Yea I know -- not too exciting.

I thought I'd share with the do it your self crowd some of the things I learned doing my oil change. This maintanance procedure is way more fiddlely than it has to be. Lot of little parts and gaskets involved including a special tool you might want to purchase.

I bought a filter from Toyota which includes two O-ring gaskets and a "filter drain pipe/gasket remover." The parts guy threw in an additional gasket for the pan plug. While there I also bought the filter cover wrench tool. This is a recommended item because I would have had a devil of a time getting a grip on the filter cover by hand. The counter guy also tipped me to the fact that an oil fill will require every bit of five quarts. I bought a case of Mobil1 from my local auto parts.

Now I'm sure we all know to drain oil when it's hot. We should be cautious when raising our cars - I used ramps and set the brake and chocked my rear wheel. Additionally, I wear Nitrile gloves when handling oil.

So removing the pan plug with a 14mm socket wrench was standard fare, but where is that filter. Turns out it's under the belly pan and I was thinking, "Great, now I get to remove all those body plugs and bolts" - and getting ready to curse. When I realised that the small part of the plastic covering the filter was scored and the corner of it was secured by only one of those little body plugs. Using a small flat blade screw driver I pulled out the center of the plug to release it from the car. Then I folded down the small section of plastic along the scored line. It's now like a door on a hinge. You can get it to fold nice by pulling down on the rear edge with your finger tips and pushing up on the hinge line with your thumbs.

Now that the filter cover is exposed you can remove the filter drain plug by fitting a 3/8 inch socket extension into the drain bolt. The next step illustrated on the filter box shows how to insert the drain pipe to simutaneously drain oil and remove the plug gasket. Push up hard untill it snaps into place, and watch more oil than you might expect drain out. Then I utilized the same extension with the cover wrench to liberate the fiter element. It came out with out making a mess. The good thing about an element is that you get to look at it - ok I looked at it and didn't see anything worth reporting. Use your small flat blade screw driver to help slip the old gasket off of the cover. So follow the directions on the filter box to clean things up and reassemble with new gaskets. Make sure you lube the new O-rings before installing to prevent leaks! I installed the pan plug using the provided gasket. Lastly, I folded the flap back into place and secured it with the body plug.

Fill with oil! Just add 5 quarts, the engine needs it all. Do use a wide mouth funnel. Secure the oil fill cap and start your car. Boy did that engine noise sound awful for about the two seconds it took for the pressure to build. I never heard any of my other cars sound this bad. Maybe some one has an idea on prelubing the motor, something like the old time pilots do by pulling the prop through six or eight times before hitting the starter. I backed her off the ramp and shut the motor down while cleaning up. I then checked my oil level to be about two millimeters below the top hole. Took me an hour to do it all.

So what did I learn? The drained oil was dark - I could see the brown amber color when the sun light illuminated the draining stream of oil, but it was very dark when pooled in my yellow pan. It was definately still oil - I mean that it had viscosity and was homogeneous. 10,000 miles?! Nope not for me: by the way I forgot to say I've got 2200 miles on the car. I will change a 5,000 mile intervals.

 

Gaskets? Drain pipe? You sure you weren't changing the transmission oil??? (kidding) I didn't realize so much was involved. I have the free service, so i wasn't going to mess with it until it ran out (and since I'm already almost to 10K miles, it could be soon).

Could you post pics? I realize you probably don't want to tear everything apart again, but even just of the tools and various covers needing to be removed.

Thanks for the write up.

 

Mr. MightyP,

Your prior posts imply that you put hard miles on you car. Because of the discoloration (does that mean dirty?) of my oil at 2200 miles, I think you might want to rethink that 10,000 mile interval. The manual states that for severe service a 5,000 mile change interval is required.

Good luck with your TC
Cabbie

 

Oil turns very dark almost immediately after starting your engine. It is not bad it just does this. The reason that scion does not change your oil for the first 10k is because there is an additive for proper motor break in. The new SAE standard for motor oil does not have any zinc which is what is used to break in a motor and by taking that oil out before your motor is fully broken in it will not have everything seat properly. Honestly, I recommend going out and buying a break in additive (I believe royal purple has it) and adding it to your motor as it is essential for proper break in. I've been a technician for a while and break in is not something you want to skimp out on. If you ever need help or have a question just pm me and I will gladly help you out.

 

Where does the 10K number come from? Is that in the manual? That's cool if it is.

 

i wonder how much harder or easier it is then the first gen

 

It's in the service book that comes along with the manual. It tells you what to do every 5k miles. It doesn't call for an oil change until the 10k mark (unless during tough driving conditions, in which case it calls for a change at 5k).

 

cabbie, just for reference, what other cars have you done oil changes on? from the sound of things, this was a longer/more involved ordeal than what your use to.

also did your dealership not include the first free old change, seems strange to do the first oil change yourself.

i'm really glad you included such a thorough explaination, you just might be one of the first people to do an oil change on the car since the car is only a few months old.

 

Yeah, the majority of folks purchasing these cars new should receive the first 25k or 2 years of service free.

The dealer's not going to change the oil before 10k miles though. At my 5k service my dealer did exactly what was in the service book, which was effectively just rotating the tires, topping off fluids, and checking a few things.

Some folks on this forum have just been anxious to change out the factory oil sooner.

 

Yea, that!

An engine with a spin on filter is a lot easier to change out, except for my 4runner. Toyota for some reason decided to install that one up side down so that I have to position a cup under the drip tube to catch the leaking dribbles.

Anyway, I just posted to give you guys a heads up for doing it your self if you don't want to wait for the Scion recommended intervals. I drive about 25k miles a year on each car, and I do a lot of oil changes - so much that I feel like I could heat my house with the waste oil collected.

The car is starting to come alive now at 2,500 miles - it does scoot!

Cabbie

 

I know the first oil change is at 10k miles, but I wanted to do my first one at around 3k. I stumbled on this coupon yesterday: http://www.firestonecompleteautocare...OilChange.html

any ideas on what kind of oil they use at firestone?

 

I know this is a few months old , but I was hoping to see the wrench used , and feel compelled to answer the 10k change question .
The 10k oil change "standard" is a europe think , conservation and all , you know , save the Earth or we'er all doomed . But actually the oil manufactured these days can easily go 10k or more , and synthetics can push on to 20k . My suggestion is to only change the filter at 5k intervals , this is what I do on my wife's tC .
The 3k oil change comes from the 1930s when engines weren't as efficient , and oil technology was basically , well , oil , maybe with some detergent .
Todays oils have additives to keep the oil from absorbing moisture , and breaking down .
Now about this special tool for the oil filter ?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Oil-F...e2ae63&vxp=mtr

There's a specific Toyota Oil Filter Wrench. Costs like $10 from advance auto or autozone

 

This is for the 2011 . And I have that , wasn't impressed with how it fit the oil filter cover . It may not have fit because the cover is damaged . I used a set of channel locks , which it looks like the dealer did too . I cant get the drain plug out of the oil filter cover , it seems as though it's been over tightened , and I will most likely be replacing it .
when I do , I don't want to break it the way this one is .
Of course the dealer claims no wrong doing when my wife questioned them .

 

i understand that you guys might have rough driving conditions and may need to change the oil sooner than others- but you guys do know that the 10k first oil change interval is due to the special break-in additive from the engine manufacturer-right?

common sense... why would they put that first service interval in the manual? under a warranty?

....smfh. some people just don't know engines or believe they know whats right over others who truly know more..

 

Oil change for the tC1 is easy. If your car is not slammed you don't need to raise the front as long as you can get the drain pan to fit under the car.

Pic I found of the tC1 under car, the yellow arrow is where the person is planning to drill into the oil pan, exactly what for IDK, it's just the tag line under the pic on the image search.

 

Is there a pic tutorial on how to change the oil for the tc2?

 

Is there a part # for the oil wrench at least?

All I could find is this but dont know for sure if its the right one...
http://www.toolsource.com/0922806501...rceid=googleps

 

i believe its 09228-06501

but i 2nd the photo tutorial

 

Yea that's the same one i linked. I don't know for sure if that's the proper one to get and don't want to buy as a test dummy. There has to be someone here that has done the oil change themselves.