DIY oil change?
- Thread starter Bhebert449
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Feel like I’m pointing out the obvious here, but why not buy 2 5QT jugs? They are cheaper at Walmart as well. You can purchase 3 gallon boxes there now as well for cheapest by volume. ($50/ 3 gallons in my region).
Yup - stupid mistake on me - was waiting for someone to point that out. My excuse is that I had three whiny kids with me at the time, so I didn't notice that the pricing was so different between the singles and the 5 quart jugs. I wanted to have a single quart, potentially to keep in the vehicle for road trips, but didn't want to buy 5 + 5 +1, so I went for 5 + 1 +1 + 1 + 1, thinking I'd have most or all of the 9th quart left over.
I wouldn't have thought that the price delta would be +59% to buy single quarts ($7.20/quart vs. $11.49/quart). Won't be making that mistake again.
Thanks for the good tip on the gallon size option - I'll be checking that out later this week.
The three candy bars that I added from the AutoZone checkout line to pacify the kids might have helped with the whining, but they were similar marked up on price for convenience rather than value. Another lesson learned.
I wouldn't have thought that the price delta would be +59% to buy single quarts ($7.20/quart vs. $11.49/quart). Won't be making that mistake again.
Thanks for the good tip on the gallon size option - I'll be checking that out later this week.
The three candy bars that I added from the AutoZone checkout line to pacify the kids might have helped with the whining, but they were similar marked up on price for convenience rather than value. Another lesson learned.
LCT
SILVER Star
bloc
SILVER Star
"Regular" synthetic oil has the requisite base stock and additive pack to surpass the requirements set forth by the companies building engines, let alone an engine that is easy on oil like almost everything toyota makes. Generally when you go much past that you start to get into the "tweaks" that provide diminishing returns and can even start to alter the base of what the oil is intended to do. For instance, without knowing specifically what they do for an EP oil, I'd guess they push viscosity up closer to the top of the range, increase viscosity modifiers to fight shear, and probably push the TBN up to let the oil work longer and deal with contaminants better over extended drain intervals.
Basically, if you are changing your oil often enough, you just don't need these "tweaks".
Another good example would be the "seal swellers" added to some oils intended for high mileage engines. Yeah, in theory it can help seal leaks, but it does so by taking a given chunk of rubber and increasing it's size, which lowers it's hardness, makes it more likely to sustain damage, and some parts you just don't want swelling.
"Regular" Mobil1 or Pennzoil Platinum or any synthetic (or even modern conventional oil to be honest) is pretty incredible stuff. Find any of those products as cheap as you can, change it often enough, and your engine will not be failing any time soon due to lubrication-related issues.
Side note.. does your 570 really only have 15k miles?! Or is that a really old number?
I pay $75 every 10,000 miles for my LX, that includes a tire rotation (bought my tires from the service station) why would anyone do it themselves? My guy does oils changes every day, far better then in your driveway every once in a while??
Disagree. Lowest paid “tech” with little to no experience and ZERO ****s given.
DIY or bust.
bloc
SILVER Star
MANY of our vehicles have very expensive broken AC recirculate doors based on previous owners using that logic.
LCT
SILVER Star
Thanks for your response. I plan on replacing every 7500 miles (or 12 months), so will go back to a regular synthetic next oil change.
I bought my 2013 LX with only 14,687 miles in March of 2020 from a ford dealership that didn't know what they had. Paid pre-covid price and was/is in like new condition. I lucked out to be honest. Have put about 5k miles on it in the last year or so. Love it!
I pay around $77 at my local independent Japanese Specialist shop. It would cost me almost that in oil/filter parts alone. They get it done in around an hour and then they go over the truck to see if there are any issues. Plus, I don't have to deal with used oil.
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Huh? $6 filter and $40 in oil.
$77 typo. So $46, yes it's not that much. I get people like to do it themselves but for $31 bucks I'd rather have the shop do it. Esp. trying to transport and get rid of 8 quarts of used oil.
CharlieS
GOLD Star
I’d rather do it myself and make sure it is done correctly, levels are correct, things are properly torqued and all of the parts end up back on the vehicle.
It is also a good opportunity to observe if anything is out of place or amiss. For example, I noticed a failing water pump on my former 200 that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen (no drip made it to the ground, but there was lots of pink crust where it had leaked and then evaporated).
In the past when my life was too busy and I relied on dealers, I experienced skid plates bring left off, bolts getting snapped and not drilled/retapped, oil getting over or under filled, and other issues. I had a quick lube oil change place snap a vacuum line on a vw, and have had multiple friends who had the fill caps left off by these kinds of places.
This may be a generalization, but most of the dealers around here have the least skilled techs in “oil change technician” role. They don’t do other mechanical work, just quick lube style oil changes. In cases like this, people are paying top dollar for the lowest skilled and experienced worker in the service bays to change their oil.
For those of us with aftermarket armored skids and anything unusual (such as the BJowett filter housing) the dealer isn’t always a good option.
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FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
I've had the dealer do the oil changes up until now as they were free.
But I'm setting up for my first DIY oil change and I'd really like to replace that plastic filter assembly with one of the Toyota OEM aluminum housings.
Along the way I found that there appears to be 2 part numbers for the aluminum filter assembly.
There's 15620-31060 which I think is the Venza part people are using. I get that it requires that you swap the center screen
And then there's this one, 15620-51010, which appears from the pictures to have a longer center screen. I'm wondering that if the housing fits then it might not require swapping the center screen. Anyone know anything about this part? Is it a drop in replacement for the plastic OEM housing & screen?
But I'm setting up for my first DIY oil change and I'd really like to replace that plastic filter assembly with one of the Toyota OEM aluminum housings.
Along the way I found that there appears to be 2 part numbers for the aluminum filter assembly.
There's 15620-31060 which I think is the Venza part people are using. I get that it requires that you swap the center screen
And then there's this one, 15620-51010, which appears from the pictures to have a longer center screen. I'm wondering that if the housing fits then it might not require swapping the center screen. Anyone know anything about this part? Is it a drop in replacement for the plastic OEM housing & screen?
And also stripped front differential drain plugs.
Missing skid bolts, that little skid to remove for oil change missing. Way overtorqued oil filter housing. Oil drain plug with two washers on it that was also way overtorqued. Errors that were on my truck when I got it after years of ‘careful’ Lexus services. But the Lexus shop does have cookies.
I've had the dealer do the oil changes up until now as they were free.
But I'm setting up for my first DIY oil change and I'd really like to replace that plastic filter assembly with one of the Toyota OEM aluminum housings.
Along the way I found that there appears to be 2 part numbers for the aluminum filter assembly.
There's 15620-31060 which I think is the Venza part people are using. I get that it requires that you swap the center screen
And then there's this one, 15620-51010, which appears from the pictures to have a longer center screen. I'm wondering that if the housing fits then it might not require swapping the center screen. Anyone know anything about this part? Is it a drop in replacement for the plastic OEM housing & screen?
Looks like that second part is for a 4.5 Turbo Diesel. I don't know if it fits, but I'd stick with the cheaper NA market part we all know fits and swap over the center screen. I'm really replying to tell you not to forget to order a new drain plug cap (15643-31050). On mine it had clearly been used to torque down the oil filter cover and was fused to the cover so I was not able to move it over from the plastic filter cover to the metal filter cover. If you know you can remove yours, then no need.
Also this thing is nice and a Fumoto drain valve for the oil pan goes a long way in making an oil change quick and painless.
Amazon product ASIN B08C5F5FQP
You've got to factor that folks on this forum are fanatics. Fantatics live to work on their cars and get their hands dirty. I personally like showing my 2 young boys how to work on cars. Grant it EVs will be their norm when they are of age to drive, i'm teaching them work ethic and the ability to diagnose/troubleshoot.
While the oil is draining i take the opportunity to look everything over and hopefully avoid any other issues.
While the oil is draining i take the opportunity to look everything over and hopefully avoid any other issues.
Looks like there is a new Fumoto valve that uses a two piece configuration with a banjo bolt.
Amazon product ASIN B01HP5UZIO
New Fumoto valve looks good. I like the blue lock ring that comes with the Fumotos.
If you're going with the EZ oil drain valve (either sourced independently or through Jowett), and you want a little insurance that the valve lever won't accidentally open, you can add this wire hose clamp shown on the EZ oil drain valve website here:
FAQ - https://ezoildrainvalve.com/faq.html
The correct wire hose clamp seems to be the 11/16" outer diameter one that I found at my local Ace Hardware - just the right size to sit partially in the groove and keep the lever from potentially popping up (against the spring tension). Stiff metal, so you'll need pliers to put it on and take it off. Yes, the lever is already spring loaded to the closed position, and yes you can screw on a cap, but I figure it's a $0.75 belt-and-suspenders insurance policy....
If you're going with the EZ oil drain valve (either sourced independently or through Jowett), and you want a little insurance that the valve lever won't accidentally open, you can add this wire hose clamp shown on the EZ oil drain valve website here:
FAQ - https://ezoildrainvalve.com/faq.html
The correct wire hose clamp seems to be the 11/16" outer diameter one that I found at my local Ace Hardware - just the right size to sit partially in the groove and keep the lever from potentially popping up (against the spring tension). Stiff metal, so you'll need pliers to put it on and take it off. Yes, the lever is already spring loaded to the closed position, and yes you can screw on a cap, but I figure it's a $0.75 belt-and-suspenders insurance policy....
