Ok need some advice. I have an 86 4runner, 22re with roughly 250k miles (reads 230k but has had 33s on it since before I bought it which throws the speedo off which throws miles off) and everytime I change the oil I notice the oil filter is empty. I use the OEM toyota filter and run rotella t4 15-40 (run it in literally everything I own and have for years). I understand it's a crap design by toyota but my question is how do I judge the oil level? I can check it after it's been sitting assuming it's all drained and itll be full, run it to work and kill the engine, walk around and check it and itll be a little over half a quart low. Pump gas and when I'm done I'll check again and itll be full or a little over full. I'm probably over thinking this whole ordeal but better safe than sorry. Regardless if it sits 2 mins or 2 days it still has the valve train rattles for about 3 seconds so idk 🤷🏻‍♂️ any advice gives me peace of mind...

 

Don't have an answer, but i'll just butt-in to mention that my '89 22RE w/ 190,000 miles causes me the same concern. I got it from my brother with about 150,000 miles on it. When I did the first oil change, I was expecting oil to pour out, since the filter sits sideways on the engine. Nope. I asked bro about it, and he told me he used some "Slick 50" snake oil additive on it when he had it. We just assumed that that stuff plugged an oil passage to the filter. I finally quit changing filters, since I didn't see evidence that the filter was filtering anything. I always filled the filter partly before installing, so the filter isn't completely dry when I remove it next oil change.