Well-known member
Generally just a quick wipe out followed by a visual inspection. One I use for adding oil during changes is a plastic quart/litre oil container.with the base cut out and the cap is missing. That one is special I store it in one of my old socks and put in my oil change box. Actually I have a couple of smaller funnels I also store in socks.
demarpaint
Well-known member
For the amount of time it takes me to clean my oil change funnel and put it in a plastic bag, there's absolutely no reason not to. I see no point in accidentally adding something abrasive to the oil when cleaning my funnel is so simple. I realize oil is filtered in most applications, but when you add it to an engine it has to make its way from the sump through the pump to get filtered. Why chance it?