[kenm09]

This was a great write-up. I just did mine yesterday and this helped out a lot. I added 6 qts of oil. Everything was seemless.

Thanks again!

 

[kenm09]

filling the cartridge

Whenever I do an oil/filter change I always pour oil into the filter cartridge before installing it to minimize oil starvation on start up. Seems like the right thing to do. :shrug:


Tom

agreed.

 

[rav-ra]

I, like every Toyota oil change tech, could never be bothered to pre-drain the filter canister. What's the point?
Just drop the canister, turn it upside down to drain, and you've saved 15 minutes of your DIY oil change.
Am I missing something here?....

Just did my first oil change and was wondering the same thing. My experience with the filter drain pipe was that by the time I was able to get it locked in place oil had squirted and dripped all over (hands, floor, face...):egad:. Inserting the drain pipe required a very forceful two-handed push straight in to the drain hole (which isn't easy from an odd angle laying on your back under the car.) The problem as I saw it was that the design of the cartidge's hole doesn't include enough of a "neck" to force the pipe to be docked straight in with ease (i.e., poor design ergonomics)...and if it isn't pushed straight in oil squirts about and the pipe doesn't dock. Next time I will skip this step and see if a careful removal of the cartridge involves less frustration and oil spillage...or maybe I am missing something?

 

[rav4two]

Just did my first oil change and was wondering the same thing. My experience with the filter drain pipe was that by the time I was able to get it locked in place oil had squirted and dripped all over (hands, floor, face...):egad:. Inserting the drain pipe required a very forceful two-handed push straight in to the drain hole (which isn't easy from an odd angle laying on your back under the car.) The problem as I saw it was that the design of the cartidge's hole doesn't include enough of a "neck" to force the pipe to be docked straight in with ease (i.e., poor design ergonomics)...and if it isn't pushed straight in oil squirts about and the pipe doesn't dock. Next time I will skip this step and see if a careful removal of the cartridge involves less frustration and oil spillage...or maybe I am missing something?

I put the drain pipe in at a bit of an angle, so that one side is fully engaged and the other side isn't. I then push upward and sideways against the drain and it snaps into place. It still takes a pretty good push, but I think this would be way better than trying to push it straight in.

 

[rav-ra]

I put the drain pipe in at a bit of an angle, so that one side is fully engaged and the other side isn't. I then push upward and sideways against the drain and it snaps into place. It still takes a pretty good push, but I think this would be way better than trying to push it straight in.

Hmm...when I tried to put it in at an angle I got squirted at - only a straight-in push seemed to avoid the brown shower. Will try next time to learn this secret handshake, though the challenge I seem to have is that the fairly forceful "push" needed seems difficult to perform while lying on my back under the car (and it seems to require two hands, which makes it even more awkward). Will report back after the next oil change.

 

[KTL]

I had no problems inserting or removing the drain pipe at all. Any reason why you didn't connect a tube to avoid squirting?

 

[rav-ra]

I had no problems inserting or removing the drain pipe at all. Any reason why you didn't connect a tube to avoid squirting?

Forgot to get the tube before I did the work and, besides, I wanted to see how it went without one. Anyway the "squirting" appeared to come mainly from where the pipe is supposed to mate with the drain hole and it emanated from outside the pipe (i.e., a tube wouldn't have fixed this problem, though it might have helped). Hmm...all this talk about the finesse, strength, a tube...needed to make it work right definitely makes me wonder even more why Toyota ever bothered with this shoddily executed concept in the first place (fortunately I need not bother with it if I choose not to).

 

[rav-ra]

I had no problems inserting...the [oil filter] drain pipe...

P.S. To help avoid the "is it operator error or a bad design" question, I thought it might be useful to point out that my filter holder looks very different than yours as pictured in the OP (I have a 2010 I4 and you have a V6 which, from the foglights alone, appears older). For all we know Toyota modified (i.e., cheapened) the drain hole design from the time of your vehicle (or it's different for the I4 vs. V6 for some strange reason...or it is really operator error).

Funny thing, to make matters worse, I removed the filter holder's o-ring without noticing exactly where it was originally installed (I've never had a problem finding where an o-ring should go before...until now). Strangely enough my holder has two adjacent grooves that both look like a good place for an o-ring. That's when I got on my PC and came across your OP (which is great BTW) hoping to find something that would definitively show me where my o-ring should go. But alas your filter holder not only looks different, but, thankfully for you, doesn't appear to have this "where should I put the o-ring" issue.

To make a long story less long, I used my "engineering judgement" (yeah right) to pick what appeared to be the best o-ring location. But of course I am now paranoid about a bit of leakage from where the holder meets the engine, though this may just be some residual oil from the change two days ago. If it keeps leaking I may be back with a post that shows a pic of my filter holder and asking if someone knows where the o-ring should really go.

Needless to say my first RAV4 oil change hasn't been the walk in a park like it was for you (or like any of the 100's of oil changes I've done over the last 35 years). Oy:doh:!

 

[Deanjet]

I guess I really am a mechanic at heart..... I have read parts of this post, and now I can't wait until my first oil change. I am thinking about doing it at 2,500 miles . I changed my motorcycle oil every 2,00 miles; wished I could have gotten a rear tire to last that long (I like soft, sticky tires :twisted

 

[Rav408]

You know that they suggest your very first oil change to be a short interval like around 1,000 miles. This is to get any fresh, loose metal shavings and packing materials out of the engine early before they can cause harm. After that it's back to whatever your norm is.

 

[Carbon]

Very nice writeup.:thumbs_up:

3/4" OD clear tube bought from local hardware store.

Do you think 1/2" OD tubing would have fit onto the fitting easy enough?

Is the drain plug on the aft side of the oil pan, so that your ramps tilt the oil toward the drain?

 

[Deanjet]

That's an even better reason to change the oil :thumbs_up:
Although, if you really want to freak yourself out, drop the pan on an automatic transmission one day. It looks like the sweepings off a machine shop floor after the end of an 8 hour shift

You know that they suggest your very first oil change to be a short interval like around 1,000 miles. This is to get any fresh, loose metal shavings and packing materials out of the engine early before they can cause harm. After that it's back to whatever your norm is.

 

[KTL]

Needless to say my first RAV4 oil change hasn't been the walk in a park like it was for you (or like any of the 100's of oil changes I've done over the last 35 years). Oy:doh:!

I guess I was quite lucky since I didn't run into any problems on working first time with this cartridge-type, since I came from one-piece types for the past 2 decades.

Do you think 1/2" OD tubing would have fit onto the fitting easy enough?

I took the drain pipe to the hardware store to compare which tubing would fit and the 1/2" OD didn't, while the 3/4" OD did easily.

 

[Rav408]

Although, if you really want to freak yourself out, drop the pan on an automatic transmission one day. It looks like the sweepings off a machine shop floor after the end of an 8 hour shift

Oh, yea, I know exactly what you mean. I've done plenty of tranny fluid changes over the years. The magnets are always gunked up like crazy. That is one thing that I found interesting about the tranny on my Rav when I did a fluid change. The magnetic plug was clean. Maybe there is another magnet inside which catches more, but I don't think so since no one has ever mentioned that.

 

[JayJayPG]

Just changed the oil in our 2009 RAV4 V6. Pretty easy. Draining the oil filter before removing it was somewhat of a pain, but at least the filter is really easy to access (unlike my RSX). We just got the car 3 weeks ago and I wanted to switch over to synthetic (Mobil 1) and see what it was like to change the oil in this thing. It's hard to read the oil level on the dipstick (especially with new oil), but I ended up putting 6 quarts in. I will check again tomorrow after driving around and letting the oil settle. Took me about an hour since it was my first time and I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. Awesome DIY guide! :thumbs_up:

 

[JayJayPG]

Follow-up:

Checked the oil level again this morning (on a cool engine) after driving it for a few days after the oil change. It's a lot easier to read the dipstick now that the oil has "browned" a little bit. I put in exactly 6 quarts and that ended up being the perfect amount (right at the top line of the dip stick).

Has anyone ever had to put more than 6 quarts in? I let the old oil drain out for a long time and I jacked the RAV up pretty high to increase the tilt of the oil pan so I was expecting to put in closer to 6.4 quarts (w/filter change) like the owners manual states.

Maybe it's all in my head, but the motor seems to be running smoother on the synthetic vs. conventional :thumbs_up:

 

[bigbird1]

Well, the rest of the oil in the crankcase was a light honey-color... and the area between the valve and the drain plug had oil that was a fairly dark brown. It doesn't look like this is an area that sees a lot of oil circulation, but does accumulate grubby oil.

If you don't take the drain plug out and change the gasket every oil change, you may want to do it at some interval to get that trapped grubby oil out.

That small amount of grubby brown oil can sit there for the life of the vehicle for all it matters. The reason it is so grubby is because of NO circulation. That means that it can't mingle with fresh oil or contaminate anything. Neither will it coke over time because it is not exposed to enough heat. Again, if you took your Toyota to ANY dealer or quick lube, there's zero chance they will ever pre drain the canister and waste their time. It's a non-issue for me, and should be for anyone else unless they're anal.


The only reason Toyota puts the drain plug into the canister is for the DIY'er not to spray oil all over the ground if they're not careful. The big oil drain pans that dealers and shops use would never have this problem. It's an environmental thing, nothing else.

 

[bmoore]

That small amount of grubby brown oil can sit there for the life of the vehicle for all it matters. The reason it is so grubby is because of NO circulation. That means that it can't mingle with fresh oil or contaminate anything. Neither will it coke over time because it is not exposed to enough heat. Again, if you took your Toyota to ANY dealer or quick lube, there's zero chance they will ever pre drain the canister and waste their time. It's a non-issue for me, and should be for anyone else unless they're anal.


The only reason Toyota puts the drain plug into the canister is for the DIY'er not to spray oil all over the ground if they're not careful. The big oil drain pans that dealers and shops use would never have this problem. It's an environmental thing, nothing else.

]

So the dirt that gets into that area comes from... where? If there was zero circulation, there'd be zero dirt in the area.

If dirty oil is moved into that area, then there's a similar volume that is displaced back into the circulating oil... yeah, it's probably an insignificant quantity, but it's just lazy not to clean it out. Why change to nice, new fluid knowing that there is an easy-to-get-to pocket of crap in your lubrication system?

 

[bigbird1]

]

yeah, it's probably an insignificant quantity, but it's just lazy not to clean it out. Why change to nice, new fluid knowing that there is an easy-to-get-to pocket of crap in your lubrication system?

Tell that to the tech changing your oil at the dealer and see what he says:roll:

 

[bmoore]

Tell that to the tech changing your oil at the dealer and see what he says:roll:

I've seen dealer techs. Last one I saw was at a Volvo dealer, putting the 8mm undertray bolts back on with a cordless impact wrench. I'll pass on letting them touch my cars, thanks.