Changing oil filter without making a mess?

Those of you that have a 1st Gen taco with the 3.4. Have anyone come up with a way to change the oil filter without making a mess all over. This is the first car or truck that has been so much of a pita with oil changes. My old Ranger with a 3.0 had a small funnel with a tube going thru the skid plate that made things really easy. Thanks for any ideas.

 

Plastic bag around the filter.

 

I am guessing you describe a mess different then I do.

A mess is when you trip and fall carrying the full drain pain in the living room on the way to the waste heater tank.

After the second time it no longer bothered me that much .

 

Or when you put oil in the engine only to realize you forgot to put the pan plug back in......

 

I only ever did that twice funny how much noise that makes after a few minutes

 

Lol I just took the skid plates off my new gen1 with 275k miles and took2 days to get me cleaned up from the previous oil changes and leakin tappets

 

Throw away that skid plate.

 

I always remove the skid plate when replacing my oil filters. I've tried the old "plastic bag under the filter" trick and it didn't work. I've tried jamming old tee-shirts and towels under the oil filter and while those did soak up some oil, some always fell onto the skid plate. And all over my hand when I removed the oil-soaked rags.

I know its a mess but I find it necessary. Besides, my skid plate tends to gather quite a few rocks and weed parts each year, so the annual r&r is beneficial.

Especially if you're anal.

Like I am.

 

Weed parts??? Where the hell are you driving? You are gonna piss off some growers.





Sorry couldn't resist.

 

Two or three times a year I go away and hide for a week or so. Been doing this for the last 30 years. In doing so I've driven through 3-foot-tall weeds as well as a lot of other stuff. Some of the places I go are across the flood plane of the Snake Valley in eastern Nevada (which gets a bit messy for a few days after it rains), the Henry Mountains, the Dirty Devil ford, and just about every 2-track road between those places. Tend to pick up a lot of $hit along the way!

 

Thanks guys, did the plastic bag trick on one of my other toys does not work great for me. I just don`t like the oil that stays on the skid plate for days and ends up on my driveway. I also did the rags and paper towels the problem is the filter the angle or lack there of coming off the motor. Does any company make a kit to relocate the filter?

 

Plenty of relocation kits available; pick you poison.

 

I have once felt ur pain, I went thru the wheel well to unscrew and remove the filter(takes some practice since its full of oil), best advice is to stuff a gigantic ball of rags under the filter before unscrewing it, this will sop up the oil instead of spilling all over the side of the engine, kind of like biscuits and gravy, sop it all up

 

beware of those relocation kits they are known for blowing leaks and blowing quarts of oil all over your engine

 

I have my next change coming up in a few weeks, I think I will drop the skid plate and take a look about and idea I have. Thanks again.

 

Those are in no way skid plates just tool catchers .

Also good for Radiator caps and oil caps great for the master cylinder caps as well

I doubt mine lasted a day when I got the truck home.

 

When I do this job, I jack up both sides of the truck so I can crawl underneath. Then with my feet pointing to the rear of the truck, I slide in, put the front plate on my chest and manhandle it into position.

When you reinstall the front plate, put the three bolts in about half way, let the plate hang, then work on the rear plate. Be sure to get at least two full turns on the remaining six bolts with your fingers before tightening any of them, including the front three, with a tool.

The stock bolts are thread-cutter bolts, so be careful not to cross-thread and cut (spelled, b-o-o-g-e-r) new threads into the existing ones. And don't tighten the crap out of the bolts as they are prone to breaking and you will sob uncontrollably if you snap one of them.

One last thing - there should be a tab on front center of the rear plate that mates with a small thingy on the rear center of the front plate. Make sure that the tab is correctly aligned as you position the rear plate.

 

I like your small funnel + tube idea. The area is a little tight to fit a funnel, but if you cut it just right then maybe it would work.

For myself, I take the skid plate off then strategically position a rag so that oil from the filter will run off of it and into my oil catch pan. Then I crack the seal on the oil filter and let it drain before removing. The key with my rag method is not to try to absorb the oil, but create a makeshift funnel with the rag.

 

for 23 years i have let my friendly Toyota dealer shop handle all this mess and labour
for the low low price ranging anywhere from $19.99, $25, $29.99 + tax and shop supplies (of course) ... i usually wait for that coupin to come in the mail
it certainly seems like a major bargain to have those with the proper equipment to handle this potential mess while i sip a latte and nibble on a donut or apple danish while waiting, somtimes it takes them much longer than i would think, more than 1 hour in some cases. They also give to me a multi-point safety inspection which i usually take their word for it all checks out

are you able to get those coupin deals in your area, OP

is the front skid plate fairly simple to take off, i had a difficult time taking the fuel skid plate off and back on after powder coating, due to the weight of the plate and dimensions trying to reach the bolts onit and hold it steady at the same time on my head
i need to remove the front one and get it powdercoated before next oil change so i can just have them put it back on for me

in my younger days i did change the oil in my old vehicles before but i was a quickie lubeTech at the time with access to an open pit, i no longer have that privilege unfortunately

 

Not really much you can do really. It is a pain. My 1st time I did the skids and all that stuff.
After I just used a pan that really caught most of it underneath.
I always did the plug first and just walked away for a few. Put the plug back in and then tackled the filter. I didn’t get dirty that way..