My Oil Change Didn't Go So Well

I've changed my oil in many vehicles, many many times.

I'll keep it brief... Let's just say I had to re drain my oil because I had a bit of trouble with the rubber O ring on the filter housing. My fault, I get it...

I caught the new oil I had just added in a clean container so once I fixed my mistake, I could pour it back in. I was shocked to see the brand new Mobil 1 I just added was coming out pretty dark.

Is that normal? I've never had to re drain the oil right after just changing it.

Derp...

 

There will be some amount of "dirty" oil in the engine and oil pan even after draining and it doesn't take much to darken the new oil noticeably. The colder the oil or the less time it drains, then more dirty stuff will be left behind.

 

you need to hang around some compression ignition engines (Diesel Cycle)

Dark oil is the new normal ;-)

What ever happened to "Essentia- lube" engine flush? ;-)

 

Why did you drain the pan when only the filter gaskit was leaking? Seems like that wasn't needed to be done.

 

At least you didn't drain the transmission on your Subaru like I did a couple of months ago...

 

That's actually pretty common on these trucks as well. Lol

 

I think you're supposed to attach some tubing to that plastic bit and drain your filter housing into your oil drain pan or better yet, buy the metal version with the double screw system where you screw the base into the bottom of your filter housing then, with the hose attached, screw in the secondary screw that opens the valve and lets that oil drain. It's really simple once you "get" it and the two times I've done it so far went without spilling a drop anywhere that it shouldn't be.

 

I hate changing the oil. I have a TRD skid plate, when I remove the drain bolt I always make a mess. Effing annoying.

 

I just stuff a Walmart or similar plastic bag underneath the filter works great

 

I had that same miserable experience for my first oil change too!
My low-tech solution:
I now hold that 'little plastic tap' in the end of the cardboard tube left over from an empty roll of paper towels, and when I jam it up in there all of the oil goes down the cardboard tube instead of down my arm.

 

When I worked at the dealership we used bulk oil (branded) it all varied from almost a nice clear golden amber to the color of translucent brown. It wasn't dirty though. But most of the time it didn't look like bottled oil.

Speaking of not going well I've seen and had some really crappy experiences. When I worked at a multi station lube bay. The hads mostly do to what others have done in the past to the engine and the seen from watching newbies gain experience. Some of the worst were on brand new 1st oil changes I broke 2 different oil filter wrenches before getting it with a 3rd.

 

Strange, not sure if this means much, but i have a shade over 5k miles now since my oils been changed...pulling the dip stick, from what a can tell, its still full, and the oil appears very clean, not dark at all.

 

My brother was a huge Plymouth fan. Big Blocks did all his own wrenching. After years of 383 and 426's. He bought a Plymouth Arrow. 2.6 Liter. Yep, he drained the manual transmission. Put in five quarts. Thankfully realized something was wrong and called me first. He felt like an idiot, but I never told our brothers.

 

get a Fumoto valve

 

I started a thread the the day regarding the question of anyone having any experience with the Baxter Performance spin filter replacement for their Tacomas' for all of the reasons of just what a P.I.T.A. oil changes are with our trucks and that stock paper filter replacement design system. Didn't receive any replies: I ask again... Has anyone used the Baxter hardware?? I dread the thought of having to do an oil change with my TRD Skid plate and all of the rest of the BS I have to go through once I start to do my own oil changes, and am considering changing over to Baxter's Tacoma replacement product that will eliminate the paper filter design in favor of using a simple spin on oil filter like a WIX filter which is a brand I use in my other vehicles.

 

My brother in-law just did that on his new Forester . His insurance covered the flat bed tow and the dealer bill was $300.00 ( shh he asked me not to tell anyone ) .

 

Fresh out of tech school I was working at Firestone, a 2002 Forester came in for an oil change. I drained the center differential thinking it was the oil pan, overfilled the crankcase by 4 and 1/2 quarts and sent it down the road.

That one came back on a hook

 

Just a humble suggestion:

If the oil change procedure in the Tacoma is vexing some of you, maybe you should let someone else change the oil.

 

^^^This is exactly what Toyota had in mind when they designed the Tacoma's oil filter and filter placement. That "someone else" being the Toyota dealer, of course.

 

What's the problem?