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New Owner Preparing to Change Oil for the 1st Time

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by burrito, Jul 26, 2021.

  1. OptimusPriustus

    OptimusPriustus Active Member

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    They really sell bulk? I think they’re not entitled to but good for you if they’ve done it
     
  2. Colorado Boo

    Colorado Boo Active Member

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    I checked my dealership and they sell oil in bulk...in a box of 6. With my military discount came out to less than $7 a quart....sweet. And that was the hard-to-find 0W-16.
    It's still odd that my 2017 Prius takes 0W-20 but the 2021 Prius takes 0W-16.
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    6 bottles? When I think bulk it’s bring your own container, they fill it with a metered dispenser.

    to be fair, I suspect the only one doing this in greater Vancouver. :unsure:
     
  4. burrito

    burrito Active Member

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    Is it generally true that the oil pan is the lowest part of the system, lower than the filter or filter housing? I changed the oil on my Lexus, but I couldn't get the filter housing off. Since I had already drained the oil, I had to fill with new oil. I basically did an oil change without changing the filter. If I want to change only the filter now, will I not lose a significant amount of oil? If most of the oil is going to come out of the filter housing I'd rather wait until the next oil change.
     
  5. Colorado Boo

    Colorado Boo Active Member

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    No there was probably about half a cup or so of dirty oil left in the filter housing but if you didn't have a lot of miles between oil changes you are fine skipping to change the filter next time. You can look at the oil on the dipstick and see just how dirty the oil is since it's all mixed together now. I'd change it a little sooner next time if it's starting to look dirty sooner, which it probably will.
    Do you have a filter wrench? If not, you'll want to pick one up. From my experience, Toyota has two difference sizes on the canisters so you'll need the correct one. They sell aftermarket ones that are good but be sure to get a metal one, not plastic.
     
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  6. burrito

    burrito Active Member

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    Thanks, that's what I figured. I did have an oil filter adapter (64mm), it it broke in half, so changing the oil filter became a non-option at that point.

    I've checked the oil repeatedly, but I can't even freaking see it. I put in 6 quarts as specified in the repair manual, so I'm hoping it'll be OK.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You're doing a regular oil change right? Spec (with filter change) is 4.5 US quarts, 4.2 liters. Without the oil filter change a tad less.
     
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  8. burrito

    burrito Active Member

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    The 6 quarts was for my Lexus. I still haven't done a oil change on my Prius (I think it's coming soon).
     
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  9. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Does you Lexus have a dipstick? I have a BMW, and it only has an electronic dipstick that you view through the car’s menu system.
     
  10. burrito

    burrito Active Member

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    Interesting, I hadn't heard of that!

    Yes, it has a dipstick, but it's so hard to see where the level of the oil is. I think it's right at the full mark. I've never dealt with synthetic oil before, and it's so hard to see it on the dipstick.
     
  11. OptimusPriustus

    OptimusPriustus Active Member

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    Electric dipsticks are rather common in new cars. And people complain usability since they need to browse through menus:D:D:D
     
  12. burrito

    burrito Active Member

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    So I was lying in bed, and it suddenly hit me: the oil filter adapter broke because I was tightening it! Good God I felt stupid. I was rather lucky that my first oil change was on my Lexus which has a metal oil filter housing, and not on my Prius which has a plastic one. Sheesh. I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to remove it. I used a 2 foot breaker bar, and break it did! Snapped the adapter in half. I ended up giving that brand adapter a second chance, and I was surprised at that it wasn't so difficult to remove it. I thought it might be impossible given how hard I had tightened it.

    Yesterday, I went ahead and removed the oil filter housing to change only the filter. I didn't measure it, but definitely more than a cup of oil came out. The rest of the procedure was uneventful, except that removing the oil filter housing caused the adapter to get stuck on it. It was wedged on so tight that I couldn't get it off.

    When I reinstalled the filter housing, I was able to get it off. I guess it's not quite a perfect fit, so you have to go back and forth a bit to get it off.

    I'm looking forward to doing my Prius' 1st oil change (my 2nd) hopefully without surprises, having learned from my mistakes on my Lexus.
     
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think it's commendable you 'fessed up. Some of my favourite YouTubes are the ones where they leave the camera "rolling", through good and bad. I think Edison said something along the lines of "I've had no "failed" experiments: I learned from everything I've tried". Something like that.
     
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  14. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Yup! And those are the kinds of lessons we tend to remember.

    When I was an industrial electrician, I was on my way to a press with some electrical problem. On my way, I glanced over at another press where the maintainer was changing an oil filter. He was cranking it pretty hard in the righty-tighty direction for as dirty as it looked. I wondered if he was turning it the wrong way but went on to deal with the press I'd been called to which didn't take long. When I came back, the guy was really horsing on the filter wrench on the same filthy filter. There is no gentle way to help someone in that situation, but I didn't want to be cruel. So I went over and knelt down by him and said, "Hey, Gene. Don't you think you have that filter tight enough yet?" He stopped, looked at it. He turned his head and went through some motions and started laughing. He thanked me and I patted him on the back for taking it so well, and went on my merry way. :D
     
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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I heard an "industrial electrical" story at my work one time, see if I can get the gist of it. This electrical engineer was recounting, the first time they were going to start up some freshly installed electrical component, maybe a big transformer of some sort, and it's his design.

    Anyway, he's there some other people are standing behind him, and he's about to throw the switch. Then he sees it would be possible to scoot around a corner, and just reach one arm around, to toggle the switch without exposing his whole body.

    Which he does, and danged if he doesn't hear shuffling footsteps behind him: looks back, and everyone's joined him, round the corner, lol.
     
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  16. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Smart people. That was ALWAYS my practice and that of all the electricians in our shop. The main disconnect on the electrical panels takes two hands to close. One to release the catch and the other to throw the handle. One day I was closing a 200A, 480V switch (standing off to the side out of the potential "blast zone" like always) and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the chief maintainer standing directly in front of the contacts less than two feet away. I stopped and asked him if he ever wondered why we went through those contortions. He said he had wondered about it. I said that if there was a dead short somewhere in that panel and it caused the contacts to explode before the main fuses blew, I didn't want my face covered in molten copper. His eyes got really big and he moved away.

    Years later, an electrician I knew went to the hospital with 2nd degree burns on his face, arms, and chest when a circuit breaker he was troubleshooting blew up in his face.
     
  17. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I don't want to put a "like" on that horror story, lol.
     
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  18. burrito

    burrito Active Member

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    This was the oil filter wrench I bought for <$5:
    [​IMG]

    This is what happened to it when I overtightened it with a 2' breaker bar onto a metal oil filter housing:
    IMG_20211003_173726.jpg
    IMG_20211003_173738.jpg

    Of course something gave, and I'm glad it was the adapter that broke. If I had made this mistake on my Prius with a plastic filter housing, I would surely have destroyed the housing and ended up in trouble.

    I suspect something shaped like this one might work out better (less likely to get stuck, as described previously):
    [​IMG]
     
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Aluminum? Try the heavy-gauge stamped-steel Honda filter socket; I've been using this one since '90.

    64669084-C45B-43C8-8008-6EA927087CF7.jpeg
    Works on Honda, Toyota and Mazda for me so far. They've all standardized the filter size.
     
    #39 Mendel Leisk, Oct 25, 2021
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
  20. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    That bottom one looks like what I use.