Went to dealership...

Oil shouldn't be black yet. You will definitely be able to tell.

 

Once I watched my Tacoma being serviced from a good distance. The one thing I was able to see for sure was the tire rotation which was interesting. When my Tacoma was finished the paperwork had the amount of brake wear, front and rear. Since neither of the rear brake drums was removed the tech must have exceptional eye site, able to see the brake lining with out removing the drums.

 

Exactly..post a pic if you want

 

They had my truck up on a lift and I watched them rotate the left side tires front to back. They have large windows in the service area to allow customers to watch. I did not bother to watch them rotate the right side (the side facing away from view). When I got home I noticed that they did not rotate the right side. I always mark my tires. I called them when I got home and asked the service manager why they didn't rotate all the tires and was told the right side didn't need to be rotated. He offered me a free oil change. I told him what he can do with his oil change.
To all TW members in NY....Stay away from Prestige Toyota in Kingston!

 

Haha.. I stopped in there to look at the used options in Oct before finding my Taco at Freedom Ford. The sales guy was extremly nice....

 

I agree. Their sales people are very nice. Just stay away from their service dept.

 

I know they changed my oil... I just finished waxing and full engine detail the day before. Oil and greasy hand prints on the fender, steering wheel, and door handle. Oil in the filter reservoir and all over the engine and skid plate! Thanks stealership! Needless to say only their best wrenches will be changing oil!

 

In my experience, all of the dealers I have seen use the "35 psi" default. No matter what the vehicle actually calls for or if they were set correctly before, all come out at 35 psi.

 

There is an inspection plug on the backing plate to look at the brake lining on drum brakes.

 

When I had my Forester, I brought it to the Subaru dealership for one of the bigger services (cost over $300 and includes a tire rotation). The mechanic happened to be behind the service counter when I was picking up my keys and asked him, directly to his face, "did you rotate the tires"? He said "yes". I drove down the road and stopped to check...you guessed it...tires NOT rotated (I had marked the tire positions down before hand). I went back in and called him on it, and he just said "yeah bring it in and I'll rotate them if you want me to". No apology or anything for lying right to my face!

Another time I brought it in they did rotate them, but they did the front-rear rotate, not the cross pattern recommended by Subaru in my owners manual. Duh. Why not just do it correctly?

 

I was in the same boat you were in..... no removal of the drum, yet they know the remaining pad thickness.

They really do check the pad thickness. They can do it without removing the drums. There is a small rubber plug behind the drum on the axle side, favoring the front. The plug gets removed and the brake pad shoe edge is right there..... you can easily see how much shoe is left.

I know this, because I made a thread about the very same thing here a while back and 2 TW members who are Toyota techs pointed out how it can be done.

 

Just an update...i am deciding to let it slide for the time being. I checked oil at end of day and it was obviously fresh.

Next time it goes in for the 10k I am going to mark each tire with position and mark oil filter. I am going make mention of lack of rotation at 5k just to encourage some integrity. Just amazing that this even has to be done...

Will use them for length of Toyota Care but will likely get setup to do my own oil changes. Will have to shop around for a good independent mechanic too. Im gonna have a hard time trusting the service dept for bigger items down the road...

Thanks for all the advice. Learned a lot!

 

The one for adjusting the brakes? How can you see the brake linings from that?

 

No not that one.

The one on the forward side of the backing plate. It is there, Round Plug see the picture below.

 

I would like to remove the drum to clean out the brake dust. There are bolts used to back off the drum from the wheel. What size bolts are they?

 

Not sure about the size, but you need to back off the brake pad adjustment first.

Edit: I meant brake shoe adjustment....

 

Good point. I ordered the new Haynes Manuel. Maybe they will show the bolt size.

 

Just checked bolts that ive used over the years. Measures 8x1.25

 

Thanks for the info!

 

If you opt to change your own oil after Toyota Care, jut don't drain your transmission like many have done.