I despise the Oil filter choice

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to make the job of changing oil, less 'annoying'.

To start with, I despise the plastic oil filter housing... this is the 4th time I have changed the oil on it and it drives me insane. Why could we have not just gone with a spin-on oil filter? It makes me wonder if there are any aftermarket solutions for this terrible engineering (in my opinion). Perhaps there is a conversion kit which would allow someone to use a spin-on oil filter, that would be AMAZING.

Then the skid plate... it is a nightmare to try and get it back on, I ground those hooks off, I wanted to smash them after that but did not have time. I am thinking about cutting an access port, has anyone done this with it working?

Now for my rant...

A job that should take 30 minutes took 5.5 Hours, WHY?


To begin with, three of the five bolts holding the skip plate on rusted out, then stripped the threads. I had to drill out the holes and go up to a larger size, after getting "the little boogers out". My drill bit also snapped inside one of the holes, so that was a 45 minute ordeal. Finally I got the damn skid plate off and prepared the holes for larger bolts, that hopefully will not rust...

Then I notice the oil pan gasket is leaking again, Fuck my life, I thought I fixed that last time, I ended up not messing with it (looked like it leaked 1-2 oz per oil change).

Then I move on to the "true nightmare", the oil filter housing, so many tears... I will not go through the whole spiel, I will just say at one point, I was considering chiseling out the entire plastic housing, then buying a new one at the dealer Monday. However what saved me were shop towels ( I swear I come up with so many uses for these!). I layered 4 shop towels inside of the oil filter housing removal tool, then used a mallet to seat the tool on the housing tightly. WOOLAH, it came off.


Then while trying to get the tool off of the housing, I break the "spindle and associated components" out of the inside of the housing. I spent a good our getting everything bent and put back into place correctly.

Then it was cake from there on, until it came to putting the damn skid plate back on, this took way too long, AS USAUL.

Nevertheless, I completed the job and added a new engineer or engineering team to my shit list. Seriously is there a good reason why they did some of this, that I am not aware of?

 

Yikes! No bueno hope it gets better for you

 

Rci also offers a skid plate with access to the oil filter via 2 Allen bolts. Install a fumuto oil drain valve and your concerns should be limited.

 

I feel your pain @kenomouth64 , which is why I haven't even tried it myself, yet. With my previous vehicles (except one commuter car) I was sure to do each oil change myself. After hearing what a pain it is with our trucks I have decided I'm OK with paying the dealer to do it until I can get a different skid plate with an access door.

I plan on scooping up a TRD Pro skid or an RCI skid, as they both have an access door, however they are pricey new and I haven't found any used locally, and probably never will. I did see that someone made their own access door on the stock skid. It didn't look to pretty but it definitely got the job done.

Also do you recommend we replace the skid plate bolts with SS bolts to prevent any rust issues?

 

How long since the last oil change? Did you buy brand new. I just find it odd that the Skid pan bolts would seize when it's something you should remove for oil change at least twice per year.

You can replace the plastic filter cartridge with a metal one, but I've never had a problem. Actually with the right tools, this is the easiest oil change I've done on any vehicle. I can drain the oil directly into a container without a drop on the floor.

 

I'm sort of liking it too. Just did the wife's Camry yesterday. It's the same sort if cartridge, just a little shorter. I get the filters off Amazon, buy about 3 at a time.

Op, what part of country do you live in? You might try putting a little anti-seize on the bolts.

 

You can always leave the skid plate off if its a issue.

 

I stopped doing my own oil changes once it became a PITA like this and the hassle of dealing with recycling the used oil. Something to be said about doing your own maintenance, but it this case, more cost/time effective for me to just have the dealer do it.

 

Oil change takes like 10 minutes on my 2000. Easy spin on filter that you can reach from under the hood no issues.

Plastic housing? Is it similar to the aluminum spin on canister my 2007 RAV4 3.5L has but plastic?

 

Yeah our trucks come with plastic oil filter canisters. I replaced mine with the aluminum one on the first oil change. Just bought an aluminum one for my wife's Camry after cracking the plastic one during the last oil change. Dealer had that thing on there so tight it wouldn't budge. Ended up having it towed to them. $240 oil change... I was pissed.

 

And that is why I will never let a dealer change my oil. My wife's Lexus was purchased as a CPO vehicle, so not brand new. The first oil change I did on it was a messy one because I couldn't use the drain tool for the filter since the dealer tightened the filter drain plug cap so tight that the whole filter assembly just spun with it. It was so tight in fact, that I couldn't even get the drain cap loose after putting the canister in a vise and cranking with a cheater bar. That thing is supposed to be installed at a pretty low torque.

Many other reasons not to let the dealer do it too, like the big waste of time it takes. I let them rotate my tires once, made an appointment for the first of the day at 7:30am, got there on time, but they didn't touch my truck until 8:30 and it was not done until 9. When I first brought it, I asked when it would be ready and I was told 15 minutes!

 

My truck is still new so I haven't changed my oil yet. But I have been checking out what tools I will need and looking at the process. I previously had an 08 Tacoma and the oil filter was right on top of the engine. My wife has a Volvo XC 90 and that's her filter is located on top as well. I really don't understand why some filters are in such a hard place to access.

 

I cut a 6x6 hole in my skid plate, bought a metal cap and use the oil drain tool. It has made oil changes a lot easier

 

Yeah it was so tight I ended up breaking the little tabs off that the tool fits around. Had to use a cheater bar to manage that. But when they broke off they cracked the housing as well and was leaking oil like crazy so I couldn't even drive it to the dealer, had to have it towed. I have no idea how they got it off.

 

This. I did it on my last Tundra, and doing it on this one when it's time for oil change.

 

Damn, and I thought my first oil change went bad. I was planning on cutting an access door in my skid plate when I did mine. I was saved that step. I may add the RCI skidplate down the road.

I totally agree with you on the oil filter housing design. There are way to many pieces in that little bit of engineering. Spin on oil filters for the win.

 

Found this so far:
http://www.shop.**************/TS-101-BK-Cartridge-to-Spin-On-Adapter-TS-101-BK.htm

 

Link doesn't work

 

I always used to change my oil. Not anymore. I've owned my Tundra over 3 years now. My neighborhood Grease Monkey has been doing the oil changes during that time with never an issue. I know the owner. Good guy. They did my rear diff gear oil change last year. Going to have them do the front diff and T case in a couple of weeks. I supply fluids..

 

Nice! It is difficult to find shops that will let you supply them with the parts/fluids. None of the shops around where I live will do it. They all want their markup on the price...

 

Maybe, he was talking about this, looks interesting, i am going to research it a little more.
https://www.shop.com/Trans+Dapt+Per...l+Filter+Adapter+Spin+On+-1354240903-p+.xhtml

Looks like it is only works for GM motors...

 

It's ************** where all the asterisks are. The forum won't let me paste it in without doing that to the link. Looks pretty slick. I'd pay $200 to never have to deal with those frickin cartridges again.

 

ok. Lets try this: b p adapters dot com

 

Very nice find! I might invest in one of these... bookmarked the page. For those who just got here the link is listed below:

http://www.shop.+++/Spin-On-Oil-Filter-Adapter_c2.htm - Remove the +++ symbols and replace with the following (do not include spaces): b p adapters .com

 

A more expensive but much more convenient option would be these two gems. Relocates as well as converts to spin-on. With hoses it would be around $500 for the mod.

 

You're doing it wrong if you think the spin on kind is so much easier.

 

The center plug got stuck on mine the last oil change. So taking out the first Plug it would try to and spin the entire filter housing. I took my 1/4" impact to it and I got it off without removing the entire housing with it.

 

Anybody have a link to the aluminum oil filter housing?

 

is this what you're looking for
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Lex...d=100012&rk=6&rkt=12&mehot=pp&sd=221790935970