I took my 4runner in for an oil change, and found the access panel to be missing. They claimed "these fall off all the time."

Is that true?? Funny I know it went AT LEAST 2.5 years without it "falling off".

 

are u talking about a little oval piece of plastic that covers up the drain plug on the bottom of the oil pan. if it is, I'm sure they do fall off, my moms fj has one and its about to fall off, after you take them off a few times they get messed up and the plastic pieces break off that hold it in there, i wouldn't worry about it if i were you, it doesn't do much.

 

those things indeed do fall off all of the time. if you've lost yours, don't worry about it as it's not that important. won't do much to protect you considering it's rubber/plastic and is very flimsy.

good luck

 

Yeah, that's the part, the little plastic panel.

 

I lost mine about a year ago, and I do all my own oil changes. As mentioned above, the little plastic tabs that are supposed to clip it onto the edges of the metal 'skid' plate aren't that good at holding it in place. I haven't worried about replacing mine, I'm sure it would probably fall off again.

 

Lost mine a year or so ago. Have no clue when or where. Oh well.

 

I'm new to the forum..
I am getting ready to change the oil on my 03 for the first time (for me to do it) I have 140,000 mi on it already.. I'm going w/ amsoil & flter and want to go to longer periods between oil changes..
Anyway, I'm looking for a "how to" on changing the oil on a 03 4runner w/ the 6 cyl.. Do you know where this info might be located?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

The procedure is probably written up here somewhere, but it's really not that complicated. For ease of access, I use a set of wheel ramps to raise the front end of the vehicle. Locate the oval plastic insert in the engine 'skid' plate under the engine (if yours isn't already missing) and remove it. You will see the bottom of the engine oil pan thru the opening with the drain plug. I believe it needs a 14mm socket wrench to remove it. With the drain oil catch pan in place, remove the drain plug and washer and let oil drain. (Hint; I try to let the engine run first for a few minutes to get the oil warm (not hot), so it flows easier. While oil is draining, remove oil filter, located on the left front corner of the engine up top. Use a filter wrench to loosen the old one. At the bottom of the cup like filter mount is a small drain nipple, which may or may not be covered by a plastic cap. I like to use an old 1 qt oil container wedged underneath it to catch any oil that will drain from the filter when it is loosened. After filter is removed, clean up excess old oil from inside filter mount area. Make sure you wipe clean the round ring surface that the oil filter gasket mates to. Take new filter, and I like to spread a thin coating of oil on the new gasket, and thread it onto the mount. Follow the manufacturers instructions for tightening the new filter. (Most recommend no more that 3/4 to 1 full turn after the gasket makes contact) In this case, over tightening the filter is NOT a good idea. Remove catch container under filter mount. Once oil draining from engine has slowed to just drips, replace drain plug. Make sure the washer/gasket is in good shape, or just replace it to be sure. Don't over tighten the drain plug. I think the torque spec is around 13 ft lbs, I just tighten it until it 'feels' right. Just don't horse it or you will strip the threads. Put in 5 qts of new oil using the oil fill cap on the left valve cover. Once full, start engine and check filter and drain plug for leaks. If all is good, lower vehicle, shut off, wait 5 min for oil to drain back into oil pan, and check level using engine dip stick on right side of engine. Top off if necessary. You should be done.

 

I thought, how tough can this be.

I went ahead and did the oil change, then cam in and read your reply..
The only mistake I made was not putting something under the cup the filter sits in.. Had a little mess to clean up, but I caught it pretty quickly.

I ended up adding another 1/2 qt after it warmed up..

By the way, the little plastic cover was already missing.

No leaks, thanks very much for getting back to me.

Any ideas on my engine light thread. Who do you think might know another solution for me?

Thanks again

 

Hey,
I would appreciate any advice.
I read the above posts.

I looked under my 04 v8, 4Runner, 2WD/Auto and the oil filter looks very hard to access with or without ramps.....

1) can you crawl under and take off the filter? If so, how????

2) any way to do it without ramps????

3) Can you crawl under and access pan oil removal plug? If so, how?

 

Yeah, mine fell off. The "skid" plate should be called an "underside shield". I thought real skid plates were supposed to support the weight of the vehicle. Good luck with the stock 4th gen ones.