About 4800 miles on the factory fill.

It drained pretty good looking, darkened only somewhat.

Replaced with dino Castrol GTX 5w-20 and Purolator Pureone filter L14477. I figure the dino formulation is fine for a 5k mile run.

Drove right up on the low-style Rino ramps, no problemo.

Plenty of ground clearance for a Fumoto valve, I'm really thinking on that.

Looked like the washer for the oil drain bolt is part of the pan; I did not try to remove it and it did not fall off.

There was some drippage when removing the OF, but not bad at all; use a plastic bag if you're in a hurry.

REMOVING THE FACTORY OIL FILTER: was one of the easiest I've ever done. i brought the heavy-artillery metal filter-grabber with a cheater bar to fit over the socket handle, the grabber is the one that digs into the can, but did not have to use it. Using the cup-style Valvoline filter tool first, it was almost too easy to unscrew it. No leaks, but it seemed way too untightened. Lucky me I guess, at least it didn't loosen and leak.

I'll do tire rotations every 10k miles. Would like to find a way to jack up one side of the car using one jack only. Have to futz around under there looking.

The whole thing was pretty easy and relatively non-messy. And the underside looks nicely finished and well made. Yes the body plugs were in place.

 

I am glad to hear that you didn't have any problems removing the OEM oil filter. I could only find the plastic end cap filter wrenches. The smallest one I bought would slip off the OEM oil filter when under any torque. I ended up using super glue to hold the wrench to the filter. Once it set for a few minutes, the filter came right off.

The old oil from my car was pretty dark. After looking at the new oil I put in, I wouldn't have thought the old oil would have been so dark. I used Mobil 1 5w-20 and a Napa Gold filter. I just changed the oil last week and was at 5,340 miles, so maybe that is why it was dark.

Overall, once I got the oil filter off, it was a very simple oil change. I didn't choose to lift the front end of the car, i just reached under and removed the drain plug. One thing about the drain plug washer. It does come off and appears to be a piece of metal wafered between rubber. I asked some auto parts places about the Fumoto valve and they had no idea what I was talking about. For now I will probably stick with the stock drain plug.

 

Ok, I changed my oil filter the first time and I had such a hard time taking it off that I decided to take it in for the second one. What kind of filter-grabber do you have and where did you buy it from?

 

The one I purchased looks similar to this, Sears, about U$15.00. The pic here is a similar design, the Sears one doesn't have the nut showing, its integrated. The legs on mine have an edge that grabs the filter can when tightened, no way would it slip. Peeled that recalcitrant filter right off!


These look similar:
http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/filterwrenches.aspx

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...goryCode=3401A

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/skt90220.html

 

Thanks dude, off to sears I go!

 

Please let me know which way to turn the oil plug bolt to loosen. I tried counterclockwise or to the left and it is very tight. Please help me to loosen thie oil plug!!

 

bugs: It comes off by turning it counterclockwise. If it is as tight as you say, I'd take it to the dealer to prevent damage. Let the dealer deal with it especially since it is your first oil change, the factory must have put it on to tight.

 

I did a early 1000 mile oil change. My oil was rather dark when in the drain pain. I went back with the toyota dino 5w-20 oil, same I think as the break-in oil.

I had lots of trouble getting the oem filter off. I used a serrated metal cup on the bottom with a extension and ratchet. The cup all the way up on the filter base would still slip when I tried to loosen it. I had read in some earlier forms about this problem. I added a folded paper towel in the cup then gave it a try. That did it after the filter had cooled for about 40 minutes. I hand tightened the new one and added a slight snug from the wrench. I never had any leaks on any of my cars. This filter reminds me of my 2003 corolla filter.

Once I reach 5000 miles, I will switch to the toyota synthetic 0w-20 weight from the toyota dealer. I think it was $4.99 per quart. The toyota tech. said they have had really good luck with that weight around here. Around here its been 100 degrees for many weeks.

I noticed the new oem filter I put on was already lubed with some thin grease and covered over with a clean plastic cover to protect the gasket.

I wonder if the purolator pure-one has this same feature. Purolator makes the toyota oem oil filters.