Changed the oil today - glad that's done

[sharkinstx]

I changed the oil in my Sienna today, and it was one of those jobs that gives one experience. I bought the van used with 83,000 miles, and it had been in fleet service with a pharmaceutical company, being driven by one of their reps.

You know what you're going to run into with a vehicle that's been serviced by someone else (and in this case, not by a dealer). The first thing I found was what appeared to be a drip coming off the drain plug on the pan. Was it oil? Nope, blue RTV sealant. Apparently the rubbery coating had come off the drain plug washer (or it was just a plain washer), so someone had sealed it with blue RTV.

I was fortunate to have a drain plug that had come off of one of my Previas (I had installed Fram Sure-Drain kits on both my Previa and my F-150). The plugs were identical, so I was able to swap the washer over to the plug for the Sienna, after cleaning the RTV off of the sealing face on the pan.

Next, on to the filter. I put my 3/8" drive ratchet and extension on the filter drain plug, but did the plug come loose? No, the entire filter canister, of course. I figure that the people changing the oil were in the habit of removing the canister with the 3/8" drive, and not bothering with draining the oil first. I got the canister loose, then tipped it so that the oil would run into the drain pan, then set the filter element on the peg molded into the pan. I cleaned the canister with carb cleaner, then clamped it in a bench vise, so I could get the drain plug out. It took an 18" breaker bar with a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter to break the plug loose. Definitely more torque than the recommended value (9.5 ft-lb +- 2 ft-lb).

I got everything cleaned up, then oiled and installed the new o-rings. After cleaning the inside of the adapter housing on the engine, I lightly oiled it, too, to make sure the o-ring would go in smoothly. After installing the element and canister (20 ft-lb of torque) with the cast aluminum 64mm wrench (the wrench was such a snug fit that I had to tap it with a hammer to get it off of the canister), I installed the plug and torqued it to 10 ft-lb.

Since the plug wouldn't come off by itself, I didn't get to try out something I found at Walmart while looking at filters there. I had bought some Toyota filters at the dealer, but I wanted to see what Fram's filter was like. Theirs (I'm not a fan of Fram's oil filters) includes the o-rings, and their own design for the drain pipe, which is a better design than Toyota's. Instead of a pipe that has to be pushed into place, the Fram drain pipe is black plastic, and threaded, so that it screws into the threads used for the plug. A pin in the middle pushes the drain valve open as the pipe is screwed in. Maybe I'll get to use that next time.

Thanks to having to undo someone else's work, a job that should have taken less than an hour ended up taking more than an hour and a half.

[Mikeman]

Don't you just love reaping the benefits of a used car that someone else has maintained? Even cars that have been taken to the dealers have mechanic-induced problems. Makes you just want to buy new cars.

I feel your pain. Glad to hear there was no permanent damage. I had a similar experience with a used Aerostar. The transfer case housing was stripped by the bozo at the quickie lube that the previous owner took it to and the oil pan plug was put on so tight I had to grab the extra long torque wrench to break it loose. Fortunately, the pan was steel and didn't strip.

Thanks for the tip on the Fram filter drain pipe. I'm not a Fram fan either, but I may just go buy the filter to get that drain pipe. Sounds pretty slick compared to the Toyota tool.

[Suprafreek]

I just changed the oil in my van too for the first time and I bought it two months ago with 63k miles. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I bought the Assenmacher Toy 640 wrench from Amazon to help take off the filter canister after hearing that filter caps from auto stores don't fit that well. Of course I hate the design too just like everybody.

I also agree that the Fram drain pipe is way better but the Toyota drain pipe wasn't that bad as long as you bent the tabs in before inserting it. I'm debating whether its worth it to buy it just for the pipe.

What brand of oil is everybody using? I was going to get Castrol GTX 5W30 but Walmart didn't have any so I settled with Mobil Super 5000. I decided to get Mobil because it must of been the same oil the dealer was using from the oil change reminder on the windshield.

[sharkinstx]

The tool that you bought, is it the made in USA tool? I ordered one from AutoZone, and the picture on the Web site showed the Assenmacher tool, but when I picked it up at the store, it was a copy made in China, branded "OEM". It worked okay, but it was such a snug fit that I had to give it a light tap with a hammer to get it loose from the housing. It's a cast aluminum tool, but it seems kinda porous.

[Suprafreek]

Yes, the Assenmacher 640 is made in the USA, its stamped on it. It also fits tightly that I have to use a small hammer to knock it loose from the filter housing.