2013 4Runner oil leak

I'm starting this post on my laptop, and will attach photos from my phone. It's easier for me to type on my laptop.
My son just got a 4Runner, and when we got it home, it's leaking oil.
My theory is that when the dealer changed the oil, they did something to the oil filter.
From my research, if you over-torque it, you can mess it up.

 

Here are the photos.

 

I am not sure you can overtorque the cannister as it hits a stop at the end. Maybe O ring was not oiled before install, or they reused the old O ring or its installed in the lower section and not the correct O ring channel. SHould be 2 min fix no problem.

I mean the larger O ring, not the mini one for the drain tap. I never remove the drain trap O ring or part. Just keep it as is. Remove the cannister and check the main large ring, i bet its missing or its in the wrong channel stopping any seal.

 

Thanks for the tip on the O ring. Hopefully that's all it is.
As soon as I get the filter removal tool, I'll know more.

I just realized that this is the metal canister.
Is there a plastic version? I'm trying to figure out what I was reading as far as the torque.

 

Pop off the cannister slowly and let abit leak out, it should stop soon. Then just spin it off with your hand. With that amount of oil on it and maybe a deformed or missing O ring, I bet it should be easy to remove by hand. There is a small anti rotation clip on the back slide so it wont spin off. Slide the clip downwards and this moves it out of the way, you dont need to take clip off, but you can if you want. I would not mess with the drain plug ring, just take off the whole cannister and check it out. I have a metal one to and its an upgrade, you have to change the spring and pipe in it which is super easy. I bet you have an O ring issue.

Factory OEM is plastic cannister, the metal one is the upgrade off another Toyota where you change the spring and pipe piece inside it. I dunno, I have both metal and plastic, they both seem ok.

Edit to add, looks like your missing your anti rotation clip. I have one filter I use also missing one, but it never leaks.

 

This has been discussed into the ground, but, other than in some people's mind, there's no evidence that the metal canister is an "upgrade". Some advise against it.

 

If it ends up just being that the O ring is in the wrong position, is it simply a matter of repositioning the O ring and not mess with the filter?
The dealer changed the oil prior to us getting the vehicle.

 

Yes it's easy to put "O" Ring in wrong "land" if you're not paying attention.

 

I wasn't going to get a new filter, but I see that it comes with a plastic drain to drain the oil from the canister. I drained the oil from the drain pan, but is there still enough in there that I should drain the filter canister?

 

Draining the filter bowl just makes it less chance of making an oily mess when removing to R&R the filter element.

 

Is that an OEM Toyota aluminum canister that someone replaced the plastic one with?
I see evidence of oil leaking in that area before.
If you are running a Dorman or a fake toyota canister, there have been reports of those canisters leaking.

I have an OEM Can and never had any issues!

Toyota Part #

$40 Genuine OEM Toyota New Oil Filter Housing Cap + Plug 15620-31060 15643-31050

15620-31060


Check the Oring location first, then see if you have an OEM Toyota canister.
Otherwise, purchase one from a Toyota dealer.

 

Remove the filter housing, clean, replace O ring, tighten to spec , start car and look out for leaks.
Make sure the filter housing is OEM even if metal. I prefer OEM plastic and hand tight it only. No leaks in close to 200k miles.

 

O rings can get crushed or deformed. If its in wrong spot, I would put a new one in there to be safe. Its not expensive to change.

As for plastic vs metal can? I have one of each on both of my Limiteds.. I dunno.. they both work good? I am not planning on changing my second limited over to the metal one, will leave it plastic.

 

I can’t tell what kind of canister this is.

 

P

You dont need to drain it. Turn it slowly by hand, after a few rotations it will start to leak alittle bit. You can then slowly turn it abit more. Do not take it off fully and it will just drip excess into pan below that you have setup to catch oil. Give it maybe 10mins to leak out. Then slowly remove by hand. Keep in mind the can will be full of oil so keep it horizontal. Use gloves and a rag its easy job. Once off you can check it out further.

I dont touch the drain. Waste of time.

 

Not sure about those markings, it doesn’t look like a Toyota part. Regardless, it’s metal, so it’s not the part indicated for the 4runner. You have no idea if the previous owner correctly reinstalled the tube and spring in the filter housing, which may cause it to bypass early or not at all.

The leak, and the fact it’s not the correct part (and possibly not made by Toyota) is reason enough for the housing to be suspect.

A new plastic housing with tube/spring assembly isn’t exactly cheap, but I’d swap all of that back to factory original parts to avoid the possibility of another leak, and another oil/filter change. Materials and time for an oil change aren't cheap either. It’s not worth the risk to keep using your current filter housing.

 

Thats a Dorman canister.
That’s the culprit!

 

OP to be safe just pop down to the stealers and get a new plastic can, filter, Oring kit.

I got my metal can years ago and its marked Toyota with numbers on it.

 

That's the Dorman logo. Remove the canister and check if the O-ring is in the correct groove. Easy mistake to make.

If the O-ring is in the correct groove, buy a new OEM canister. You'll need to transfer the drain plug over to the new canister and install new O-rings.

I don't think the O-ring kit is cheaper than a filter which includes the O-rings.

 

yeah here its an all in one.. filter, big O ring, small o ring and drain spigot. I paid I think $18 or so CDN for the box with all of it. Dont buy it off Amazon some of the filter kits are fakes in what looks like genuine Toyota boxes.

 

We live in a very rural area, which makes getting stuff like this a pain. My in-laws will be close to an AutoZone this afternoon. They can pick up a wrench. Will any of these cap ones work?
https://www.autozone.com/searchresult?searchText=oil filter wrench 2013 4runner

This makes it a pain. I won't know anything until tonight.

 

heres is wrench I use..got this from Amazon. Last pic is OEM showing O ring position.

 

Those < $10.00 filter wrenches from the local parts stores generally are not worth the cheap metal they're made of. The general consensus is the type that Motiv-X offers on Amazon, what @Grug556 posted above, or something like this, which is what I use:

$41 Lisle 61040 HD End Cap Wrench, Toyota 65mm 14 flute

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0749Y9BQN?ie=UTF8

 

This is one of the better forums that I've been a part of.
Thank you all very much.

 

I bought an el cheapo oil filter wrench from the auto parts store for $8 and it works - however it likes to hold on tight and needs to be rattled loose.

So for the price and as a backup/something to use for now it’ll be fine. I don’t have plans to get anything better as of now but probably eventually.

I’d want to do a oil/filter change on a vehicle that came used from the dealer too as soon as I can, last car I bought had work done by the selling dealer before it was put up for sale and when I got under it a few thousand miles later it had an undersized oil filter spun on.

It worked out fine but still would want to check just in case.

 

That reminds me. The skid plate only had 3 screws in it. Where can I get a set? And I think there's push pin or something? It was also missing.

 

The first one in the search list will work OK on the aluminum cap.



On the OEM plastic cap it's more prone to damaging the cap. Happened with me, so with replacing the cap, I bought a Motivx wrench. It's extremely well machined for a tight fit with the cap.

$30 Motivx Tools Oil Filter Wrench for Toyota Camry, Tundra, Tacoma, 4Runner, RAV4 and More - 64mm 14 Flute Precision CNC Machined Aluminum Oil Filter Removal Tool

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XTAGHU0/



Remember when Toyota trucks were simple machines that cavemen (Taliban) could maintain? And that's with the 4Runner having the simplest and most ancient engine in Toyota's North American lineup. Next year's will be this:

 

They are M8s. Get some same length. Any decent hardware store that sells metric fasteners should have them. MCMaster Carr has them oh plenty

 

I still liked my 2008 FJ, 2015 Tacoma BUT not the 2012 FJ, 2018 4Runner & my current 2023 4Runner oil filter locations!!! Dam engineers!

 

I had a dealer change my oil on my 2017 4 runner. The next time I changed the oil I had to use a breaker bar on all the screws from the sheet metal cover panel to the panel covering the drain plug. For the filter housing I had to use an extension on the breaker bar to get the filter housing off. I couldn't believe the amount of force I had to use on the drain plug. One of the screws on the skid plate was stripped. Lesson learned, change your own oil. I had recent back surgery and made a stupid decision...