Quote:
Originally Posted by DougR
[LEFT] On my 2011, the skid plate has two bolts connected to a hard plastic splash guard between the skid plate and bumper. I discretely painted nail polish on those bolts to see if the dealer changed the filter. The vehicle was returned to me with those bolts undisturbed. I showed it to the shop foreman and he assured me that they could remove four bolts on the skid place and lower it without removing the splash guard.
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I can't speak for all 5th Gen 4Rs, but mine has S hooks on the front. I've seen 4Rs on the rack at dealerships with the skid plate hanging down. The S hooks keep it attached. All 4 12mm bolts removed. I suspect Toyota did the S hook thing for just this reason - expedite dealership oil changes. Apparently the shop lube techs are able to reach up inside and access the oil filter canister.
Being a driveway mechanic, I always pull mine off completely as I do all of the oil maint. with the 4R flat on the ground. Very easy to get the SP off using a small bottle jack as an extra pair of hands. Same with SP reinstallation.
I used the so-called "free" 10K rotate and oil change back when. They performed the oil change, but after I got home and let the tires cools, I found all tires to be WAY over inflated and the PSI varying a good deal. One tire had something like 38 PSI, another 42 PSI, and so on. None were close to being the same. My guess is the lube tech(s) just shot some air in each tire w/o bothering to check the results.
I passed on the "free" 20K service.
Lube techs are at the bottom of the pay scale. It ain't a mystery.
People who have their oil changed
anywhere should consider themselves lucky to drive out with oil in the engine.