Oil change without filter??

jwkilgore

jwkilgore

New member
Need a quick answer... my oil change light came on about 300 miles ago. We are leaving on a 800-mile round trip early tomorrow morning. I thought I had everything and was planning on changing the oil tonight... except apparently I don't have a filter. Gotta love the problems of a procrastinator.

So quick advice: change the oil now and change the filter when I get back, or wait and do everything when I get back?

ETA: This is a 5th Gen running 0W-20 synthetic.
 
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Technically it wouldn't be a double job, other than pulling it up on the ramps twice. The oil is drained through an access panel in the mid skid plate while the filter requires removal of the front skid plate. The problem would be that some old oil would remain in the filter and get circulated around and mixed with the new oil. Not much, but enough to bother me and maybe enough to bother the engine. So a half job now is out.

What I'm looking at now is splitting the difference. Getting a filter somewhere near my parents' place and changing it in my dad's shop.

If I can find one short notice... it's kindof a rare filter and few parts places keep it in stock. At least none of the ones around here do so.

Incidentally, I found a pack at Amazon, genuine OEM Toyota parts, pack of 5 @ $5 each, free shipping through Prime. Except they won't guarantee delivery to the boondocks of Mississippi by Saturday :(
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OW6LGO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A32SNTCC2T0DPY
 
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Check your oil color, if it's not too discolored, I would wait and do both at the same time but if it's in bad shape, obviously you can do the oil change and use the same filter until you're back.
 
Are you using synthetic oil? Going 1K over the recommended OCI, one time, is unlikely to hurt anything unless your oil is looking black already as another poster mentioned.

I'm sure you know this but the light comes on after X number of miles and is not influenced by the oil's condition.

With that said, it's your engine so do what you're comfortable with.
 
It's brownish, but a long way from the opaque black you see with worn out conventional oil, so I'm sure it still has a few miles left. Also the maintenance light comes on well before the 5,000 interval. It will eventually start blinking, which is closer to the actual 5,000 miles. Haven't hit that yet.
 
Sound's like my wife, telling me the light is flashing and needs an oil change on her Rav4 (Penz Platinum + OEM cartridge). My $25 to blackstone oil labs tells me I'm throwing away good oil at the 4500-5k range. 1 hour in the garage not changing the oil, reset oil light, and whaalaa, light is gone and no more pestering from the wife. Set reminder in phone to change oil in another 2500 miles.

But again, the Rav4 has been out of warranty for the last 2 years, so I do what I'm comfortable with.
 
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I would change it once I got back. I would rather change the filter and not the oil rather than change the oil and not the filter...
 
With all due respect fellas, I wouldn't fret over it. I'm not familiar with the cartridge filter, I imagine that when you take it off, the engine oil left in the engine (in this case new oil), will seep/guzzle out of the filter once it's removed. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, another thing to point, just b/c the oil is brown, doesn't mean the oil isn't good anymore. OP, if what I said is true (oil gushing out when filter removed), then I would wait a 5K (next time) to change it out. Back in the 80s, I remember most mechanics told us to change the oil filter ever other change (back when the normal interval was 3K). Sounds ludicrous, right? That's what I remember.

Remember that synthetic oil can go 10-15Kmiles without a hiccup. Sit back, relax and enjoy your road trip!.............. don't forget to crack open a beer and belch out loud everytime you think of the filter you left on. (implying you don't.......... and shouldn't care, LOL).
 
Your vehicle will easily survive an extended oil change interval.

Ensure the oil level is correct before starting out on your trip; tend to it when you return.
 
My 2015 TP is 1 year old in two weeks and just rolled 11000 miles. I changed the oil at 5600 miles, Mobil1 0/20. I was planning to change every 5000, but I may bump that up to 7500.

Mobil1 oil is good for 10-15K miles, i believe when it was first introduced they touted it as a 25K mile oil....no longer advertised that way.

As EZL45 said, I am with the Lugnut

77
 
Changed at my dad's shop with a new filter. Actual interval was about 10,900 per my notes. Thanks for the advice.
 
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