Toyota V-6 Oil Change ugh!!

Over the years, I owned eight British sports cars: three MG Midgets, a Triumph TR4-A, a Triumph GT-6, a Sunbeam Alpine, and an Austin-Healey 3000. I did all my own wrenching on them...the only vehicles where a short length of garden hose is part of the tune-up kit. :)


Yes, the "continuous loss" lubrication system. :D
 
My 2018 Tacoma is the first ride I've owned that I let someone change the oil. It came with a 20 year 200K drive train warranty, and if I let them do the service it will be on the books and if something happened they couldn't say I did something wrong.

I'm on a Tacoma forum, and there have been many threads where people have "tried" to change their oil, but drained the transmission by mistake. I've never looked under there to see where the drains are.
 
I take my Crown Vic to the local dealer affiliated oil change place. To change the oil filter the front suspension has to drop to get the filter out. It's a pain. On top of that, when they get it up in the air, they let me look at any issues that they find. The other thing is, I don't have to deal with waste oil.
 
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I'm on a Tacoma forum, and there have been many threads where people have "tried" to change their oil, but drained the transmission by mistake. I've never looked under there to see where the drains are.
I like the Tacoma World Forum. I had a problem with my skid plate and they helped me find an easy $2 fix rather than having to drill/tap and who knows what all. Ditto for when I backed into a small stump (hey, it was hidden in long grass!) and knocked off my rear mud flap. Their help got me all fixed up for less than $10.

On my 4 cylinder Tacoma it's pretty simple to spot the engine's oil pan, unless you've never seen an engine from below before.
 
Ματθιας;141922172 said:
I take my Crown Vic to the local dealer affiliated oil change place. To change the oil filter the front suspension has to drop to get the filter out. It's a pain. On top of that, when they get it up in the air, they let me look at any issues that they find. The other thing is, I don't have to deal with waste oil.

If I found my vehicle was like that, I'd look to see if the engine mounts were in the right place. Here's why I say that.

I had put custom headers on a 2001 Tahoe years ago. The guy had the devil's own job getting it all together. I asked why it was such a big deal when the headers were sold for that model and all other GMT 1500 family trucks and SUVs. Hos reply was interesting. "Oh, GM don't build the ladder frames the same twice from month to month. They are always fiddling with the jigs." That was so far out of left field as to be believable. Why? 2001 was the first year for that type of Tahoe, and it came from the factory with misaligned suspension (no castor) and torsion bars that went soft. Dumped it in 2005 for an Xterra just before gas spiked to $4/gallon.
 
If I found my vehicle was like that, I'd look to see if the engine mounts were in the right place.

It's just the way filter location is set up. The filter sits horizontal on the driver's side, and it's relatively big. Wont come out from the top, stuff in the way. It has to come out from below. Because of the filter's diameter, with the CV on ramps, it won't clear all the stuff in the way. Once the suspension drops a couple of inches, it comes right out!
 
I bit the bullet on performing routine maintenance around the same time I no longer had a use for my timing light and dwell tach. The only thing I do to my cars now is change wiper blades and add washer fluid.

I think most vehicles these days are far too complicated for even an avid enthusiast to maintain himself. It's easier to let a professional, either at a dealer or a good independent garage, do the work. It will be done correctly, and there will be a warranty on it.

I'm too old, fat and decrepit to be crawling under cars anymore. But I still change the air filters in the Batmobiles myself because it's about the only thing I can do on the cars now.
 
I like the Tacoma World Forum. I had a problem with my skid plate and they helped me find an easy $2 fix rather than having to drill/tap and who knows what all. Ditto for when I backed into a small stump (hey, it was hidden in long grass!) and knocked off my rear mud flap. Their help got me all fixed up for less than $10.

On my 4 cylinder Tacoma it's pretty simple to spot the engine's oil pan, unless you've never seen an engine from below before.

It is a great forum, been on it since 2018. There are people there that know everything about Tacomas. I doubt there's a question you could ask that someone doesn't know the answer to.

One dude makes a custom wiring harness that would let me put the newer LED headlight assembly on my truck without cutting a single wire.
 
Count your blessings. An oil change for a Bugatti Veyron is $21,000. Yes, you read that right. Granted, if you could afford to own a Veyron, you could undoubtedly afford the oil change, which takes a few days to perform and requires disassembling a substantial amount of the car to get at the 8 different oil pans. There are videos posted on Youtube.
 
Funny you should post this Tom. I just did the wife's 2023 4runner yesterday. I did order ahead of time the MotivX filter tool (the best one out there) and researched the process.

All went very well and I did figure out a helpful way of easily removing the skid plate once you take out the fasteners. Let it swing down and move either left or right about an inch to get the front hooks free and it comes right out.

The tool was a perfect fit on the plastic filter housing. The filter (Toyota) came with the 2 o-rings as mentioned and a small plastic spout that you insert into the filter housing after you remove the cap to drain it. That piece and how it worked was so so. Had to hold in place, it did not want to snap in.

I did use ramps (Race Ramps) and everything worked out great. Much prefer myself other than someone/something behind closed doors messing with our vehicles. I'm 69.

Wife made me a nice dinner and a big kiss for my effort. Desert was even better LOL.
 
Just did my second oil change on my 2023 Subaru outback.
It's oil filter is right out in front, on top of it's oun "museum display"pedestal.
No problem there.
Drain plug... Here a feller needs to pay attention.
The exposed area of the oil pan is approximately the size of the palm of your hand. It's reported that folks miss it and empty the CVT of trans fluid. At this point, you're pretty much boned and you'll need to summon a flatbed.
If you pass the IQ test and think " that's not it, that's the transmission, look harder" it's quite easy.
Ground clearance is such that raising the vehicle is unnecessary.
Change the crush washer, reset the service notifications in the infotainment system.
 
My new F250 with 7.3 gas motor just got its first oil change. I bought it out of state so I took it to local dealer of my choosing for first oil change. I wanted to get in their system for warranty purposes and check for any recalls. Oil filter lube and tire rotation was just over $100. That didn't seem outrageous to me considering it takes 8 quarts and oil is getting expensive. Especially synthetic and semi synthetic. Add in the doughnuts and coffee I had in lounge it gets cheaper……… I'll price out doing it myself and compare for next time.
 
I've got two old Lexus' with the same type of filters and I change each one a couple of times a year. I find that jacking up the front end and then using jack stands makes it a lot easier. On my cars there is a single point to jack up the front or rear.
At least the filter housing is vertical. On my first car a TR3 - the filter housing was horizontal with what seemed to be 6" of fine threads. This meant all the hot oil in the housing ran down your arm while you unscrewed it.
I've given up doing my own brake jobs due to my age but I'm still too cheap to pay $130 for an oil change when I can do it for about $40 with Mobil 1 full synthetic.
 
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...Oil filter lube and tire rotation was just over $100. That didn't seem outrageous to me considering it takes 8 quarts and oil is getting expensive. Especially synthetic and semi synthetic. Add in the doughnuts and coffee I had in lounge it gets cheaper……… I'll price out doing it myself and compare for next time.
Yes, that doesn't sound bad considering the materials would run somewhere in the $50 - $60 range (retail anyways) so they did all that work for maybe $40.

Some of the comments make it sound like used engine oil is radioactive waste. :eek: :D
I just funnel it into the container the new oil came in and take it to WalMart. One thing, I always make sure to write "USED OIL" on the container for fear that it might otherwise wind up back on the shelf and be sold to some poor unwitting customer.
 
Back in the late seventies, I was a base engine engineer and ran a bearing study using different oils from various companies in an attempt to write a specification for the Ford Parts and Service Division (Motorcraft). I spare you the details, but the absolute best temperature data and tear down results were with Mobil 1. FPSD wanted to replicate their formulation using a different vendor. No way!

My message (again) is there is NO economy in using anything but a full synthetic oil.
 
Old but still relevant!:D Prices have changed


Oil Change instructions for Women:
1) Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change.
2) Drink a cup of coffee.
3) 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Money spent:
Oil Change $20.00
Coffee $1.00
Total $21.00
================================================== ========

Oil Change instructions for Men:
1) Wait until Saturday, drive to auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree, write a check for $50.00.
2) Stop by 7 - 11 and buy a case of beer, write a check for $20, drive home.
3) Open a beer and drink it.
4) Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.
5) Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.
6) In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
7) Place drain pan under engine.
8) Look for 9/16 box end wrench.
9) Give up and use crescent wrench.
10) Unscrew drain plug.
11) Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in process. Cuss.
12) Crawl out from under car to wipe hot oil off of face and arms. Throw kitty litter on spilled oil.
13) Have another beer while watching oil drain.
14) Spend 30 minutes looking for oil filter wrench.
15) Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through oil filter and twist off.
16) Crawl out from under car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from holes. Cleverly hide old oil filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties. Drink a beer.
17) Buddy shows up; finish case of beer with him.
Decide to finish oil change tomorrow so you can go see his new garage door opener.
18) Sunday: Skip church because "I gotta finish the oil change." Drag pan full of old oil out from underneath car. Cleverly dump oil in hole in back yard instead of taking it back to Kragen to recycle.
19) Throw kitty litter on oil spilled during step 18.
20) Beer? No, drank it all yesterday.
21) Walk to 7-11; buy beer.
22) Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.
23) Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.
24) Remember drain plug from step 11.
25) Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.
26) Remember that the used oil is buried in a hole in the back yard, along with drain plug.
27) Drink beer.
28) Shovel out hole and sift oily mud for drain plug. Re-shovel oily dirt into hole. Steal sand from kids sandbox to cleverly cover oily patch of ground and avoid environmental penalties. Wash drain plug in lawnmower gas.
29) Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor. Throw kitty litter on oil spill.
30) Drink beer.
31) Crawl under car getting kitty litter into eyes. Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean drain plug. Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame.
32) Bang head on floorboards in reaction to step 31.
33) Begin cussing fit.
34) Throw stupid crescent wrench.
35) Cuss for additional 10 minutes because wrench hit bowling trophy.
36) Beer.
37) Clean up hands and forehead and bandage as required t o stop blood flow.
38) Beer.
39) Beer.
40) Dump in five fresh quarts of oil.
41) Beer.
42) Lower car from jack stands.
43) Accidentally crush remaining case of new motor oil.
44) Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during steps 23 - 43.
45) Beer.
46) Test drive car.
47) Get pulled over: arrested for driving under the influence.
48) Car gets impounded.
49) Call loving wife, make bail.
50) 12 hours later, get car from impound yard.

Money spent:

Parts $50.00
DUI $2500.00
Impound fee $75.00
Bail $1500.00
Beer $40.00
Total - - $4,165.00
But you know the job was done right!
 
Disgusted with the $120+ cost of an oil change on my Ford 6.7 diesel I decided to do it myself. It's not like you have to jack it up.

The first time was a disaster. It holds 15 quarts of oil. I thought I was going to have to call Wild Well Control....it was a blowout! A stream of oil shot right over the top 5 gallon pan I bought. God what a mess. It still wasn't cheap. An oil filter from the dealer (too many online fakes) and 4 gallons of oil was like $80+.

The second time I was ready for it. I'm too old to be doing it and it's not necessary but I refuse to give up the fight. That truck's gone now anyway. Down to a tiny car.
 

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