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Oil changes leave old oil

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by etyler88, Dec 23, 2005.

  1. etyler88

    etyler88 etyler88

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    Check out this diagram on attached engine pisture. A large quanitity of oil is below the drain level and therefore is not removed at oil changes. The solution would be to use a oil suction device that is inserted down the dipstick tube. Can any one who has used an oil suction device testify to the amount of oil they have removed, is it significantly over four quarts or three and a half factoring in the filter?
     
  2. keydiver

    keydiver New Member

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    I don't see the drain on that picture. Where is it? :blink:
     
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I agree with the above, how are you drawing your conclusions? the drain plug is not shown in this image. From memory the drain plug sits at approximately the lowest point on the oil pan and thus should remove nearly all the oil--discounting residual sticking to the walls/pan.
     
  4. etyler88

    etyler88 etyler88

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    The drain plug appears to be on lower left, little yellow nub with a bolt head just below the yellow.
     
  5. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    that bolt you're pointing out looks more like a casing bolt to me. they don't put drainplugs there.
     
  6. narf

    narf Active Member

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    If I'm understanding you right, what you are refering to is one of the bolts holding the oil pan onto the bottom of the block. Also, the engine sits in the car rotated counter clockwise about 15 degrees from what is shown in the drawing. The bottom of the oil pan is parallel to the ground. Here's a corrected graphic[attachmentid=1537]
     
  7. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Yup, that's a bolt to hold the oil pan on...there's one on the opposite side just like it. There's no drain plug shown. Go take a look under your car and note that the plug is, indeed, at a low point on the pan.
     
  8. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    from the NCF manual a screen grab of the drain plug relationship to the oil pan bottom. notice the depression where the drain plug backup plate is, at most would hold maybe two table spoons of old oil.
     
  9. etyler88

    etyler88 etyler88

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    OK thats good news, thanks.
     
  10. glenk

    glenk Member

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    If this ICE picture is to scale and the true "full" oil level/dipstick notches are pictured then I don't see how a bit higher oil level is going to affect mileage?

    Look how much clearance there is from the top of the oil level and the crankshaft counter weights.
     
  11. Danny Diesel

    Danny Diesel Junior Member

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    To add to the trivality of this persuite see the following.
    The last time I changed the oil, I let the oil drain for one hour and removed the drain pan. I then put a smaller clean pan under the car and let it catch the drips over night. It cought a 1/2 Pint. And it was still dripping.
     
  12. jeromep

    jeromep Member

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    Thank you for pointing that out. I've have participated in many discussions, not to the improvement of my sanity, regarding oil changes and oil levels. And the slighly higher oil level that you get with a 4 qt. fill isn't going to do a thing to the engine and there is no risk of crank slap, etc. There is plenty of room in the sump for a couple of shot glasses of oil, which is what .3 quart is about equal to.

    Oh well, I'm kind of glad the oil change discussions have passed. They were getting kind of nasty.
     
  13. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    It's a legitimate concern. Recently I read that Toyota had a design problem with just this thing, on 4-cyl. engines, the net effect being that a quantity (don't know exactly how much) of oil would sit below the drain plug and result in a sludge buildup, which in turn would lead to premature disintegration of the engine. It got to the lawsuit stage before they settled with many owners. I can probably locate those details if requested.

    Geez, I didn't know that our combustion chambers had the Oblique Squish, did you?
     
  14. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    techs still fight amongst each other to get the warranty sludged-engine rebuild jobs where DH works...

    i forget how the whole thing went down, but eventually toyota just took care of all of them under warranty.
     
  15. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    Well, one nice thing about PC is that people who didn't know anything about their old car...and didn't care...now are starting to learn. Learning is always good.

    But etyler...if you don't go in with a squeegee, you are ALWAYS gonna have old oil. LOL
     
  16. kaptaink

    kaptaink Junior Member

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    Changed the oil today . . . took out just as much as went in.
     
  17. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Is that a Oil Gobbling E.T. in the engine?
     
  18. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    You guys, change your oil often, 5000 miles, use a Toyota Filter, change your air filter every 15,000, and you won't have a sludge problem.

    The "famous" sludge issue is with V6's, the fours have exhibited fewer problems.

    Nate
     
  19. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    the sludging issue was a design issue, however it was not because of oil remaining in the system. it was because of an operating temperature differential issue between the block and the head. the difference in temperature caused moisture to remain in the oil on vehicles that take mostly short trips and that moisture caused the sludging that blocked oil passages and you know the rest.
     
  20. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i have always had my oil changed at Toyota of Olympia and it has never been as much as a drop over. the guy who changes it programs the make model and year of car into a computer and the exact amount is dispensed. all but a little is poured in, then the level is checked and topped off if necessary.

    the days of opening separate cans of oil are long gone at my dealer