The first time I changed the oil there was some kind of splastic gasket that I had to scrape off..........I rplaced it with a copper gasket and it did not leak.

The second time the copper gasket looked fine so I did not replace it..........now it has a class 3 leak.

do I have to relace the copper gasket each tme?

That clean oil sure is hard to see on the dipstich.

 

With the copper washer, you typically should anneal it before reusing it. What is that? Annealing softens the metal after it has been work hardened (from being squeezed under the drain plug). How to do it? Propane torch, heat washer to dull red hot then cool in any way you want. Wire brush it to shine it back up and it is good to re-use.

 

The one I got was free............the place was closing and they dug it up as a courtosy.......

seems cheap to just include it when I buy the oil and filter.

What about the oil and not being able to detect where it is on the dipstick due to how clean it is?

Can I treat the dipstick or something?

 

wipe the dipstick dry, and there is a leather like oil plug gasket.

 

my plug leaked no matter what i did; copper, rubber whatever nothing would keep it from leaking. RTV it and forget about it.

 

Its a plastic crush washer you need to use each time, idk about rubber..

I use toyota oil filters so I get one every time I buy the filter..

 

The rubber on the drain plug that came with the engine i bought leaked pretty bad. I bought one from AutoZone with a plastic piece and it has been fine for the past 9k. (and 2 oil changes)

 

Hey lots of good answers on a silly little topic..........

Anyhows, I can see the oil a lot better if I check it cold before running it.

So what is the difference? Will it read higher or lower when hot.........my guess is higher when hot because heat expands.

 

Measuring when cold the oil is thicker, so easier to see when it is still clean. I imagine the oil expands somewhat when hot, but you also need to consider that it takes a while after the engine has run for the oil to all drain back down to the pan. I generally check my oil when the engine is cold, I don't think it makes all that much difference.

 

lower when hot, some oil still sticking to internal parts, therefore a bit less to measure in pan, thats my guess

 

Basically what 4Crawler says about checking..

If you run it for a bit to NOT (normal op. temp.) give it about 10 mins on a level surface and you should get a pretty accurate reading..

Let it sit over night again on a level surface and it will all be back down in the pan and you will get the most accurate reading..

 

I finnally got around to putting a plastic plug gasket on..................I went to autozone and they did not have one............I went to checker across the street and they did not have one.......I ended up buying a new plug that had the gasket and ordered 5 so I would have them when I needed them.

What I learned?

Buy five gaskets and change them out each time.
It even says that on the directions for installathion to replace the gasket at each oil change...........you can bet they don't at the quicky lube.

 

Our owners manuals, although, do say to check the oil when warm, but allowing enough time for the oil to drain into the pan... I noticed the same thing (being hard to see) with curtain oils, I guess I kinda of looked more for the shinyness than the color.

 

Go to toyota parts dept. They have special ones with aluminum in between thin layers of felt. The crush up and seal when you tighten them.

 

The Toyota dealership here only had the fiber/plastic ones. No leaks yet.

I used to have a 4WD Tercel that had a leaky drain plug due to someone stupid over-tightening it and stripping the threads. OEM drain plug + gasket + teflon tape = no leaks.