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Oil Plug Torque

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jmatuska, Jan 18, 2008.

  1. jmatuska

    jmatuska New Member

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    What is the recomended torque for the oil plug on my prius? I wouldn't think it should be too much, not too tight, but not too loose. However when I started changing my own oil (after my first two free from my dealer) I had to use a 2 foot breaker bar to get the oil plug loose, it was that tight. It was like the dealer used an air wrench to put it on. I'm pretty sure that it too tight. What is the official torque setting for the oil plug? Also what about the lug nuts?
     
  2. OverTork

    OverTork Junior Member

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    Oil pan drain plug 28 ft/lbs (38 N/m). Lug nuts for standard wheels, I don't know if the Touring wheels are different, 76 ft/lbs (103 N/m). This one is in the owners manual.
     
  3. dorf

    dorf Member

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    That's the correct torque according to Toyota.

    But.....But .......It seemes way too much.

    My original plug torque was way less.... really really easy to come off.

    28 foot pounds is allot of torque.---That's 336 inch pounds. Must be a mistake in translation.
     
  4. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    I just go hand tight with a new plug gasket. Plenty tight enough.

    For the lugnuts I use the torque wrench as I don't want to take a chance and warp a rotor. Ironically, my FJ Cruiser not only has the same 76 ft lbs lug torque, it even takes the same size and thread lugnut

    That made it very handy to get conical seat lugnuts for the steel winter wheels. I actually did try one from my Prius, it couldn't hurt and I was pleasantly surprised it worked
     
  5. lefat1

    lefat1 Fat Member

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    i think youre referring to the filter
     
  6. lefat1

    lefat1 Fat Member

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    as a reference, 21 ft/lbs is normal for spark plugs, so 28 for this application seems about right
     
  7. okiebutnotfrommuskogee

    okiebutnotfrommuskogee Senior Member

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  8. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    I think he means hand tight with a spanner.

    A normal ring spanner is the right length to tighten a fastener to roughly the right torque.

    If the wheel studs on 2 different cars are the same size they will have the same torque spec. You will find the pitch circle diameter of the Cruiser is a lot bigger than the Prius which makes it a much stronger attachment.
     
  9. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    That's right. The ratchet is about 25 cm long, from ratchet head to end of handle.

    Yes, in addition the Prius has 5 lugnuts holding the wheel down, my FJ Cruiser has 6 lugnuts holding the wheel down

    The wheel on the FJ is a lot heavier too, as it's a much larger tire. The standard tire on the FJ is P265 70 17 on a factory alloy wheel.

    For winter I'm running a studless snow/ice tire in P265 75 16, as it has the same outside diameter. Am running a cheap steel wheel due to the road salt used here, saving the alloy's for when there is no salt on the roads. The 16 inch tire on steel wheels is actually heavier than the factory alloy with 17 inch tires

    For those contemplating running a steel wheel in winter, remember you must get the proper conical seat or "acorn" lugnuts. The factory alloys use a shank style lugnut that will dangerously loosen up on an aftermarket steel wheel
     
  10. N3FOL

    N3FOL Member

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    I've done over 250 oil changes throughout my lifetime. :eek: Believe it or not, I never use a torque wrench just to tighten that oil drain pan bolt. Simply tighten it snuggly (but not loose) and that should do it. I've heard of people stripping their oil pan thread, because they over torqued the bolt using a torque wrench. :eek:
     
  11. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    The weight of the wheel isn't as important in designing the attachment as the weight of the rest of the car, remember the wheel holds the car up.

    Steel wheels will always be heavier than alloy regardless of tyre size. Remember bigger wheels mean less tyre weight off setting more wheel weight all else being equal.

    I wasn't sure how many wheel studs were on the FJ as 100 and 200 series Landcruisers have 5 studs while earlier Landcruisers have 6.
     
  12. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Yes I've heard of that too. A person will use a 1/2 inch torque wrench intended for lugnuts and cylinder head bolts, and use it on a small bolt rated no more than 30 lb ft

    Many 1/2 torque wrenches cannot reliably work at low torque settings, say under 50 lb ft. The wrenches that "click" at the set torque will be so quiet that the person won't even get the tactile feedback from it

    A 3/8 torque wrench is a much better choice for settings under 50 lb ft. Typically those style have full range of under 80 lb ft, so they will reliably give tactile feedback

    Otherwise, the person with the big 1/2 torque wrench will keep pulling and pulling and SNAP
     
  13. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    That's true until you try to pick up the steel wheel with winter tire and feel strange things happening inside your gut. What's the proper medical term?

    Hernia

    I think the FJ is mostly based on the 4Runner sold here. The 4Runners also have 6 lugnuts for the wheel.

    I was contemplating a 4Runner, but why pay $15,000 more for a vehicle that doesn't have as many offroad gadgets? I didn't need 4 full doors or leather seating.

    The FJ is cute in a retro fashion, has an advanced 4 wheel offroad traction system, and for as often as I drive it, the price is reasonable too