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

[Throttle8]

Hey this Thread has been great and encouraging. I have slowly accumulated the required tools, torque wrench the Motovix tool, drain pan even some clear plastic tubing! (The cost of everything is starting to exceed the price of more than a few oil changes)

Just a quick possibly dumb question. My truck is at stock height and was thinking just to hinge the skid plate down rather than remove completely and use the plastic tube on the nipple part to drain the canister then reach in and remove. Turns out I still don't fit under the truck.

Can this oil change be done at stock height?

Can the skid plate be removed at stock height? (seemed like some height would have helped)

If I do decide to buy ramps and use the ramps on the front wheels only, resulting in the vehicle being on a angle, will it affect the oil change? I don't know like maybe not able to drain all the old oil out? makes a mess out of it? etc... (Not stoked to buy ramps at this point, but I will if needed already in this far)

The real answer is get a lift, and bigger tires. I know

Sorry for the long story, Thanks guys

 

[Rainier42]

I change my oil just on ramps and it drains fine. And yes, you need to get some height otherwise the skid plate won’t swing down enough for you to access the oil filter.

 

[Ghostrider]

Did mine for first time last weekend and a few thoughts. For the previous poster - yes you can do it without ramps including dropping the skid plate.
My thoughts -
I had an 01 for 14 years and it has more clearance. I did my 2016 without ramps but the 01 was easier with a few more inches of clearance.

The dealer had done previous changes since I was moving and did not have a garage. My concern after looking at the last set of pictures was that the dealer tightened the cap past the ridge so that was where I set it to also. Haven't put the plate back on since I wanted to look for leaks so I guess I will back it off

The parts manager made a suggestion when I was buying filters. I tried it and do not recommend it. He said they do not pull the drain nut on the housing but just take off everything at once. I did that but with hindsight - not again. It worked but a lot of oil came out that way. I guess they have a large catch basin at the dealer ir don't care. Next time I drain the housing first.

 

[Rainier42]

Also, when you reattach your skid plate, be sure to use anti-seize on all the bolts. They are notorious for rusting and snapping off.

 

[Swipter]

My wife just advised me that she is overdue for an oil change. I have never changed the oil in this vehicle, as we just went past the Toyota Care where we utilized the "free" oil changes from the stealership.

She did wait until we were 500 miles from home to tell me, but no problem at all. Her dad is a farmer, and has 90,000 tools.

Other than a Toyota filter wrench.

Using Google and this thread, it appears that a Pennzoil 19906 will do the trick although there are certainly better brands out there. Given that I'm in a town of 7000 people, O'reilly is the other shop in town and they do have it in stock.

Can anyone confirm that this WILL fit the 4Runner? Lots of threads reference the Pennzoil brand, but not this particular model number.

Also - what is this metal tab on the filter housing?

Is the filter cap in this picture a partial turn off or was 10 pounds reached before it hit the tab? Should it always hit tab to marker and align?

 

[Rainier42]

Is the filter cap in this picture a partial turn off or was 10 pounds reached before it hit the tab? Should it always hit tab to marker and align?

The center metal plug is tightened to 10 ft-lbs and the plastic filter canister is tightened to 20 ft-lbs. Tighten the center plug first and make sure you change out the two rubber o-rings.

 

[Throttle8]

Got it done! no ramps required, with the little splash guard removed the skid plate was easy to remove. I was obviously over thinking it.
Thanks everyone again for this thread and the help.

 

[IanB]

Another satisfied user of this excellent DIY tutorial, thanks for putting in the effort [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION]!

This one takes 2X as long to drop the skidplate as my GX470, and the sans-metal housing style filter takes 3X or more compared to twisting off a conventional filter, it's probably a 45min oil change with putting the front end on jackstands. They really went ahead and complicated this process! It''s a wonder quickie-lube places can make a buck working on these things!

 

[akidnameddre3]

Very helpful!! Will be coming back to this soon as I'm close to ready for a change.

 

[catrains]

Another satisfied user of this excellent DIY tutorial, thanks for putting in the effort [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION]!

This one takes 2X as long to drop the skidplate as my GX470, and the sans-metal housing style filter takes 3X or more compared to twisting off a conventional filter, it's probably a 45min oil change with putting the front end on jackstands. They really went ahead and complicated this process! It''s a wonder quickie-lube places can make a buck working on these things!

I use 6inch ramps made of solid wood. drive up the front wheels . do it on my driveway that has a slight slope. vehicle is almost perfect level . rear wheels on pavement ..

this engine takes 45 min for the oil to drain out ..my GM truck V8 takes 20 min .. synthetic mobil oil in both engines.

did this last week @7500miles on oil .. all is good . I do have a big oil drain pan so no mess. I also drop all the pans reason is I check for leaks and rust.. I also spray the bushings with silicone so when I need an alignment I will not have to replace those bushings .

pan hardware does require some anti seize .. rust will cause you problems if in the rust belt .. pan bolts will snap off.

on that filter cap it is variable on torque , the O ring does create some drag so lube the O ring good with oil .. when the cap gets snug at around the tab then that's it ..the O ring does keep that filter cap from moving .. never seen it move as I put it exactly in the same spot..

 

[dawudih]

1st time to change my own oil with this vehicle & I have a question about the oil filter cover. The tab on the cover doesn't line up with the casting mark; Is this okay?

 

[17KT4R]

1st time to change my own oil with this vehicle & I have a question about the oil filter cover. The tab on the cover doesn't line up with the casting mark; Is this okay?

You mean to say you went a 1/4" past it or something? Thats fine no worries.

 

[XIAIX]

I bookmarked this thread. Excellent instructions and pictures, thank you! Since I'm only 2 weeks into owning my new 4runner, i have 6 month scheduled maintenance (oil, rotations, etc) sessions with the Toyota dealer I purchased the truck from. I'll let them handle everything... for now. At least until I'm comfortable/confident in doing this myself. I love this truck so much, I don't want to risk messing it up! lol

 

[dawudih]

You mean to say you went a 1/4" past it or something? Thats fine no worries.

No, not just past the marking. There seems to be no correlation between the metal tab and the casting mark on the engine. The plastic cover goes from loose, to stop. It's torqued down properly, I was just curious as to why it doesn't line up.

EDIT: Crap, I think I put the o-ring in the wrong groove (where the dealer put it last). That's why the housing didn't get tighter & tighter, it just stopped. Anybody know how much oil I'd loose just removing the housing to verify o-ring placement?

 

[57buick]

Im planning to order this adapter to install a remote filter, the 4runner system is for the birds.

MULTI-PORT CARTRIDGE TO REMOTE ADAPTER

 

[Antman]

No, not just past the marking. There seems to be no correlation between the metal tab and the casting mark on the engine. The plastic cover goes from loose, to stop. It's torqued down properly, I was just curious as to why it doesn't line up.

EDIT: Crap, I think I put the o-ring in the wrong groove (where the dealer put it last). That's why the housing didn't get tighter & tighter, it just stopped. Anybody know how much oil I'd loose just removing the housing to verify o-ring placement?

It's really important to have that o ring in the correct groove. Fix it and then just check your oil level and top it off.

 

[renau001]

EDIT: Crap, I think I put the o-ring in the wrong groove (where the dealer put it last). That's why the housing didn't get tighter & tighter, it just stopped. Anybody know how much oil I'd loose just removing the housing to verify o-ring placement?

Not sure on the amount of oil, but either way you gotta fix it. But even in the correct groove, it does kind of get to a stopping point once it gets to the right torque. So don't necessarily think that it's wrong if it feels similar again.

It's 1.8 qts from the low mark to full mark on the dipstick, so you can judge based on that before you go buy more oil. I suspect that just draining the filter will be less than a quart, but just a guess.

 

[JLTD]

This is one of the best how-to threads on here, I read at least the first page every time I come across it. Thanks again Antman for the details.

Im planning to order this adapter to install a remote filter, the 4runner system is for the birds.

MULTI-PORT CARTRIDGE TO REMOTE ADAPTER

Nice piece but YIKES, $230? :crybaby:

I guess I'll keep wrenching and save the $$.

 

[dawudih]

Not sure on the amount of oil, but either way you gotta fix it. But even in the correct groove, it does kind of get to a stopping point once it gets to the right torque. So don't necessarily think that it's wrong if it feels similar again.

It's 1.8 qts from the low mark to full mark on the dipstick, so you can judge based on that before you go buy more oil. I suspect that just draining the filter will be less than a quart, but just a guess.

O-ring was installed properly. I guess the metal marker not lining up with the engine case mark & the feel of the housing just stopping all of the sudden rather than gradually tightening kind of threw me a little. Thanks everybody.
FYI, you only loose the amount of oil in the filter case (0.1 qts) when you remove just the filter. Nothing gushes out of the engine.

 

[57buick]

This is one of the best how-to threads on here, I read at least the first page every time I come across it. Thanks again Antman for the details.





Nice piece but YIKES, $230? :crybaby:

I guess I'll keep wrenching and save the $$.

Yea I don't mind paying for convenience. 15 minute oil change as opposed to an hour every month