HELP! Oil change disaster.

[LittleCaesar]

I just changed my oil for the first time ever today, and this thread helped me be careful. I checked everything according to the advice here, and as far as I know things went off without a hitch.

Between the write-up in the DIY section, and what I've read on T4R.ORG, there are a lot of things I wouldn't have checked had I just used the Haynes manual.

I'm rather proud of myself, and I figure after factoring in the hassle of going to a garage, I saved myself time and money, and got to have a look at what's up in under engine land at the same time.

I'll keep an eye on the filter tightness and the oil level for a few days.

I could easily have messed things up, I'm sure. I'm very sure.

Good job there. Changing one's oil allows for the owner to look around the truck for other issues that need to be addressed.

I personally like the oversized oil filters for the 4runner (running the Mobil M1-209 now) but anything works.

 

[theizzardking]

The stock filters come pre-lubed...On the filter subject, this has been posted before, but this side-by-side comparison will hopefully sway you to always buy Toyota filters.

Toyota Oil Filter (Made in Thailand) vs. the competition........ - Tacoma World Forums

meh, i'm with nelson on this one better to switch your filter out routinely then spend top dollar on the filter it's self, that said i don't buy fram but something a bit better and cheap, basically whatevers on sale, my oil changes always come out nice and shiny still so no complaints here.

 

[XJeepguy]

I could actually see that happening to someone who has never done a Runner oil change . Crawl under and that's the first drain plug you see.

Oh crap. I'm realizing that I think I just drained my transmission fluid and. Crrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaap!!!!

Going to drain the oil now...under the skid plate. So stupid. Soooo stupid.

What do I do now? Get it towed to the dealership?

 

[XJeepguy]

I've switched quite a few hi mileage engines over to full synth and have not had a single issue , yet .

This is somewhat off-topic, but since you mentioned that you chipped in for "the good stuff" and got the full synthetic, I thought I would ask...

I was taught that in high mileage vehicles, synthetic oil won't cause leaks, but it will find them. (In other words, avoid switching to synthetics in high mileage vehicles since leaks may result.)

Something to do with the detergents in synthetics. Anyway, any thoughts anyone?

As for your oil change catastrophe, it happens, don't let it get you down. I'm sure you have the fix figured out by now. I've paid people who "know what they're doing" to work on my car in the past. After seeing the results of everything from botched oil changes to wheel rotations. I prefer to do as much as possible myself. At least that way I know it was done with care, I might notice something else that needs work, and best of all, I know where to look when something starts going wrong :wink2:

 

[theizzardking]

i've always heard the same thing, the cleaning action from the added detergents in synth will kill the grime that may have plugged up hole in your leaky gaskets, and i can see how that works, what i want to know is why do people say you can't switch back to dino after you've gone full synth? it seems as if it wouldn't make a difference, and it might actually be good to run a synth through the block everything 4-5 oil changes (i do about that a year maybe more), at least that's my thinking at this point, i know it maybe stupid but whats wrong with that line of thought?

 

[brian2sun]

i've always heard the same thing, the cleaning action from the added detergents in synth will kill the grime that may have plugged up hole in your leaky gaskets, and i can see how that works, what i want to know is why do people say you can't switch back to dino after you've gone full synth? it seems as if it wouldn't make a difference, and it might actually be good to run a synth through the block everything 4-5 oil changes (i do about that a year maybe more), at least that's my thinking at this point, i know it maybe stupid but whats wrong with that line of thought?

I personally don't believe that you can't switch back to dyno after going to synth. I've done that in many cars and never had a problem. I think that's an old wives' tale started by the oil companies so people will think once they try synth, they must buy the expensive stuff forever. There's so much of that BS in the auto industry, and what's worse is a lot of people believe that crap like it's religion. As if a multi-billion $$ oil company would never deceive us, ahahahaha!

 

[XJeepguy]

I thought it was only Amsoil synth's that had such high detergent levels ?

i've always heard the same thing, the cleaning action from the added detergents in synth will kill the grime that may have plugged up hole in your leaky gaskets, and i can see how that works, what i want to know is why do people say you can't switch back to dino after you've gone full synth? it seems as if it wouldn't make a difference, and it might actually be good to run a synth through the block everything 4-5 oil changes (i do about that a year maybe more), at least that's my thinking at this point, i know it maybe stupid but whats wrong with that line of thought?

 

[Nelsonmd]

I personally don't believe that you can't switch back to dyno after going to synth. I've done that in many cars and never had a problem. I think that's an old wives' tale started by the oil companies so people will think once they try synth, they must buy the expensive stuff forever. There's so much of that BS in the auto industry, and what's worse is a lot of people believe that crap like it's religion. As if a multi-billion $$ oil company would never deceive us, ahahahaha!

When those wives' tales were started, synth oils and conventional oils were very different. Now days, I think is more of a spectrum, full conventional on one end, full synthetic on the other. I think most of the oils labeled synthetic are not 100% synthetic, but a mix.

There was a post a while back that showed the table of synthetic ratings, and it really was a spectrum of synthetic content. So unless you are using oil from 30 years ago, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[theizzardking]

I thought it was only Amsoil synth's that had such high detergent levels ?

meh, general statement, there's a few others as well, but i believe that was the only reason i ever heard why switch to synth would ever be bad, you know what i'm saying here ,people don't say switching to ams oil synth could cause you some problems, people say switching to synth can cause you some problems, i have never heard of another valid reason for not switching to synth besides the detergent issues mentioned, so by saying amsoil synth is the only one that has such high detergent levels that you need to worry about, i think the saying would be it's always OK to switch to synth, i hope your following me here, lol......

yeah and i agree about switching them up that it shouldn't be an issue, i do it as well but it's one of those things you hear kicking around shops and the rest and wanted to see what you guys thought, like i said i run synth through my block about once a year, when i first got my truck i did one of those gum out motor vac machines and switched to synth and ran that then went back to dino, sooo much gunk came out at first but now even when it's time for my oil changes my oil almost looks like new when it's coming out, a bit of a tinge but nothing like what it was.

also if i could get oil from 30 years ago i would be so so stoked! my '71 aircooled bus requires a high zinc content in the oil which was standard back then but not so much anymore........i pay $$$$ for high zn content oils now....

you guys ever read bob the oil guy's site, you can get lost for days there!
- Bob is the Oil Guy

 

[TheDurk]

also if i could get oil from 30 years ago i would be so so stoked! my '71 aircooled bus requires a high zinc content in the oil which was standard back then but not so much anymore........i pay $$$$ for high zn content oils now....

you guys ever read bob the oil guy's site, you can get lost for days there!
- Bob is the Oil Guy

I would recommend Shell Rotella 15W40--available at a cheap price in gallons at Wal-Mart. Diesel oils still have the zinc needed for flat tappet valves and don't cost a lot--and they work fine in gasoline engines. This wisdom courtesy of my antique tractor forums where everybody has 30+ year old machines. My Farmall is a 1966.

 

[theizzardking]

I would recommend Shell Rotella 15W40--available at a cheap price in gallons at Wal-Mart. Diesel oils still have the zinc needed for flat tappet valves and don't cost a lot--and they work fine in gasoline engines. This wisdom courtesy of my antique tractor forums where everybody has 30+ year old machines. My Farmall is a 1966.

why thank you ,i will def check into that, as much as i hate wally world, i do prefer to save a few $$$ when i can!:zoom:

 

[ajonesnv]

So, no word on what happened to the dude's truck, huh? I pretty interested if it was tore up.

 

[thor999]

Haha first oil change I ever did was in the motorpool when I first joined the Navy; I drained the transmission then refilled it via dipstick tube w/ oil :ybrick: luckily my friend noticed before I started it! At least I THINK that is how it happened? '82 Camaro...

 

[jacktahoe]

You only learn by making mistakes and trying to avoid them.

Fortunatly for me, I have a good friend who is an automechanic.

Whenever I get in a bind, I call him, and he helps me out.

Working on cars with friends is always more fun.

By the way, I use mobil 1 and have 253,000 miles on my car, and I do not have any leaks in my engine.

 

[etc.]

Props for trying to do the job yourself.

 

[Duhockey]

That is sage advice. It's true, I tend not to make the same mistake twice. In hindsight, my neighbors must have thought I was having a coronary as I was running around looking for more containers for oil.

I started the whole process at 3pm, but I just figured the oil needed to settle so I'd check it before going out for the night. Again, won't do that twice.

Gooood times. So, who's up for helping me with my lift kit?! Hah ha! Kidding.

Thanks again for the advice all. I'm glad I didn't ruin my engine.

as far as the lift kit, hit me up, Im sure we can get a lift party going, There are a bunch of us in Denver that have done it. Unfortunately for CoMarc he did his while we were all in Moab!

 

[hrt4me]

Taking the pan off and doing a filter change is a good idea, but it's a lot more work. The pan gasket is a pain to get cleaned off. However, if you follow this writeup for the pan/filter removal, you should be good.

Dropping Pan And Flushing Transmission

thanks for the handy reference link