Quick Question, Oil plug

[Kingdom934]

Hey folks,

I have a quick question. I've did a few search regarding my question, but couldn't find anything solid.

I'm planning to do an oil change on my friend's Camry '97 LE V6. I'm wondering if the oil drain plug has a fiber/rubber gasket? I've been more familar with the older '85 Camry and the '87 Cressida that requires the black fiber/rubber gasket otherwise you'll end up leaking oil from the oil drain plug, but I don't know anything about the Gen4 regarding if they need an oil drain plug gasket.


Thanks,

[bigbird]

dont believe it does. ive never noticed one on mine.

[Strum]

Originally Posted by Kingdom934

Hey folks,

I have a quick question. I've did a few search regarding my question, but couldn't find anything solid.

I'm planning to do an oil change on my friend's Camry '97 LE V6. I'm wondering if the oil drain plug has a fiber/rubber gasket? I've been more familar with the older '85 Camry and the '87 Cressida that requires the black fiber/rubber gasket otherwise you'll end up leaking oil from the oil drain plug, but I don't know anything about the Gen4 regarding if they need an oil drain plug gasket.


Thanks,

Quick answer - mine has a black rubber ring/gasket. I use the same one, never replaced it.

[Kingdom934]

Originally Posted by bigbird

dont believe it does. ive never noticed one on mine.

Originally Posted by Strum

Quick answer - mine has a black rubber ring/gasket. I use the same one, never replaced it.

Hmmm...

Bigbird, yours is a '97 V6. Strum, yours would be the '98 I4? (I assume the one your talking about is a Gen4 since you also got another Gen3 Camry)



Interesting.

[eddie926]

I always use the crush washers that they use at the dealership when I change the oil on my Gen3.5 Camrys, both I4 and V6 and my Sequoia. I assume you should use them on Gen4 Camrys as well.

[Kingdom934]

Thanks,

Well I went to the dealer and found they had gaskets. The gasket for the '97 Camry ran $1.89.

[Hajoca]

I replaced mine with an aluminum washer.

[Copralite]

This is one of the better reasons to not get your oil changed at a cheapo place. Frequently they will not replace the gasket or washer, and they won't keep the one you have. So you end up with oil spots on your driveway.

[Strum]

Originally Posted by Kingdom934

Hmmm...

Bigbird, yours is a '97 V6. Strum, yours would be the '98 I4? (I assume the one your talking about is a Gen4 since you also got another Gen3 Camry)



Interesting.

Yes, I'm referring to the Gen4. I don't recall what the Gen3 has, but I vaguely remember there not being any ring - whether by design or just missing, I'm not sure.

[Kingdom934]

Thanks guys.

I ended up changing my friend's 1MZ. When I tried taking the plug off, it move on the first turn, with very minimal force. Not even tighten on good! (He was leaking oil after a shop did the oil change). Took it off and no washer/gasket. No wonder it was dripping.

Also a mental note: don't jug the oil too fast down the 1MZ, it doesn't go in fast...

Originally Posted by Copralite

This is one of the better reasons to not get your oil changed at a cheapo place. Frequently they will not replace the gasket or washer, and they won't keep the one you have. So you end up with oil spots on your driveway.

Yep.

I'm suprised they didn't have any washer. My mom does to the same place where my friend when as she didn't have any problem. Maybe because she goes early where the people are fresh when my friend went near closing, so they were all dead and tired.

[Heat]

Originally Posted by Kingdom934

...Also a mental note: don't jug the oil too fast down the 1MZ, it doesn't go in fast...

$1.89 for the crush washer is pretty high, the price for the crush washers for my Honda as well as the Volvo I used to have was 50 cents or less. The next time you are at the dealer, ask how much a bag of the crush washers will cost - that should reduce your price per washer to less than a buck. If you want I can get you the part number tonight (the guy just gave me the bag so I don't know what the actual price was supposed to be). Or if you want to buy your oil filters online, check out www.toyotapartsales.com , $3.90 per filter plus shipping - you could get the crush washers at the same time at a discount (probably 20% to 25%).

As far as putting the new oil in, what I do is to cut a two liter soda bottle in half, rinse it out and dry it with a paper towel. That is then my oil funnel and I've never spilled oil out of it, nor does the oil go in too quick. When I'm done putting oil into the car, I then use the funnel to put the used oil into whatever container I'm using (milk jugs, old oil containers, etc), then I just throw the funnel away.

[Hajoca]

Any auto parts store will have the crush washers, I got tired of throwing away the fiber washers, and picked up aluminum one which is reusable several times, Nylon and copper are also available.

[Kingdom934]

I'll try see what I can find. I know checkers here has washers on their store level, but not the ones I need. I'll see if they have some behind their counter

Originally Posted by Heat

As far as putting the new oil in, what I do is to cut a two liter soda bottle in half, rinse it out and dry it with a paper towel. That is then my oil funnel and I've never spilled oil out of it, nor does the oil go in too quick. When I'm done putting oil into the car, I then use the funnel to put the used oil into whatever container I'm using (milk jugs, old oil containers, etc), then I just throw the funnel away.

Yea. $1.89 is a bit high, then again we are located in the middle of the pacific ocean and with with gas prices rising...argh

I might just buy a bag later on. Depends if I make his oil change a common occurance.

As for the funnel, I had a fluid funnel. It would fit, but there's that flat spot in the engine near the oil cap, so it's like a 4 lane highway converted to a 2 lane highway. Reminds me of my Uncle's 1ZZ-FE. I just need to grab a smaller funnel so I don't go all happy go lucky with trying to jug all the oil down too fast.