Oil Change 5th Gen: How To- LOTS of PICS!

[Antman]

[MENTION=53327]1000MPH[/MENTION] and the others that noticed-

Thank You!

I changed my oil today and the drain plug is indeed 14mm, not the 15mm I originally posted. Good catch!

I took a couple of new pictures and fixed the wording in the thread. I'm 99.9% sure it's 100% correct now.:hiding:

PS- Didn't spill one drop of oil this time. It gets much easier after a little practice.

 

[1000MPH]

No worries. I'm about ready to tackle my diffs and maybe the T/C.
Can you do a "how-to" on those please?:cheers:

 

[Fialdj]

Why do we need to change the washer on the drain plug? It's not a crush washer.

 

[Randyman...]

Why do we need to change the washer on the drain plug? It's not a crush washer.

Mine didn't even come off the oil pan until my 3rd oil change last week - and I tried to forcefully remove it during the first 2 oil changes (it simply would not budge with the amount of force I was comfortable applying to the oil pan!).

I wouldn't worry about it too much IMO.

 

[Bvo99]

Question

So I see in the pictures you guys don't use a car jack? I was wondering where would I put it? I don't want to break anything I don't know yet, if someone knows please help thanks.

 

[thebwlife]

So I see in the pictures you guys don't use a car jack? I was wondering where would I put it? I don't want to break anything I don't know yet, if someone knows please help thanks.

If you don't know how to jack up your 4Runner an oil change might be a little above your mechanical skill. Which is fine, but please don't screw it up if your have no clue what your doing.

You can find out how and where to use your jack from the owners manual and I also believe there is an instruction sheet back with the jack.

 

[thebwlife]

Why do we need to change the washer on the drain plug? It's not a crush washer.

These are a composite (almost like pressed cardboard) and they do rip and compress. For $.25 why not just replace it and move on with life.

If its stuck you can take a nylon putty knife to it or just be extra careful with a metal screw driver or putty knife.

 

[McFly2003]

I have installed a Fumato Oil Drain Valve which makes it easier to drain without making a mess; you can also attach an appropriate size and length of plastic tubing onto the end to not only eliminate "splashing" while it's draining but also help in directing the draining oil into the catch pan.

Which model did you get? I am looking to do this as well and want to make sure I get the right size the first time.

 

[vicpick58]

So I see in the pictures you guys don't use a car jack? I was wondering where would I put it? I don't want to break anything I don't know yet, if someone knows please help thanks.

If you check your owners manual you will confirm there is a round protrusion kind of in the middle of the main skid plate. That is where the floor jack goes. Raise the front until the front wheels are just off the ground, then place your jack stands under the frame behind the front wheels then carefully let the floor jack down until the frame rests on the jack stands.

Then you can move the floor jack out of the way and remove the skid plates.

If you are also rotating the tires, after you have removed the front wheels, then you can place the floor jack under the rear differential pumpkin and raise up the rear axle and place your jack stands under the outer ends of the rear axle and let down onto the stands.


This also allows you to twist the drive shaft by hand (put in neutral after vehicle is in the air) to access the zerk fittings on the U-joints and d/s slides for lube with your grease gun.

Hint: If removing wheels for rotation, loosen front lug nuts a little before raising off the ground.

 

[8MoreMiles]

late to the show

I'm a little late on the thanks but great write up. Changed the oil yesterday, took longer than expected but went smooth over all.

 

[2013Trail]

There is no need to grind off the ends of the skid plate clips and the skid plate is NOT a PITA to remove if you don't. All you need is one iota of patience. I've already pulled off the skid plate several times just to see if I could get the job to a PITA point. I didn't. Don't grind off stuff that works.

 

[Antman]

There is no need to grind off the ends of the skid plate clips and the skid plate is NOT a PITA to remove if you don't. All you need is one iota of patience. I've already pulled off the skid plate several times just to see if I could get the job to a PITA point. I didn't. Don't grind off stuff that works.

Well I guess I don't have an iota of patience then.

I haven't regretted grinding those tabs off 1 time.

 

[Biggcrisp]

2012+

Toyota may have read [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] fantastic instructions and made a change. My 2012 falls right off after unbolting the skid. No lift or grinding on my part. Thank you [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION].

 

[Telepi]

I was just starting to wonder how to change my oil.
This thread is very inspiring and disturbing at the same
time.

Antman has inspired me to do it myself. His step by step
instructions and pictures make it look easy to do. A bit
more cumbersome than with a regular oil filter. But
certainly within my range of my DIY skill sets.

Then post of others experiences at their dealrs are troubling
with some of the carelessness that was shown to them in
what should be the easiest maintenance item they can provide
to their customer - a simple oil change.

Even with the "free" Toyota Care for 24K miles, which only equates
to two oil changes; I'm going to save myself potential aggrevation
and do it myself.

 

[2013Trail]

Toyota may have read [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] fantastic instructions and made a change. My 2012 falls right off after unbolting the skid. No lift or grinding on my part. Thank you [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION].

LOL! No Toyota didn't make a change after reading Antman's instructions. And no offense to you either Antman. The 2013 skid is the same as Antman's was before he ground them off. I'm thinking a swing-down skid plate makes access to the oil filter easier and more convenient for a shop tech to work on, and/or the skid plate was designed like that so that it didn't just fall off after removing the attaching bolts.

However for a private owner to change his own oil generally means lying on his back because he doesn't have equipment or space to lift it high enough to stand under, so that swinging skid really doesn't make a lot of sense. But the 4R wasn't engineered for the owner to work on.

 

[1engineer]

LOL! No Toyota didn't make a change after reading Antman's instructions. And no offense to you either Antman. The 2013 skid is the same as Antman's was before he ground them off. I'm thinking a swing-down skid plate makes access to the oil filter easier and more convenient for a shop tech to work on, and/or the skid plate was designed like that so that it didn't just fall off after removing the attaching bolts.

However for a private owner to change his own oil generally means lying on his back because he doesn't have equipment or space to lift it high enough to stand under, so that swinging skid really doesn't make a lot of sense. But the 4R wasn't engineered for the owner to work on.

Well, nothing wrong about not having an iota of patience. Although I bet you do. I was just trying to make a point: It ain't that big of a deal to get the skid plate off.

Did you not read my post on multiquoting? I would repost it but I think it was a thread that was removed here recently....

 

[2013Trail]

Okay, 1Engineer, no quoting. What's the problem?

 

[1engineer]

No, I didn't see your post on multiquoting. So you're saying I can't quote more than one time in a thread? I don't understand.

Instead of making several posts independently, you can "multiquote" several previous posts in one post. Keeps the thread shorter.

 

[2013Trail]

Ok. Got it. Sorry for all the edit. I went back and changed my post because I didn't want to quote yet again until I knew what I was doing wrong.

 

[Biggcrisp]

Maybe they probed his mind. And again....only kidding.

Anyway the tabs on mine are good for lining things up during install and have never been an issue during removal.