hey NW!

for those of you who use or heard anything about oil can henry's.... what are your thoughts on them? good to use or stay away? i'm at 60k miles and planning to get my manual trans., power steering, and coolant fluid all flushed and refilled.

thoughts?

thanks!

 

there is one by my house but i can't go there 'cause my cars too low for their shop so i have to go elsewhere.. let me know what you find out if you use them

 

Under normal conditions you shouldn't have to change out your radiator fluid. When the engine is cooled down, open the radiator cap and check to see if the fluid is still pink. Toyota claims the fluid is good for 100k miles.

In regards to the manual transmission, its drain and fill. Here's a thread on how to do it: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/tc-tech-diy-1818/transmission-flush-manual-redline-mt-90-a-59661/ . I did mine two weeks ago on my xB using the same fluid in the thread and noticed smoother shifts. It's really easy to perform and the hardest part is removing the filling bolt.

 

nevermind......lol

 

It's all good

 

I go there. They do a really good job but they are kind of expensive.

 

any complaints or problems since the fluid change? i know they obviously don't use toyota oem fluids. i think they just use universal fluids that they have. i don't care much about power steering fluid or coolant, but i believe transmission fluid does make a difference. any insights on the type of fluid they use.

thanks.

 

The one time I went there, I thought they did a good job, until I started hearing a weird vibration from the front of the xB...

Ended up finding that they "checked" the air filter, and didn't properly seat the rear of the air box, so it was just flopping around in there. I can't confirm, but I didn't see them in there with any sort of tools, and think they might have just "persuaded" the box open some other way when they checked it. Not cool.

The first and only time I've gone to a quick-lube place, and after finding that, maybe the last. I care too much about things being done the right way. Don't break my box!

 

Quick lube places generally aren't good, that's why the oil change is $20 including labor. it costs me $30 just for Mobil1 and a filter to DIY. I know that some people don't have a garage or anywhere to change their oil, so that's not always an option. I would say if there are multiple Toyota dealers in your area, find the one with the best price, or find a local shop that's actually reputable.

A few side notes, the coolant really DOES matter. Aluminum blocks and the form in place gasket seals can be degraded / corroded if you use the wrong stuff, leading to a leak or a broken thermastat and overheating. Use the real Toyota coolant, or at the very least an ethylene glycol based non–silicate, non–amine, non-nitrite, and non–borate coolant with organic acid life extenders. I doubt you'll get a choice or even be able to have the quick lube place tell you what they use. Unless your coolant

Power Steering should be standard Dextron III, can't really mess it up. Transmission oil needs to be 75W90 I believe, to the API GL-4 or -5 spec.

I can tell you Jiffy Lube forgot to re-install a wheel spacer when they did an alignment for my brother and on a separate time they didn't put a washer on the oil plug and he was losing oil, but caught it before it locked the block.