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

[Lester Lugnut]

Performed first oil/filter change on a 2014 4 Runner SR5 2WD yesterday.

- Work performed with all 4 wheels on the ground - no ramps or front-end elevation used.

- Single edge razor blade used to get stubborn oil pan gasket off of oil pan - got it off pretty quick going this route vs. prying with a screwdriver.

- Antmans T4R has 7 bolts and a clip or plastic rivet holding the plastic cover on that's at the front and underneath - just fwd. of the metal shroud with the dreaded "S" hook or tabs. My 2014 has only 5 bolts - not 7. The 2 outer ones shown in Antmans photo are not on my 2014.

- The push-pin that is in the center of the smaller plastic panel underneath is Toyota part number 90467-09227. Flat-blade screw driver(a pair helps) best to remove this. See Antmans comments on page 1 of this thread. Clip removal tools not suited for removing this push-pin. Post #3 in the following thread gives some insight into the style of push-in used in the plastic panel that's up front and underneath:

http://www.rav4world.com/forums/88-...emove-clip-interior-rear-side-body-panel.html

- Regarding the dreaded "S" hooks(2) at the front of the metal shroud held on with four 12mm bolts. Toyota must have been reading this thread. I had the 'Hooked" portion of this shroud out in about 2 secs. Took about 4-5 secs. to get in back in. "S" hooks no issue whatsoever on my 2014, therefore no need to grind them down. Earlier models apparently have an issue with these hooks.

- Pulled out my new "special tool" to loosen the oil filter housing. It wasn't out long. I first tried to loosen the small round plate at the bottom of the oil filter housing that has a 3/8" drive hole on the bottom in order to first drain the oil filter housing. As I turned this to get the small plate off - the entire housing came loose and was then removed. A slight tilt and all of the oil was drained into a pan - no messy spill - went right into the catch pan . Not a big surprise for someone who has done about 50 oil changes on an '06 Avalon - has the same oil filter housing as the 5th gen 4R - only it's metal.

- In my opinion the oil change process on the 5th gen 4 Runner is more work - but no big deal unless you hate working on cars.

 

[veloindy]

Thank you for the detail in this thread. I performed my first oil change at 30k miles over the weekend. I'm not very happy with the dealer I was using for the first two oil changes for the following reasons.

1. Drain plug cover = GONE!
2. Half of my skid screws = GONE!

Another observation, the oil coming out of the filter canister was much dirtier than the oil coming out of the drain plug. Has anybody else noticed this??

I also replaced my drain plug with a Fumoto 103N.

 

[SigSense]

I also replaced my drain plug with a Fumoto 103N.

One of the best engine mods out there IMO.

 

[Seabizkit]

Amazing writeup. Just did my 1st of many to come, oil changes, for my wife's '13 4Runner. Just have a quick question though... Can someone tell me a part number for the push pins needed for the smaller plastic cover that I had to removed. I pretty destroyed those things getting them out.

Thank you,
Jason

 

[Randyman...]

Just have a quick question though... Can someone tell me a part number for the push pins needed for the smaller plastic cover that I had to removed. I pretty destroyed those things getting them out

Ordered quite a few of those by now! (already have 52K on my '13 SR5!)

2013 Toyota 4Runner Parts - Toyota Part Sales of Toyota of Dallas

Always have a few on hand Says its for a limited, but should be the same for all models (fits my SR5).

 

[BobsTrail]

:hail:

Thank you for the detail in this thread. I performed my first oil change at 30k miles over the weekend. I'm not very happy with the dealer I was using for the first two oil changes for the following reasons.

1. Drain plug cover = GONE!
2. Half of my skid screws = GONE!

_______________________________________________________________

That's why I removed my skid plates before going in for the dealer service. I had to remove them when my wife was gone, hide them and replace them again when she was gone. She just did not understand. I gave up and do my own oil changes and it's OK to remove the plates now. She knows what they are for since we have hit them a few times.

 

[esto70]

One of the best engine mods out there IMO.

I just had a look at the Fumoto website. Those things looks awesome! The Fumoto search tool recommends 3 different drain valves: The F103, F103N, and F103S. The plain F103 has no nipple, the N has a nipple, and the S has a short nipple.

Question: Which one is best for a 5th gen 4Runner? If I remember correctly, the oil drain plug points straight down. Is a nipple and hose the best way to go? Does anyone have experience with the different models?

Thanks!

Mike

 

[Seabizkit]

Ordered quite a few of those by now! (already have 52K on my '13 SR5!)

2013 Toyota 4Runner Parts - Toyota Part Sales of Toyota of Dallas

Always have a few on hand Says its for a limited, but should be the same for all models (fits my SR5).

Thanks, Randyman!

 

[Lester Lugnut]

:hail:
_______________________________________________________________

That's why I removed my skid plates before going in for the dealer service. I had to remove them when my wife was gone, hide them and replace them again when she was gone. She just did not understand. I gave up and do my own oil changes and it's OK to remove the plates now. She knows what they are for since we have hit them a few times.

I changed my oil for the 1st time around 5700 miles. My choice. Had to wait 'til the wife was gone. She can't get it thru her head that half the nuts and bolts that dealers remove never get reinstalled and/or oil filter in the case of the 5th Gen 4 Runner. Her opinion has changed slightly after having to wait 2.5 hrs. for the 5K tire rotation and that was with an appointment.

I'll pull both of the under panels before I go in for the 10K service. Good idea.

 

[SigSense]

Question: Which one is best for a 5th gen 4Runner? If I remember correctly, the oil drain plug points straight down. Is a nipple and hose the best way to go? Does anyone have experience with the different models?

I installed the N model, works great. No mess, as the hose can drain directly into a catch/drain pan.

 

[GDMT4R]

Oil Change

Guys, I am curious the actual cost of oil which I see a case on ebay for $70 + $20 shipping, and my dealer will do it for $70 time and material. I have always done my own oil, but i want to find the best deal on oil and filters.

Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh, NC. Anyone used them? What Oil do you use? What Filter?

 

[Lester Lugnut]

Guys, I am curious the actual cost of oil which I see a case on ebay for $70 + $20 shipping, and my dealer will do it for $70 time and material. I have always done my own oil, but i want to find the best deal on oil and filters.

Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh, NC. Anyone used them? What Oil do you use? What Filter?

I paid $48.31 for the following - includes local sales tax. Oil sourced at Walmart; filter at dealer. Did my own labor.

- 5 qt jug Mobil-1 0W-20 Advanced Fuel Economy - same as what Antman shows on page 1 of this thread - 10K oil.

- 2 qts Mobil-1 0W-20 Advanced Fuel Economy - engine uses 6.6 qts with filter change.

- 04152-YZZA5 Toyota oil filter.

 

[_#1_]

Thanks antman for putting your time and effort into helping the community out!

I always try to do all maintenance myself and just did my first oil change today .

One quick unscientific question though. If oil was drained, wouldn't putting about 6.4oz sufficient given there may be approx. 0.2 still in the motor? I asked this so that next time and every time after, I can put in the exact same amount without worrying if I've overfilled it. truck was on a tiny bit of a slope and was leaning a bit lower on passenger side. And when I added 6.4oz , the dipstick read about half cm over second dot which seems a lot to me. Then went down and drained about 0.4 oz to be safe. would rather have a little less than a little more.

In summary, after draining as much as possible. Will adding 6.4oz be about right without checking dipstick? I Don't know what factor might cause more or less oil to drain of the motor except on uneven surface, which my truck was on lol.

 

[desertred]

Guys, I am curious the actual cost of oil which I see a case on ebay for $70 + $20 shipping, and my dealer will do it for $70 time and material. I have always done my own oil, but i want to find the best deal on oil and filters.

Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh, NC. Anyone used them? What Oil do you use? What Filter?

I paid $57.18 (incl tax) for 7 Ots of Toyota Oil and the filter at my dealer last time around. The price per quart of oil works out less than the Ebay price when shipping is included. The dealer had a "special" in buying 4 filter elements for $18.

I had the dealer perform my oil change and drive shaft lube at 40K, and they only charged me $56; labor included. I even questioned them on the price, as I knew that was close to the cost of the parts, if I did it myself. They confirmed the price, but I had a sneaking doubt as to whether they used synthetic oil at that price, so changed it 4600 miles later right before a long trip.

 

[Geaux504360]

That is the best cheat sheet I have ever seen in my life. Do you have any write ups for a Transmission drain, fill and filter replacement or a flush? You really sparked an interest in something I was always nervous about doing. Thanks a lot.

 

[Antman]

That is the best cheat sheet I have ever seen in my life. Do you have any write ups for a Transmission drain, fill and filter replacement or a flush? You really sparked an interest in something I was always nervous about doing. Thanks a lot.

No problem! :redface:

The tranny isn't something I like to mess with. It's simply not as cut and dry as an oil change. I'll probably take mine to a shop I trust- High-Tech Auto- when it's time, or I may just never change the fluid.

 

[BootUnit]

That took some effort. Thanks for your hard work, and hopefully this will be one of those tasks that once you've done it once, the second time will be much easier! Thanks again-

 

[Lester Lugnut]

Do you have any write ups for a Transmission drain, fill and filter replacement or a flush?

The tacomaworld web site has two good write-ups on changing fluid in an A750E(2WD) or A750F(4WD) transmission, but they pertain to the system(s) used in that vehicle. The write-ups are of value regardless.

The trick in working with these dipstickless transmissions is determining the transmission fluid temp. Tacoma's have a system built in that allows you to manually determine when the fluid is at proper temp. It must be within a certain range before you pull the overflow plug. A couple of pins are jumpered in the DTC3 connector(OBD-II) and a set number of shift patterns are used - etc/etc. You can read about it over on that forum.

The 4 Runners are not setup to work this way. There are 2 ways I know of to determine transmission fluid temp in a 5th Gen 4 Runner.

One is by using Techstream; the other by using the Pro version of TorqueApp which also requires an ELM327 dongle. If you go that route, buy a dongle made in the USA.

Just for grins I bought one of those $5 Chinese dongles and used the free TorqueApp which will not provide TFT(transmission fluid temp). I got some flaky reads and after a short while, the thing went down the tubes. It will be interesting to see what happens with a better dongle and the Pro TorqueApp.

In the end, I will likely buy Techstream when it comes time to change my transmission fluid - available at the following site:

https://techinfo.toyota.com

For an overview on understanding the business of checking 5th Gen 4 Runner transmission fluid level, read these 2 articles:

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - How To Check AutomaticTransmission Fluid

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - How Do I Check Toyota Transmission Fluid

 

[WCVanHorne]

Filter Housing Wrench

Well this time around for my fall oil change I got a proper wrench.



Turns out because I had not over torqued it putting it back on the last time (see my older post for the massive grief I had on a Sunday the first time I tried this after the dealer monkeys over tightened it) it came off like butter. Could have actually used my old hacked up adapter but this was much nicer because of the way it grips and stays on and the fact the housing has a lot of friction the whole way out and in.

Probably could have ordered it from Amazon or somewhere cheaper but I got a deal on it (~$26) at a Napa in Edmonton and I had again left things a bit too late; but at least a Saturday!

 

[ShAwTWiN]

Did mine this fall... First time since I bought it (november 2013 - 7 000 Km later)

Thx alot for the informations in this thread!