14 Trail Oil Issue

[CJB01]

Brought my 4Runner Trail to my dealer for athe 10k service and was surprised when the service mgr told me that there was engine oil all over the bottom of the engine. I was ushered to the service bay and there were 4 service dudes standing around my truck. They lifted the truck for me to take a look. And sure enought , fresh looking oil all over the cross frame, tranny housing and even up on what looked like one of the drivers side ignition coil areas I was asked if I had my oil changed before.. I had the truck serviced at another dealer at 5k. The service mgr thinks the oil was changed before and and oil was spilled and not cleaned up. That's a possibility but the 5k service record didnt indicate a oil change. Anyway, they cleaned up the mess and had their more seasoned mechanics look it over and did find any leaked or damage. The service rep told me to bring it back in 1k to check underneath for oil. I'm a bit discerned that I had no indications of an oil leak and still don't. No oil smell, no check eng ligh or low oil indicator and oil on the driveway. Does anyone know of any issue with oil leaks in brand new 4Runner engines and what should I look out for until I bring the truck back To be checked ? I think oil was spilled from above when filling oil at 5 k However., it doesn't make sense that the dealer would show me spilled oil, they would have just cleaned it up.

 

[Hoxtongue]

Any chance you checked the oil level before you brought it in? I would bring it back at 1k, but in the mean time i would check the oil level weekly to see if its lower and I would keep an eye on any mess underneath.

Where is it parked at night? Wasn't there a mess of oil on the driveway?

 

[Engineer]

Sounds like they made a mess when changing your oil and wanted to play games

 

[bimrunner]

Sounds like they made a mess when changing your oil and wanted to play games

^this. The canister filter can be messy to change out if you aren't careful. Sounds like that is what happened.

 

[wfo9]

I'm confused. Was the oil level low? Was this noticed after they changed the oil or before?

Fresh oil does not just hang out under the engine. It generally gets really nasty really fast.

I don't know if the 1gr has a low oil level sensor or not. I know most vehicles produced these days do, but Toyota is behind the times on almost everything engine management related that is not mandatory.

 

[Saker]

Oil where posted, if it was there for 5K miles would have dust imbedded into that oil film. If it didn't, it didn't happen that long ago......

 

[gm350reratliff]

Nobody looks over and around their vehicle after it gets serviced anymore?

There should've been some indication where you park if it was a messy prior oil change or leaking oil.

It's always good practice to go over the work performed and check the oil before you leave the dealer.

This is why I like to do the maintanance myself.

 

[Saker]

Nobody looks over and around their vehicle after it gets serviced anymore?

Some of us do ! :trophy:

There should've been some indication where you park if it was a messy prior oil change or leaking oil.

After the first 2 hours I would think!

It's always good practice to go over the work performed and check the oil before you leave the dealer.

Agreed....ALWAYS!

 

[CJB01]

The dealer said that The Trail has skid plates which would catch leaking oil and keep it off the pavement. I checked my oil level after about 100 miles and it reads between the marks which I think is normal. Hopefully nothing more comes from this. Nobody has posted any big issues with the new engine such as a failed main seal. This one may go down as one of those mysterious dealer stories. In the meantime I keep a watchful eye on it and will do what they say and bring it back. I'm not that worried about it since I have 20k left on the warranty

 

[CJB01]

Oil Level

After dealer oil change and 100 miles the level is between the marks

 

[FactoryRide]

^this. The canister filter can be messy to change out if you aren't careful. Sounds like that is what happened.

I second this.

It's especially messy if the techs put that drain cap screw back in the bottom of that canister at 900 ft lbs of torque.

I changed my oil last weekend, and that bottom screw that you pop the plastic drain was in so tight, that in turning it, it turned the whole canister off. What a mess that was.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I changed my oil last weekend, and that bottom screw that you pop the plastic drain was in so tight, that in turning it, it turned the whole canister off. What a mess that was.

I don't mess with that plug anymore, I just remove the whole canister when I change the oil. It's kind of messy either way. Might as well skip a couple steps.

 

[FactoryRide]

I don't mess with that plug anymore, I just remove the whole canister when I change the oil. It's kind of messy either way. Might as well skip a couple steps.

If it's done right it shouldn't be very messy. It's not suppose to release the oil until that drain is punched in.

 

[96r50]

If it's done right it shouldn't be very messy. It's not suppose to release the oil until that drain is punched in.

Agreed. I did an oil change last month and the only oil spilled was from me trying to pour it back in the old jugs for disposal!

 

[mrbtd]

Sounds familiar - The oil was splashing back from the skid plate onto the exhaust and cross member. Everything turned out fine for me.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...n-s-how-handle-dealer-oil-change-failure.html

 

[FactoryRide]

Sounds familiar - The oil was splashing back from the skid plate onto the exhaust and cross member. Everything turned out fine for me.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-g...n-s-how-handle-dealer-oil-change-failure.html

That was pretty much my issue. Whole canister came off, oil came rushing out. Ended up being a big mess.

 

[Lester Lugnut]

It's especially messy if the techs put that drain cap screw back in the bottom of that canister at 900 ft lbs of torque.

The people in Japan who build 4Runners are also good at this. Mine came off the same way yours did.

 

[CJB01]

I don't recall any messy oil changes with my 2007 SR5? Thanks everybody for your feedback. I'm reassured that nothing is seriously wrong with my new truck. I'll follow up here after my 1k check with the dealer. One moe thing, I'm a newbie and want to know how to post a pic of my ride along with my user ID with a posting? Thxs

 

[FactoryRide]

I don't recall any messy oil changes with my 2007 SR5? Thanks everybody for your feedback. I'm reassured that nothing is seriously wrong with my new truck. I'll follow up here after my 1k check with the dealer. One moe thing, I'm a newbie and want to know how to post a pic of my ride along with my user ID with a posting? Thxs

If you're talking about posting a picture next to you name.

Log in , and up in the top left you see the link User CP. Click on that and in there you should see a link that says change avatar. That's what you want.

From there you can upload a picture of your choosing as long as you are within the size limit.

 

[CJB01]

Failed VVT oil line

Update. I brought my Trail back to the dealer to recheck for any oil leaks after about 800 miles. Good thing I did because the oil mess was back under the engine. After further investigations by dealer tech, they found the issue, a failed VVT oil line . Jeez, after only 10k miles! I have read online about major recall for same problem but for earlier model Avalons and Highlanders. The deal rep says he's never seen or heard of this problem with 4ruuners. Lucky me I guess.