themrfreeze

Hi all.

I changed the oil on my xD this morning, and thought it might help somebody if I took some pictures of the process. There seems to be some confusion as to how this all works.



Here's the filter element and rubber O-ring that comes with it. The washer at the bottom is needed for the oil drain plug, but is NOT included with the filter element. The washer has a rubbery coating on each side of what appears to be a metal washer, and must be replaced EVERY time you remove the drain plug.



This is the cap wrench needed for the filter....it's a 65mm, 14-flute wrench. I already had one of these from my dearly departed Pontiac Vibe, but it can be found at the local auto parts store. The cap requires a 3/8" socket wrench, and a ~6" long extension isn't a bad idea (though you could probably get by without it).



Looking under the car, towards the passenger side front tire, you can see the 14mm oil drain plug, as well as the filter housing.



Here, I've removed the oil drain plug and loosened the plastic filter housing...they are close enough to each other that they can both drain into the same pan. I let the oil drain for about an hour. Note that you can see that the old oil plug washer is stuck on the car...it needs to be removed. One tap with a dull chisel and hammer between the oil pan and washer knocked it off.



Here's a close-up of the filter housing. Note the rim around the edge of the plastic
cap...that sits flush against the metal housing. This is important to know.



Here's a picture with the cap removed.



Here's the cap with the old filter element in it. I couldn't tell if the "hairs" on the element were metal shavings or just the bits of the element, but they didn't glisten in the sunshine, so I tend to think it was the latter.



Here's a close-up that shows where the rubber O-ring goes. Note that it seems to have been pretty heavily lubricated at the factory.



And here it is with the element and old O-ring removed. The element just pops right out, and you can roll the O-ring upwards to get it off.



Here's the new element and O-ring installed. I rolled the O-ring into place, then lubricated it with oil so it'll go on easily.

After all the oil drains, put the new washer on the oil drain plug, and tighten that up. Then, just screw on the filter cap. Be careful when starting to screw it on so that you don't cross-thread it...turning it CCW first, then clockwise, helps prevent this. When the O-ring reaches the metal housing, the cap will get harder to turn. However, once it seats itself into the housing, turning the cap gets easier. When the cap is fully seated, it suddenly stops turning. At this point, the lip on the edge of the cap should be flush against the housing, which means you're done.

As for oil, the owner's manual says that either 0W-20 or 5W-20 is adequate. 0W-20 is only available as a synthetic oil, while 5W-20 can be had as either synthetic or conventional oil. I put 5W-20 conventional oil in the car this time, but will probably switch to synthetic at the next change. I do feel that it's worth the extra money.

Having now changed the oil in the Scion, I think I can say that I'd rather have a conventional spin-on filter. While it's nice that you putting less into the landfill with this type of system, the questionable durability of the plastic cap does concern me. Also, with a spin-on filter, you can pour oil into it to "pre-soak" the element before installing it. You really can't do this with the Scion's system.

In any case, I hope this info helps somebody.

Lex-M

Good write up!
I have not needed to do this yet but this is going to help a ton.

bwhite

That was a really good Show-&-Tell.
Makes the job look like an elementary school project.
(and it's really that simple!)
Just remember to make SURE the car cannot fall when you're under it.
Ramps are better than jacks or jack stands, in my opinion.
Be safe when you're worknig under any auto.
-bob

themrfreeze

Safety is absolutely concern #1! I had my car up on Rhino ramps, parking brake fully engaged, and rear wheels chocked.

It's not a difficult oil change at all, once you understand the deal with the filter housing. Both the housing and drain plug are very easy to get to.

kuo34

The extension makes so much sense. There's so little room next to that plastic cover.

And I never thought about presoaking the canister type filters. It helps that the tC filter is inverted, so may try that trick next time. Thanks for sharing!

ack154

iTrader: (7)

I actually had no idea that's what the xD had. Good to know when I start changing the g/f's oil (after her free ones anyway).

Bennyboy

Thanks a ton, really appreciate the extra effort that goes into doing all this for everyone.

Pie

Thanks, looks like an easier and cleaner job to do than my 91 camry. Have you thought about putting a Fumoto Valve on it? I'm thinking of getting one once it's time for my oil change.

kuo34

I've had a fumoto valve on an Element before. It was convenient, very clean.

themrfreeze

Not while the car is still under warranty. The valve would give Toyota an excuse to deny a warranty repair should something catastrophic happen to the engine. The valves look rather convenient though!

kuo34

Fumoto valve will be fine under warranty (unless it fails, in which case it's probably the part that'll cause the vehicle's problems).

L337R3dN3k

Ok, I know ramps are safer, and I plan on buying a set eventually ... but for those of us with floor jacks:

The step that took me the longest with my first oil change was figuring out where to place the jack. The manual shows the jack point in the middle of the front axle, but there's a nut (engine mount?) there. Just behind that looks like a lift point, but it's slanted and I was afraid the jack would slip off.

Just off-center, on the driver's side of the front axle, there is a small rectangular ledge with an arrow etched into it. Use this (not the large block on the other side of the axle ... that might work but it's more off-center and I've no idea what that block is for).

kuo34

I used the block the first time. It's just waaaaaay back there and the handle for the jack wasn't long.

I'd use ramps but the tire rotation intervals are the same as the oil change so it makes sense to use jack stands and get it all done at the same time.

butthead

Thanks for the great pics and run-through. I will note that I went to Advanced Auto to get the oil cap wrench. Neither the 65mm (too small) nor the 65/67mm (slipped off) fit properly. I eventually borrowed a Cal-Val 785 (65mm) cap wrench from a friend and it fit perfectly. So I guess not all 65mm cap wrenches are the same

rmeadows56

The pictures were nicely done. I've had an xD for over a year and have changed my own oil in this car since I bought it. I had an interesting experience with the last oil change that I thought that I would post and see if anyone else has heard of it ever happening before. STP now makes an after-market oil filter cartridge and I've used them in my previous 2 oil changes. After completing the last oil change and verifying that there were no leaks, I had it on the road. After driving about 40 miles, I noticed that I was trailing a giant smoke cloud. I pulled to the shoulder and oil was pouring out from under the car on to the ground. As oil was all over everything, I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I called a wrecker and had it towed to the dealer because it is still under warranty. The dealer said that the oil was coming out of the oil filter housing. The dealer claimed that the o ring in the aftermarket filter was most likely to blame even though there was no obvious tear, fold or deformation to it. They replaced the oil filter and refilled the crank case with oil. The service manager claimed that there had been several reported cases of this type of problem when using after market filters and of course, he recommened using Toyota filters in the future. The oil pressure light never came on so the engine was never starved of oil and there is no engine damage, but now I'm freaked out about the car. What if I hadn't noticed that cloud of smoke in my rear-view mirror? In 35 years of changing my own oil with many different vehicles, I've never had so much as an oil drip from any spin-on oil filters. I wouldn't have imagined that all of the oil could possibly leak passed the o ring seal on the filter canister, maybe a leak but not a hemorrhage of oil. Comments?

mcbrew

I've seen bad oil filters do all sorts of crazy stuff. Back when I worked pon Mercedes, I saw a bunch of Spanish oil filters fail and even cause engine damage when parts of the filter blocked oil passages.

I never mess around with non OEM filters unless I know for sure that they are good.

themrfreeze

The Toyota filters are so inexpensive that it's not worth screwing around with the aftermarket stuff. I bought 10 of them for $3.99 each from TRD Sparks.

As for screw-on filters, the only problem I ever had was one that was not threaded correctly, and as such, wouldn't screw on. That was a Motorcraft filter I bought YEARS ago.

gemini

i've changed the oil 8 times already (bought it brand new Sep 09 but driving about 200-250 miles a day ) so i never changed oil drain plug... no problems at this moment.

Tmag

Anyone have the torque specs for the drain bolt and filter housing, I know a lot of ppl say just hand tight but my IS has the same filter housing (only metal not plastic) and the OEM filter box has torque spec of 19 ft*lbs or 25 N*m. Just worried about the plastic housing.

Tmag

Just found my answer, as most would say use the seach function (duh). Just in case others want the specs. here's the link to the thread thanks to tmrepp. https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...+change&page=2