Oil change screw ups

I'm a rookie when it comes to working on vehicles, but there's no way to learn to swim without jumping into water. I had a messy but presumably successful oil change (second time), so I thought I'd document some gotchas and ask others to see what comments they had, especially with regards to my screw-ups.

1. Finding the drain plug

Yeah, this one should have been easy, considering this was my second oil change. For some reason I didn't remember it.

I have the TRD Pro skid, and it has a nice hole right where the engine oil drain plug is. At first I was tempted to pull the transmission drain plug, but I figured I should verify with the internet, and found this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/transmission-plug-vs-oil-plug-v6.757041/ – Phew. That would have been a mess. I'm amazed the OP's vehicle ran fine without warning lights.

Anyway, here's where the actual oil drain plug on the TRD Pro skid lies, in case anyone finds this thread and wants confirmation. Most videos on the internet are shot from an angle, so I thought this photo would be useful:




2. Glad I didn't trust myself to be mess-free

I live in an apartment, and most leases in USA do not let you change vehicle fluids in the apartment parking. I hate this rule, but I can understand why: rookie oil changes are messy. A little diligence goes a long way, though, and I still disagree with the blanket ban. Anyway, I don't have money to buy a house so I can't complain and should find alternatives.

I did my oil change in a friend's garage. To be extra careful not to ruin his flooring, I drove my truck on a large heavy duty tarp. Yes, I made a mess, but it was all on the tarp and nothing shop towels couldn't absorb. I used about half a roll of shop towels. His flooring remained unharmed.

3. A note to wear gloves next time

I told myself, come on, yes it might be carcinogenic but how bad can it be if I do it once or twice without gloves. It probably didn't give me cancer, but I still smell of oil two hours after the change. It's not a good feeling, and it's probably wise anyway to avoid unpleasant substances. Next time I'm carrying some nitrile gloves, nothing fancy that costs unnecessary dollars.

4. Torque mess up on the filter housing

The last time I did an oil change, I had a cowboy friend with loads of experience fixing stuff supervise me. I tried to pull out my torque wrench to tighten the filter housing and he was like "Nobody I know uses a torque wrench, you should know by feel." I yielded to him and cranked without a torque wrench. Few moments later he was like "Whoaaa you tightened that way too hard. Stop." Yes, experienced people know when to stop, but I did not. What I had done last time was to tighten the silver drain-access plug to the filter cartridge way too hard.

I paid the price this time, when I tried to open the silver plug, the entire housing cartridge started spinning. I knew something was wrong, but proceeded anyway seeing no alternative, only to have all the oil spill out from the housing on my hand and tarp. The silver plug should be tightened with 9.5 ± 2 ft-lb of torque (according to OEM filter box) whereas the housing itself is spec'd at 18 ft-lb (number from here). Because of this, I was also unable to swap out the small O-Ring sealing this plug. I do 5k-mile oil changes, so it should come around quickly.

Question: Does anyone know how I can fix this situation at the next oil change?

The only "safe" possibility I can think of is to buy a new filter housing, since the torque on the silver plug is more than 18 ft-lb. (I tried the silver plug after installing the housing back at the right torque and it spun the housing again) I'm open to good ideas.

5. Refilling the engine oil

I had two different sub-variants of Mobil 1 0W-20 on hand which I mixed. One was bought off of Amazon.com, so I'd hesitated to use it the first time. This time I said come on, it's probably genuine. At least my engine runs fine on this oil. I will always buy oil from a physical store moving forward for my peace of mind.

I used a 1L plastic measuring jug I bought off of Wal-Mart for something like 95¢ to measure the extra 1.1L (1.2 quarts) after emptying a 5 quart jug of oil. The level was right in the middle of the dipstick when I checked after the oil change.

6. Problematic-looking O-Ring installation

I don't know if I checked last time, but this time, I ended up with the O-Ring sealing the housing looking like below at the end of the oil change, i.e. the O-ring is not conforming but flares out on two ends at least. I don't know if I messed something up or this is normal. In either event, there's no oil leaks (yet).




7. Is the drain plug a metal crush-washer or does it have some fiber gasket?

When I went to put back the drain plug, this set of instructions recommended that I should put a new gasket. What gasket? I didn't even see one when I pulled the drain plug. I looked if it was stuck to the pan and there was nothing I could tell. My drain plug fell into the drain pan, so it's hard to tell if something got lost there.

What I have for a drain plug seems like a flange bolt with a metal washer on it. Is there supposed to be a gasket? In any case, I torqued it to 30 ft-lbs and there are no leaks (yet)

8. Is my engine running?

Yes. I managed to drive home about 15 miles with no trouble. So I guess I did okay, at least not too bad.

 

You can try tightening up the filter housing and using a long ratchet for leverage to loosen the silver plug. Some are too tight from the factory.

1. Oil drain bolt gasket part #

$14 90430-12031 Genuine Toyota - Oil Drain Plug Gaskets (QTY10)

90430-12031
2. Keep a spare oil filter housing just in case part # 1562036020
3. Oil filter housing silver plug part #

$44 15643-31050 Genuine OEM Toyota New Oil Filter Housing Cap + Plug 15620-31060 15643-31050

15643-31050
4. Hand tighten and a little more is sufficient.


https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-diy-maintenance-quick-reference.406712/

 

I'm not mechanically inclined, but I can at least do the oil change on my truck. It's lifted 2" with 33" tires so I have an extra ~3-ish inches of clearance over when it was stock so I can fit under there without jacking it up. Every time I've done an oil change (which is probably 5 times now since it's at 36k miles and 2 of them were from Toyota), something's gone wrong. The most recent one, I unscrewed the drain plug and went to loosen it off the oil pan but I always try to rush my hand away from the inevitable oil gushing out of there. This time, I dropped the drain plug on the trd skid plate itself so it was between my frame and the top side of the skid. I figured I'd fetch it out of there once the oil is done draining, only I completely forgot that it was stuck up there. I spent 15 minutes of waning sunlight trying to find the damn plug until I shined my flash light between the frame and skid and found it.

The oil change before that, I couldn't undo that small silver plate under the filter housing (the silver one in your second photo) so I just undid the entire housing without draining it first. I've yet to unbolt that round plate from the housing and I guess I won't ever at this point. My friend tells me he's never unbolted that plate from his Toyota.

Before that, I went to do the oil change but the drain plug and filter housing were so damn tight, I couldn't loosen it and of course I let my friend borrow my breaker bar. The damn toyota techs must've overtightened the damn things because they were the last ones to do an oil change. I didn't know wtf to do but when I told my friend about it, he told me to grab the long arm/pole from my floor jack and insert the wrench into the hole of the pole and start wrenching on the plug and the filter housing. He basically had me using the jack arm as a make shift breaker bar.

And every time I've done my oil change, I spend 10+ minutes blindly trying to undo the drain plug gasket that always gets stuck to the oil pan. The worst part is, with the TRD skid, I can't really see the gasket unless I'm looking directly under the cutout from the skid for the drain plug which would mean oil dripping directly onto my eye.

I don't know how everyone does it when they say they can do an oil change in 20 minutes. It always ends up being a 2 hour ordeal for me. At least I haven't accidentally drained the transmission fluid (yet).

 

Thanks for sharing your mishaps and it's amazing to see your dogged determination to continue to do them yourself. It took me two hours too. I'm hoping I'll get better and faster at it.

 

This is where I am glad the salesman upgraded me to the Toyota TLE Lifetime Oil Change, so I never pay for a oil change ever!~

 

6. That oring is not right.

Search on here for pics of where it is supposed to it in the groove not all the way at the bottom before screwing it in.

I have a 2.7, so mine a spin on, but my other 4runner is similar to your 3.5 and that doesn’t look right.

O ring is pinched.

 

Congratulations on wanting to learn and also a very well written mini job documentary.

We all start at the beginning and make mistakes along the way, never be afraid to ask questions, research of double check things.

Item #6: The o-ring is not correct and needs to be fixed.
You can pull the cap off without making too much of a mess, just top up for the small amout of oil lost.
See the photo below.

 

You kind of do pay as in the time you spend to drop off,wait and pick up your truck. Once you get it down an oil change takes 15 minutes in your driveway and you don’t have to worry about a lot kid rallying your truck. I’m not attacking you but I wouldn’t let the dealership touch my truck unless is Warranty work.

 

OP, fix that O Ring ASAP look at the picture in @RustyGreen post showing correct installation of the O Ring. Make sure you install a new O Ring and top off the oil as stated and no need to drain oil from oil pan.

 

Agree wholeheartedly with this advice. You may be lucky and have no issue, but I'd bet that that you'll have a failed seal with loss of oil soon. You don't want to risk this.

 

You have screwed this one up. I would not drive until it's fixed

 

Op, you mentioned you could not find the drain plug washer. The washer is probably stuck to the bottom of the oil pan, and may look like a flange. I noticed this the first time I changed my oil, and had to pry the washer off the bottom of the pan. I questioned myself while attempting to remove the washer, falsely thinking it was a flange. The same happened to my son when he did the first oil change on his new taco.

 

Usually do the oil change myself. Had no time recently and took it in for a free Toyota care oil change at 10k. Popped the hood to look at something a month later to find out didn’t have an oil cap on the fill port. Thanks Toyota, I’ll just do it myself if I have to worry about checking your “professional’s” work

 

As others stated, not quite successful. But even the others responding need to watch all of the steps every time, despite the experience they have.

The O-ring must be seated, and pre-coating the embedded ring with oil helps it slide in the filter mounting hole without jumping.

One can overtighten the silver cap ... I did. But I have a second filter housing and silver cap I will swap in next oil change and unlock the silver cap at leisure. Some have reported they locked it but never got around to fixing that for 150k miles ... it does not leak which is enough for them.

Dealerships screw up oil changes all the time. I do mine if I can somehow make the time ... and I DO make the time.

I have a Fumoto oil drain valve (https://www.fumotousa.com/cars-pickups-toyota-2022-tacoma-3-5l-v6) to slowly/controlled drain oil instead of a single big hot flow-mess. Open enough to see where the oil is going, adjust the drain pan, let it go. Short nipple, long nipple, no nipple ... mainly affects if you can or cannot attach a hose to redirect the oil directly into a container.

Get a Motivx oil filter wrench ... grabs the filter at the strongest point and lets you more confidently install/remove. https://www.motivxtools.com

Some say they make no mess, others always make some mess despite efforts. Fumoto helps with drain mess, pre-draining the filter by removing the silver cap helps with less mess. Motivx helps filter removal/management without over-torque. But follow steps and pay attention to the big o-ring which does like to slip out.

 

You don't have to completely remove the drain plug and have oil gushing all over. Loosen the plug a little until it starts to dribble slowly. Gradually unscrew until the flow is slow and gentle. Leave that way until flow stops then unscrew entirely to ensure all old oil has drained. Yes it takes a little longer but is cleaner and not really much longer. When tightening any plug or filter, hand tighten like you would a pickle jar so if it tips over in the fridge it won't leak. You always tighten a bit more if it leaks. You don't need to reef on it with all your strength. The gaskets, washers and seals prevent leaks. Good luck with next one.

 

and you assume they are actually changing your oil + filter
because there aren't plenty of stories on here about how that didn't happen . . .

EDIT: LOL
there is a story in this thread even!!

i keep my vehicles forever so it is important that these things get done, properly
so i do them because a $15/hr lube tech can't be trusted these days

 

I have free oil changes...

BUT I am more than happy to do ALL of them myself... Doing it myself is much less 'expensive' to me than having the dealer's newest and least experienced employee fiddle with my taco.

Does the oil really get changed? (Plenty of stories of this not happening) - And if it does - what oil will be put in there?

Will they overfill / underfill?

Will they over-torque or under torque or strip the bolts on your oil pan / skid plates / etc.?

Will they mess-up your plastic oil filter housing?

Will you get your oil cap lost?

Will they ding your truck / add oil stains to your interior?

I have an MT - and it is always a struggle as typically no one in the dealership can drive a stick. I have to do it for them (I went in for the new car check). My biggest fear is that some uber-confident moron will believe that he can 'Figure out' how to drive a manual...

No thanks. I can do it faster and with less grief than the dealer. I know it is done properly - And I don't need to check anyone's work.

 

Definitely don't worry about time...you're in apartment complex and not paying stall time. (I use stall with lift on Dover AFB at $8/hourly rate)

Most definitely fix that O-ring on the Housing!

I have the MotiveX kit and Fumoto which makes the job less of a mess. (You can wait to do this upgrade until you've done enough oil changes)

Also, it's nice to use this oil as it is the correct amount. I had to add an additional spout for accidental splash.

Keep practicing making notes like you did for this write up.



You can see where the O-ring needs to go here:



Fumoto



There are concerns the Fumoto sticks out too far but the TRD Skid protects it...as best it can.

 

1. Cowboy must be fixing and keeps fixing a lot of the same stuff repeatedly.
2. Absolute wrong information. See #1
3. With a torque wrench! If not see #2 and #1

The more you use the correct tools with the correct information the easier it gets, the more comfortable you get, and always remember engineers are designing/developing this stuff and when it comes to math, it is spot on, and high probability cowboy didn't do well in those math classes. No one's hands are "calibrated".

 

Installing the Fumoto, the advice (if not using a torque wrench) was "hand tight, then 1/4 turn more with a wrench". I did NOT crank hard until no more movement was possible.