Oil Changing Easy or Difficult?

I read an article in Consumer Reports about sludge in cars. I know the Prius isn't one of the cars prone to sludge. However, some of the people who were trying to get their car fixed were running into problems when they couldn't present receipts for all of their oil changes. It seemed like Volkswagen was the company giving a hard time.

My question is, would anyone who is doing their own oil changes worry about not having any documentation that were not "professionally" done? According to the article, VW wouldn't accept receipts from oil change centers if the VIN wasn't on the receipts...jerks if you ask me.

 

Ramps made for low profile cars should work fine.

 

so THAT's why DH wrote the VIN on the receipt for our last purchase of mobil one...

you don't need professionally done oil changes (aka it's fine to do them yourself) as long as you keep the receipts for the oil and filter and document the date and mileage. may not hurt to throw the VIN on one of the receipts too, just in case.

i prefer precaution now to getting pissed off later

 

It would be against the law for any vehicle manufacturer to refuse to honor their warranty because you changed your own oil. Here is one reference to the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, there are many more you can find if you do a Google search.

http://www.granatellimotorsports.com/magnusonmoss.htm#top

Just keep a record of what you did and when and what the mileage was. I keep it in a little book and sign my name to it. I also keep the receipts for the oil and filter. Make sure you do the stuff that's required in the warranty booklet from Toyota and you are covered. It is also true that the manufacturer can't require the use of their oil and filter unless they provide them to you at no cost, which they don't. I use the Toyota filter because it's about the same price as a good aftermarket one and is most likely a better filter; I use Mobil 1 oil from Wal Mart or COSTCO. Just make sure the oil you select meeets the requirement in the owners manual.

Edit: thanks for the hint Galaxee I'll put the VIN on my receipts also

 

Thanks for the info...probaly have Toyota do the first oil change...then when spring comes, I'll take over. I'll just buy a case of oil from Costco.

 

I live in Montreal, Quebec and I drive on heavily salted roads for 4 months each winter. In the past I had a conventional Honda Accord and I used to get it rustproofed each fall. This is the first winter with my new Prius and my dealer advised me against rust-proofing because it might interfere with the electrical wiring and the other fancy stuff that's supposed to form the undercarriage of the Prius. In fact my dealer advised me to do nothing at all to prepare my Prius for the winter, except switch to winter tires, which I did (I got the Michelin X-Ice). Is there anything I should be doing to mitigate salt damage? How often should I get the undercarriage washed, if at all? :huh:

 

Your question could be it's own topic. I have no experience with salt on the roads (thankfully) they use lava rocks around here. You might use the search function and see what turns up, there has been a lot of posts on the subject. Tideland Prius and jayman, both from Canada, have posted some good stuff on winter driving in the North.

 

From reading I take that I can use a non-Toyota oil filter but not air filter. If I go into Napa or AutoZone, are they going to know what I need ? Also if changing your own oil, etc. how do you get rid of the little symbol that says you need maintainence? (at start up) And Johns car looks like mine! I need to go get it washed off. My grey car looks like a silver!

 

From page 122 of 2004 owner's manual:

The system must be reset after the engine oil replacement.
Reset the system by the following procedure:
1. Press the “POWER†switch to the “OFF†mode with the odometer reading shown (not showing trip A or B).
2. Press the “POWER†switch twice to select the “IG–ON†mode while holding down the trip meter reset button.
Hold down the button for at least 5 seconds. The odometer indicates “000000†and the light goes off.

 

Next simplifying tip: use only three quarts, or at least start by putting in only three quarts. This will almost certainly leave the level halfway between ADD and FULL, which is perfectly fine.

 

I took my Prius to the dealer for the first two oil changes, and it was overfilled as a result. They were quite surprised by that and now claim to add 350 ml less oil than the manual recommends, which puts the level at the full dot.

So far I've changed the oil twice myself, and it's very easy to do with all 4 wheels on the ground. It helps that I found a tin drain pan at Princess Auto that I trimmed down, it only has to hold 4 quarts, max.

I use an old mirror to see the oil filter from underneath when I use the cap wrench to take it off. Otherwise the oil change is very easy to do, I'm usually done and washing my hands 15 minutes later.

Don't forget to * SLOWLY * add the new oil. Frank Hudon pointed out in an older post the PCV system may be sensitive to drawing in oil if you add it too fast. It will then end up in the intake manifold, get burned in the motor, and probably foul the plugs. I slowly add the oil and have had no problems.

If you add 3 U.S. quarts, the oil level will be slightly higher than halfway between the dots. If you add 3 litres, the oil level will be about 3/4 of the way up between the dots. Usually, around 300ml will put the oil level exactly on the full dot, if you're picky about keeping the oil level exactly on Full.

Don't forget to inspect the CV boots for tears. I like to do this once a month, it's cheaper than letting it go until you ruin the CV joint.

Don't bother "lubing" anything as there isn't a zerk in sight.

 

Can you show pics of a good CV boot vs a bad one? What do you mean when I'm looking for, "Tears?". And if you do find any what's a unexperienced mechanic suppose to do? Run to the Toyota dealer?

 

the boot is pretty simple, it's a rubbery kind of protector over the cv joint. you'll know a tear when you see one.

the dealer can replace them, but it's likely cheaper to take it to some oil change and basic maintenance place. just make sure they are comfortable with the prius.

i don't know how it goes on the prius, but i seem to recall it being a real pain for my husband to do the boots on his camry in the driveway of our old house. don't remember just what it involves either, and he's on his way to jax so i can't just up and ask him.

 

As the smart lady said, a tear in the boot is quite obvious. If you look at the boot, the tear will usually be inbetween the folds, and the grease will spray out. The grease is usually black in color. They usually last 100,000 miles, but have been known to go much sooner.

Once the boot goes, the expensive CV joint quickly follows. That's why it's very important to keep an eye on that sort of thing, and that's why I like to do monthly checks.

This site may be helpful, hope the URL works:

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?F...23d8004ce3e.jsp

This one has better pictures:

http://www.samarins.com/glossary/cv_joint.html

 

Did the F104 fit? I thought the F103 was the one to use?
Please let me know.
Kathleen

 

Jayman,

When you say slowly, how slow? How many L/min?

Also, can you recycle the plastic bottles that oil comes in these days or are they considered a contaminant (to the recycling process) because they're coated with oil? Just curious. I HATE throwing away #2 HDPE.

 

i think that issue was more directed toward the classic prius- the thread was about an overfill in a classic. they're more sensitive to that kind of thing i guess.

as long as you don't just dump, dump, dump each quart in there as quickly as possible i think you'll be okay. some of the express lube places just crank the oil back in there asap to keep their time under 29 minutes... the emphasis there is time over quality <_<

 

we recycle all our oil and antifreeze containers, required by law. Conservativly 300 a week at least. Maybe more not likely less, looking at the pallet loads that come in. Hydraulic oil and engine oil and lots of antifreeze. Plus all the filters get recycled by law.

 

I would say if you spend 20-30 secs adding each litre, that should be fine. It generally takes me 3 minutes to add 3 litres to my Prius, I take my time and also make sure the cat doesn't get into anything. With my 1984 Ford F-150, which has a 5.0 litre V8, I'd squeeze the litre containers to pour it in much faster. Do *not* pull that stunt with your Prius!

I'm not sure about where you live, but consumer recycling stations here have strict warnings about *any* material being contaminated with glycol or hydrocarbons. Generally, they will refuse outright empty oil containers.

You can still take empty HDPE oil containers to a commercial recycler or to a garage. I know that Canadian Tire accepts empty HDPE oil containers.

jay

 

Some of those central lubricant dispenser systems can really gush, like 5 gal/m. At the hose reel station you can equip the reel with a restrictor orifice, like the jet on an oil furnace.

You'd be surprised how many garages and QwikLube places leave the restrictor orifice off.