Oil change 2018 TRD OffRoad

Changing oil in my sons 2006, 2007 4Runners I was assuming an oil change for my newly purchased 2018 TRD Off Road would be equally routine. Holy crap.....what genius at Toyota thought this ignorant design up? This resembles something the Germans would do. I will not be deterred in doing my own maintenance but this is flat out ignorant. Anybody else out there feel the same way. Love the vehicle, beyond description but...wow....skid plate r/r, special filter tool, special filter and tool, seals and 'O' ring. Wouldn't a high dollar cannister filter earn Toyota the same amount of profit in the long run? So any suggestions on 'brand' of oil to use.

 

Takes me 30 minutes taking my time. I don’t think it’s a big deal to be honest. My skids have a door to access the filter. Super easy.

 

The canister style oil filter housing on our vehicles does have some benefits. You can have both higher oil pressure and better filtration with them (if you use quality filter media). Also, you're able to inspect the filter media a lot easier if you wanted/needed to.

The first time will take you a little longer. After you get the hang of it, it'll be no big deal.

If you really can't stand it though, you could do a filter relocation and use a disposable filter.

 

It’s pretty straight forward, there’s nothing exotic or German about an o-ring, and personally I prefer replacing the filter element because I get a change to see what’s it’s filtered and check for metal.

Just because it newer than a 20 year old relic of automotive technology doesn’t mean it’s scary and bad. Let the $9/hour Jiffy Lube kids handle it if it’s to much for you.

 

Your favorite brand of 0W-20 will work great!

 

@Agent_Outside,
A coworker used 'iffy lube'..before a trip to Wisconsin. While on her trip she started to smell oil. Pulled into a rest stop, checked her engine and noticed the filler cap on her 2017 Jeep Cherokee was missing, told me she found a new use for those cheesey wal-mart bags. Don't see advantage of an over engineered oil can....but you're probably right....its new...its gotta be better..

 

I think he was using sarcasm. However the design isn’t bad, maybe it’s just different to you and it’s hard to adapt to it.

 

...yep...so was I. I'll get use to it...I just don't see the engineering advantage over a canister. I've owned german cars before...where they tend to over engineer a lot of things...ie; mechanical fuel distributor...very complicated and equally hard to find a mechanic to diagnose/repair them. Just say'n..

 

It’s just odd to hear someone complain about something being “over engineered” simply because it’s serviceable. The filter element is what filters, the seals are what seal, why is replacing just those things bad, but replacing those things plus a thin metal casing is better?

Why bring in raw materials, process them, stamp the mold, assemble it the filter with a new filter element, seal the housing, paint it, install a gasket, then box and ship a heavier product when you can buy a filter element and gasket in a box and ship it? There’s no advantage to doing a full replacement canister, which is why pretty much everyone has gone away from that at this point.

It just seems like a silly thing to even have a debate about.

 

Simply an observation..Agent_Outside, feel free to debate yourself..I'll stay with my opinion

 

It's easy enough, my only gripe is It's messy af. I have an rci skid plate with a "service door" for the oil filter where i don't have to remove the skid plate but what a hot mess that turned to be (literally). Will still do my own but will have to drop the skid for future changes

 

Just one of those deals that I'll have to routine. I'll finally have a use for those 30yr. old car ramps in the shed

 

It's definitely a bit more work, but I'm getting used to it. I do appreciate the fact that there's less waste in the landfill.

 

@ferrisDJB
i just did mine as well. i had to remove 3 underpieces (soaked in rustproof crap), using a special tool for the filter and draining the filter itself.
it is stupid, overengineered and totally awkward and not needed.
toyota is not the ultimate god in terms of engineering, they have their stupid moments. the 4runner oil change is one of them.
don't let the fanboys bully you, there is a reason why my mustang is 50$ full synthetic at the dealer and the 10 years old runner 105$+tax.

 

The point I think (or at least my point LOL) is that a standard canister would be simpler and easier to remove and replace. There's no arguing about that. A standard canister would be less time, less hassle and less mess. It's also a drag that the filter is on the bottom of the block and you have to remove a skid plate to get to it. There's just no argument that this is a user friendly design. I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but it's also not no deal at all.

Five of my most recent cars had the filter on top of the block -- no need to lift or crawl under the car to remove and replace it, and a hell of a lot less chance to spill oil. That's not nothin. Two of those five had filters inside plastic housings instead of disposable canisters. Still better that they were on top of the block, but also still a PITA compared to standard disposable canisters.

Again, I'm not bashing Toyota for its approach to oil filters on the 4R. We just shouldn't pretend it's as easy to change as the alternatives.

 

Exactly

 

Is it removing the skid plates that bothers people? It really only adds about 15 minutes to the job.

As far as the filter goes... it's not much different than spinning off a canister filter IMO.

That being said...I do miss the oil changes on my 2nd gen. Tacomas. BUT...I will say that I snapped a few bolts off trying to remove the skids off the Tacomas...doubt I'll ever have that trouble on the 4Runner since the skids get removed fairly often and I apply anti-seize to the skid bolts while they are off.

 

Agreed. Not that it’s a complete pain in the ass. But if it was easier (and it could be easier), that’d be alright.

To me, it’s like if the valve stem of the tires were on the inside of the tire. Well that would suck. No, it wouldn’t be a big deal, I could crawl under there to inflate my tires no problem. But it would kinda suck. So, why not just put the valve stem on the outside?

 

4th gens were top block and no big deal. No mess, in and out fairly quick. Now this is a new routine, more time to get at it. Not a big deal but senseless from an engineering point of view. There's an old time tested phrase that design engineers use to live by, K.I.S.S., this apparently is one of those forgotten moments. I did find an upgrade from the plastic 'filter cup' which tends to expand at different temperature gradients then its mating surface, which in turn leads to excessive 'tightness' in fit. Using a metal 'filter cup' would tend to mimic temperature gradient of mating surface..Simple design, hard to understand why Toyota would use this on some vehicles as opposed to others. Change for the sake of change...?

 

I'm not sure when Toyota started this trend with the canister filter but my 2013 had it and it looks exactly like the same filter & setup as the 4 Runner. I agree its a PITA because of the mess. I think the only reason Toyota did it was because of cost. It has to be much cheaper to make a filter without that metal canister. One good thing is you can see the quality of the media between the different filter manufacturers. I prefer the WIX XP line of filters. Looks like they are built pretty solid.

 

Toyota generally uses the cheaper plastic cups on vehicles with the filter housing protected by steel skid plates. Vehicles with plastic or non existent underbody panels get the metal housing.

 

Lol, fanboys.

I don't think anyone would argue that a canister is easier. The point is that it really isn't that difficult, and wastes less material.

I'm sure it could be improved. But, I understand why they switched to this type of filter.

 

Toyota has a $20 off an oil change for 50 it’s a no brainer and you get the right oil for our truck
J

 

In addition, you might get stripped skid plate bolts or fill plug, and an over torqued filter cover if you're exceptionally unlucky.

 

Lol! I don't trust those lube techs, either.

 

Hey shit happens the jack could fail and your spaghetti and meatballs in your driveway
at least with them I can get redemption and for $50 I will buy my dinner not be dinner for the squirrels
J

 

First oil/filter change today.

Have same RCI skid w/filter access door that Pavo refers to (post #11).

Not an issue to access filter (don't have to drop skid).

Have owned other vehicles requiring filter wrench specific to them, not a problem.

The plastic tube inserted into the filer housing to drain the filter oil pre removal is a poor design and is fussier than needed, but understand the reasoning.

But having to line up the filter housing pointer to it's original, pre-removal position is idiotic. Good grief, not sure I trust a Toyota factory trained and certified wrench turner to spend the time to get that one right. As an added bonus of the RCI skid access door, have to put my face directly under the filter to get the sight line on that housing pointer.

Toyota, I'd like to have a word with your oil filter housing tightened enough/not too much pointer engineering team next time they're in the States. Clearly, they're all office guys.

 

The key to make the drain work best is to remove the oil cap up top, crack the filter housing loose half a turn, take the rubber o-ring off and press the plastic piece in with a rubber glove on and your thumb blocking the drain hole. When the draining slow downs to a drip loosen the housing some more by hand with the drain still installed. As you loosen the cap it vents the housing and it’ll pour out and completely drain. No mess, no fuss, and next to no effort.

I don’t understand the problem here, the filter housing only lines up one way. If it’s installed and tight, it lines up, it’s impossible for it not to. This is a total non-issue.

You can look right in from the drivers side above the side of the skid plate.

 

If it helps, I got the motivx tools oil change set. First time I’ve ever changed the oil with this type of setup and thought it was pretty straight forward. The drain tool with tube was helpful.

 

Appreciate your wisdom, thanks.

We're going to disagree on this one. If it was simply tighten until snug, we're on the same page. If it was tighten to a torque spec, we're good. If the filter/housing was on top of the block and the housing was tightened to a visual indicator, Okay. But tighten until a visual indicator on the underside of the block is in alignment, nope.

I've owned cars over the years from manufacturers who gave as much thought to those maintaining their vehicles as the Pope does to my choice in footwear (MG, Alfa Romeo and Jaguar). None had this silliness (all had plenty otherwise).

Can't see the indicator alignment, it's on passenger side when "correctly aligned".

Drop skidplate (if stock), special filter wrench, filter housing drain tube, replace 2 O rings, re-install housing to a visual setting. Taken individually, may not be a big deal. Collectively, it's too fiddly, too many steps that have potential for failure. Your advice on the drain tube is perfect example. Illustrations (plural) on factory oil filter box showing acceptable and unacceptable placement of O rings are another.

I've done my own vehicle maintenance for 4 decades. Old Alfa's and Jag's were the low point in stupidity in what's required to do the simplest tasks.

The point isn't that it can't be done, it's that its excessively fussy.