Oil change, crush washer gasket tearing up.

So I just did my first self oil change on my new 22 limited tonight. I took the crush washer off from the factory and it looked perfectly fine. I went to put my new OEM one on and went to tighten to the 30ft/lbs t spec and the new gasket was completely crushed to a metal disc with the fibrous parts falling off.

I wasn't too confident as its ability to hold in the oil so I took it back off put another gasket on tried to torque that one up it also crushed super flat, tore into 2 parts in fact, before I even heard my torque wrench click. I took that one off, had to take some pliers to twist part of the washer that got stuck on the threads, took another one and tightened it up just till the Crush washer started to deform, a light bit of flexing around the outside but otherwise intact.

I went and did a quick drive around the block after I finished doing the whole oil change and so far I don't see any drops under it still seems dry but I'm super leery about that Crush washer now.

 

30ft lbs is the spec, but I don't recommend it. 25ft lbs max.

Daily I use a standard wrench and snug. I never tear the oem gaskets.

It's fine either way, the blue gaskets can handle the abuse and rarely leak. Don't stress it.

 

Never had an issue with the OEM gasket with the blue fiber coating, but I just snug it down. The dealer I go to provides an aftermarket gasket free with the filter, it has a black plastic like rubber coating. I like the cheap aftermarket better, it doesn't stick to the pan like the OEM does.

 

Do not drive it.

Have it towed to the dealer immediately and have a qualified tech do a proper oil change on it.

Smh.

 

damn dude I remember reading about you getting your truck a couple days before mine. How many miles you got on it?

 

Are you sure your torque wrench is accurate? Is it the right torque wrench for the job? I have had zero issues with my crush washers on any of my services.

 

Already put 2k on it. Wanted to go ahead and get the factory oil out in case of any break in shavings and honestly just wanted to familiarize myself with the process.
Went perfectly smooth aside from me tearing up these couple of crush washers from trying to put the accurate amount of torque on it.

 

Try applying oil to both washer surfaces. I do the same with the oil filter gasket (but I have a 2nd gen).

 

I've had it for a year now and only used it a handful of times, and made a point of dialing down the setting each time I'm done so it wouldn't get out of wack but I won't rule out it may have gotten out of calibration.

 

On the torque scale, are you at the bottom or toward the middle. If you are using a 250ft lb wrench and the lowest setting is 25 then this really isn't the correct wrench. You want one that puts the torque more middle to higher end of the scale. The low end of the scale is not the most accurate.

 

Torque wrenches have many useful purposes. Oil drain plugs isn't really one of them. Yes, all bolts have a 'spec', but it gives engineers something to do.

Run it up snug + 1/4 turn or so and it will be fine.

Yes, I'm one of those guys who don't change the gasket either. Yet miraculously it never leaks.

 

5 years without changing. Torqued to spec each time and had zero leaks.

My wife's Subaru, needs to be changed everytime or it leaks

 

30 ftlb should barely crush the washer. Something is wrong here...

 

Tacoma + a Subawooo? Exactly same combo here too.

 

Honestly many people don’t even use the crush washers.

 

I would get a new washer and pull the drain plug. If you have a helper put a rag over hole while you swap washers you will lose less oil. However, extra oil is a cheap price to pay for doing the job correctly. I finger tighten the drain plug then snug it down with a box wrench. I never have had a leak in 50 years.

Couple of questions. Are you sure you are using the correct washer size? I never have had to use pliers to get the washer to move along the threads. Also, since you said this is your first oil change on the Tacoma. If you have a V6, did you put the O-ring on the correct slot on the filter housing?

 

Yep to the o-rings.
As for the washer I'm using OEM genuine parts. I had to use pliers because the 2nd washer I used had metal that was stuck on the drain plug.
So far this all sounds like I just need a new torque wrench or get mine re calibrated.

 

In my former life (before retiring) part of my job was to take care of all instrument calibration where I worked. I can tell you that torque wrenches were the worst pieces of equipment to keep in calibration. If you have a cheap one like Harbor Freight, Craftsman, and the like they will most likely be out of calibration in no time. We finally got to the point where we bought a torque gauge that was calibrated every six months and the rule was that the technicians were to check the calibration of the torque wrenches at the beginning of each use. They were supposed to lower the settings on the wrenches to zero when done using them to prevent the springs from taking a memory. By the time I retired the company was only purchasing the stupid expensive torque wrenches and we still had some issues with them.

 

Get a fumoto valve. Screw it in, 1/4 turn after it’s tight, and never deal with this again.

 

I saw those in another thread! Definitely going to be checking to going that route.