Oil change postmortem

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Kyngfish

New member
Just wanted to see if I missed something but I did my first oil change after buying this 3rd gen and it ranks pretty high on the unfriendly scale. Removing the skid plate. Fine. But that oil filter placement has to be the strangest thing I've ever seen. My MKVII GTI is a packaging marvel and working on the sides or under the engine is a virtual impossibility but I'll be damned if the filter isn't right on top. My carrera is like 3 inches off the ground and I don't even have to put it up on stands. An oil change takes all of 15 minutes for reservoir and sump.

I obviously didn't have to put the 4Runner on stands and I have a nice shallow pan so removing the plate and draining the oil was a breeze. But the oil filter access was nuts. i eventually got an oil filter wrench in there and gave it a slight turn to loosen it. Then unscrewed it by hand through the wheel well. However it became a drippy mess.

Also. The purolator filter is bigger, and even though I don't torque my filters to hell it will be a pain to unscrew later.

Appreciate any tips and tricks for the next one!
 
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I have given serious thought to an oil filter relocation kit.

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Can do my oil change in 10 minutes. 1" socket to loosen K&N filter, and skid plate does not have to come off.


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You missed nothing; it a huge pain in the ass. Sure, I can do oil changes in 10 minutes too. But the annoying part is having oil drip all over the block, pan, diff, front suspension...
[MENTION=144406]Kyngfish[/MENTION], it's easier for me to reach the filter from the bottom vs the wheel well. Better leverage to twist from the bottom.
 
You don't need to remove skid. It has a drain access. I put an old rag under oil filter to catch the drip. I can hand loosen them no problem if not hands torqued. Easiest job on a 4runner.
 
I bought a long 3/8 extension from harbor freight and put a cap type filter remover on the end. Turn the wheel to the left and reach in. I can't remember what year but Toyota made the fender flap for this. It just lifts out of the way.
 
The only reason I pull the skid plates is to clean up the oil that inevitably drips all over that side of the engine/suspension when the filter is removed.


Even with layering a few rags under the filter, it still gets everywhere.
 
How are you guys changing the filter without removing the skid plate? I've always just taken off the whole plate. It's easier than trying to get at it from the wheel well and having to deal with the plastic tabs on the splash shield.
 
if you don't care about spillage, you can go under the driver side fender, if it was hand tight to begin with. get a pair of grippy gloves, and it should come right off. minimal hassle.
 
Ghostrider said:
I bought a long 3/8 extension from harbor freight and put a cap type filter remover on the end. Turn the wheel to the left and reach in. I can't remember what year but Toyota made the fender flap for this. It just lifts out of the way.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This is the answer I was looking for. The only reason I removed the skid was because I thought I needed to do so to get access to the filter. Once I realized there was no way that anyone with normal sized hands engineered bottom access, I looked in the wheel well and saw the gap behind the flap lined up perfectly. The only question left to answer was how to apply a small amount of torque to that filter. The rest dan be solved with strategically placed shop rags. Thanks for saving my driveway. I didn't know there was a different type of filter wrench. I have a nice short handled ratchet that will be perfect for that job.
 
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Kyngfish said:
Thanks. This is the answer I was looking for. The only reason I removed the skid was because I thought I needed to do so to get access to the filter. Once I realized there was no way that anyone with normal sized hands engineered bottom access, I looked in the wheel well and saw the gap behind the flap lined up perfectly. The only question left to answer was how to apply a small amount of torque to that filter. The rest dan be solved with strategically placed shop rags. Thanks for saving my driveway. I didn't know there was a different type of filter wrench. I have a nice short handled ratchet that will be perfect for that job.
Click to expand...

That skid plate is a joke anyway....assuming we're talking about the piece of tin under the rack and behind the front skid that actually protects the ridiculously low hanging radiator. I took it off at the very first oil change and haven't run it since.

Ya, it spills everywhere. I just run a big bucket under the truck. Stupid design.

The SFA swap I'm planning should alleviate it from dripping all over the axle and suspension and make it a much cleaner job.
 
nobb said:
How are you guys changing the filter without removing the skid plate? I've always just taken off the whole plate. It's easier than trying to get at it from the wheel well and having to deal with the plastic tabs on the splash shield.
Click to expand...



Going through the wheel well is the easiest way I've found, and I've tried them all.


I have long arms, which helps, and I also don't spin the filter on impossibly tight, so removal is quite easy. I wear rubber gloves, so that gives me a good grip on the filter to spin off without a wrench.

Been doing it this way for 10 years and have never had any issues.
 
I have long skinny arms and can reach it from underneath, barely. It is tough to get any kind of leverage on it though. I tighten as much as I can with just my hands, and haven't had any real trouble getting it loose by hand either.

Definitely the worst filter location of any car I've owned.

My wife has a 2008 Jeep GC. Just did the oil change on that yesterday. So easy. The filter is on the underside of the engine, but you can easily reach it from above. It's sticking out at an angle towards the front, with nothing in the way. You just reach in there and give it a twist. Even better, directly underneath it they built a channel that goes over the axle and has a little spout pointing down, so there's no spillage onto any suspension/axle components. You just sit your pan underneath the spout and all the oil goes right there.

I don't mind crawling underneath to get at the filter, gotta do that to open the drain plug anyway, but at least make it easy to reach with some consideration for cleanup. The only good thing about the 4Runner is it's tall enough that I don't have to drive it up on ramps to do the oil change.
 
I go through the wheel well.
Not that much oil drips.

I also put grip tape on all filters when I put them on.
It makes it easier to remove them by hand.
 
alumarine said:
I go through the wheel well.
Not that much oil drips.

I also put grip tape on all filters when I put them on.
It makes it easier to remove them by hand.
Click to expand...

:o ! I never thought of grip tape.

The gloves I have, have alot of grip added, but yeah, good point

Extra oil is rust proofing for us in the salt belt.
 
Ghostrider said:
I bought a long 3/8 extension from harbor freight and put a cap type filter remover on the end. Turn the wheel to the left and reach in. I can't remember what year but Toyota made the fender flap for this. It just lifts out of the way.
Click to expand...

This is what I have been doing for 17 years. I don't sweat the oil. I just pulled the skid when I did the frame swap and I finally found something that will remove the crud. I went to paint it and the crud laughed at my big gas pressure washer. Then I hit it with the POR15 Degreaser since I was going to paint it with POR15, and it took that stuff right off. Good for another 17 years of letting the crud build up.
 
I keep the skid on and go through the wheel well for the filter. Should only take about 10-20 minutes. I just allow the oil from the filter to become rust-proofing for the chassis. If I want it to look neat, then I'll give the drain plug and filter a good spray with brake cleaner. The skid plate is a pain in the ass so I stopped goofing around with that a long time ago. I don't know if my mounts are stripped or if toytec sent the wrong bolts cause the rear bolts for the skid plate never want to engage properly.
 

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