Dealer installed the wrong oil filter

I’d love to be a fly on the wall when op demands a new engine over a smaller oil filter that was run a few miles
They won’t even extend the warranty for that little mixup..
just imagine how often the wrong oil use used and never discovered and don’t me me started on gear oil weight

 

This oil filter thing is very unfortunate, just have it documented at the dealership that it happened and hopefully nothing happens to the engine in the long run, if it does you have it documented and go from there. Bottom line: shit happens.... sometimes to you, sometimes to me, sometimes to all of us. Run it! Time will tell the outcome. Fact is it's done.

 

I'm sure it's fine and no damage was done. Document it, report it to dealer, accept whatever offer they make for goodwill, be done with it.

 

What I cannot understand is how a mistake like this could even happen. It's obvious to anyone that it does not fit properly just by looking at it. I'm thinking it was a deliberate act and not by accident. For what reason of this gross negligence we can only speculate.


I'm so grateful I do almost all my own repairs and have trusted humans with basic common sense and integrity that can do what I am unable to.

 

I honestly wouldn't worry about it.

However, you should still go back to the dealer and tell them your concerns. If they offer you another oil change, decline and take @glwood54's advice to have them supply the oil and filter for the next few changes. Tell them you'd like to document the incident in case there is a premature failure (there won't be). Document all of your oil changes from here on out and keep receipts.

Take samples of your next few oil changes and send them to Blackstone to have have them monitor the situation. See if the dealership will pay for this, but if they don't it may be worthwhile for you to front this bill for some peace of mind.

It'll be fine.

 

The oil sample sent to Blackstone would have been the original one after the motor was ran with short filter. Any subsequent oil change is not going to have the particles found in the unfiltered oil.

 

They'll be able to monitor for any increased levels of wear when compared to normal wear intervals from other 4Runner samples they've run over the years.

 

The OP was going to the dealership yesterday over this issue but hasn't returned to tell us what was said.

I'm in this excited state of expectation, like reading a mystery novel waiting for the mystery to be solved)

 

I don't know the type of people who work in the dealers in your area, but I've seen the 'techs" here and I can easily see how it could happen. Minimal training and even less concern for what happens beyond getting a paycheck. Slam it in there and move on to the next rig in at least 90% of the cases. My dad was a mechanic who worked on everything from fighter aircraft to the family lawnmower...I remember when he got too old to crawl around a car to do maintenance and it pissed him off royally to go to a shop for the very reasons above. Course he had me and my brother to boss around when we were home....

 

^^^ Voice of reason here.

I have a 1959 Chevy pickup truck that doesn't even have an oil filter. Probably has a half-million miles on it.

The interval your engine was exposed to oil with no filtration is little more than a blip on the radar.

Take the lesson (avoid shitty dealers and do it yourself) and move on with no worries.

Jason

 

Chances are most will trade it in long before anything comes from "damage" caused.

 

I think sometimes people use online forums as a way to make themselves feel important, in the outside world they may not have that sort of affirmation.

I drove a BMW big six with no oil in it for 100 miles. Put oil in it, the engine lived for another 40k miles. It already had 150k on it. I dunno, anecdotal stories like mine are only marginally useful as a guide, but it just goes to show that there's a lot we don't know.

 

Isn't that the truth. Guys like myself deal with facts and not assumptions in cases such as this one. "Expert opinions" do not apply here. The only way to tell how much damage and wear occurred is by bore scope, leak down and other measurements. Any way you want to slice it this motors wear has been accelerated more than one that was properly filtered. By how much remains to be seen when the OP has the testing done.

It's very sad we have incompetent techs that are not willing to do the simplest of tasks. FWIW, I cannot see any possible way to make a mistake like that. It was almost as if it was a deliberate act.

That's almost as bad as me pouring gear oil into my KTM300 and watching it drain into my skid plate and onto the floor!! Note to self not to work on race bikes right after the race and being worn out mentally.

 

Anyone ever cut the filter and expand the element to see what these filters actually filter? There was a certain model of Lycoming engine that had an AD on it and we had to cut the filters open and look over the element every 50 hours. I worked for th school and we had one airplane in the fleet that had the affected model engine and on a training aircraft that 50 hours went by fast. In the 2+ years I worked there, never once did I find anything. running unfiltered or in a partially filtered situation isn't going to be an issue in a closed system, especially in a new vehicle. Running no oil or low oil, that's when you're going to find shit wrong.

 

Your car's oil filter captures harmful debris, dirt, and metal fragments that can get into your motor oil and damage the engine. This is just a fact; a wrong engine oil filter can do engine damage. Ask any automotive engine engineer.

Not saying that in OP’s case damage happened, nevertheless, I would recommend which is already mentioned, a Blackstone analysis; personally, I would go a step further to make sure. That is just me. I respect all opinions.

I know that Chris (@olliechristoper) is sometimes overly vocal about oils, maintenance & all kinds of protective measures. In this case from a mechanical point of view he is correct to the extent of damage or shorten engine longevity.

I’m not talking about engine replacements and lawsuits etc.; again, I’m not saying that this is the case with OP’s engine at all.

 

Yes Roland, well said. These kind of preventable issues should not happen. Yes I'm vocal for sure. I think of worse case scenario. Heck man, I was chastised on a KTM forum years ago for recommending all owners of 300's to weld the power valve pin and bolting on a exhaust flange sleeve as preventative measures. A lot of those who dug in their heels and laughed at me were splitting cases and replacing broken cylinders. Same with my Beta swapping out the plastic oil pump gears for steel ones. It was kind of a pain but well worth it.

And this was supposed to be just a simple filter change by certified dealer techs.....

 

Pretty Sad; the Toyota Area Dealer Rep needs to here about that! …

 

The filter they used is for a Rav4. I know because I change my wife's oil and filters.

 

Just to verify. Went by dealership to get 4Runner and rav4 filters. This is the correct one for 4Runner correct? I haven’t done the first oil change yet.

 

Correct, the right one.

 

Thanks a bunch. Just wanted to be sure as oil filters and oil is not to expensive and probably the best thing you can do yourself. I’m not a mechanic but I’m totally watching videos and doing the easy things myself. To bad I never took the path of being a mechanic. It’s something I always secretly loved to do now I have time to learn.

 

And that is the beauty of YouTube! I spent 25+ years earning my living as a auto tech when there was no YouTube. To me YouTube is the best trade university on the planet! I am so grateful that such a thing exists. I never dreamed I would have the ability to tear open a flat screen monitor down to parade rest to change out $11 worth of failed capacitors and save an otherwise great monitor - thank you YouTube!

 

Yessss your absolutely correct. I always enjoyed taking apart random thing mostly computers and build my own. I just have a desire for cars/trucks to learn more. I even thought about going back to a community college for auto mechanics just for my own benefit. I’m older I listen plus I actually love it.

 

Get greasy and enjoy!!

 

this^^ if there was any serious and irreparable damage done by running the shorter filter over a oil change interval, future oil analysis will be able to tell that there's extra wear material in the oil samples. My old turbo forester ate rings during one oil interval. I forgot to get a sample but got one on my next change. They told me that based on what they found and how much oil my engine was consuming that rings from at least 2 cylinders were done and I was going to need a new motor at some point.

 

I have no idea whether the wrong filter would impact your engine life but I would definitely document this incident with Toyota corporate, not just the dealer.

 

I noticed that this wrong size filter element issue was brought up during the Car Care Nuts latest live chat last weekend.

 

And?

 

Verdict?

 

must like the dropped a commercial in the middle of the thread, tune in Thursday at 4 to see the show