Some observations after doing my own oil change on the Prime

Yeah it's always a mystery to me, why so many prefer to dispatch jets cross country, crisscrossing contrails abound, when just tooling down to your dealership to pick up supplies is so direct, and cheap. Plus, you don't need to be an encyclopedia of part numbers, if you're registered with them they even know, from something like your phone number, exactly what car you have, what you need.

 

Dealer parts are not cheap here, in La La Land. (But us old guys don't drive that much, so not many parts are needed. )

I keep things simple.
I'm not going to "over-think" this car, and make it unnecessarily complicated.
Twice a year, I get an oil change done.
I buy an engine air filter, and a cabin "element" and change those myself, when needed.
Get a free tire rotation (and free balance, if needed.)
I'm done.

(I also like seeing contrails in the sky. As long as they aren't coming from North Korea! )

 

Check with them first though, don't assume they're higher. And dealership prices can vary significantly. Too: when it comes down to a dollar or two, I can't get too excited.

 

To reduce the splashing maybe you could put a piece of screen over your drain pan. Something with a finer mesh than window screen but porous enough to allow the oil to flow through without backing up. Although if it's as thin as you say it is that probably won't be a problem.

Race Ramps might work, either the one-piece or the two-piece. Although a bit pricey, over $200 for a pair

 

The only problem I've had with the Toyota coated washer is sticking. Honda has a similar coated washer, and doing oil changes on a Civic, I've noticed an alarmingly loose drain bolt, when I know I torqued it. Like the coating is compressing. I asked at the parts counter, they had plain aluminum washers in the same size. Never any sticking or compression problems with those.

 

The exact same thing happened to me once, but with a little more fiddling with a small screwdriver, the "raised mating surface" eventually popped off into my hand as in fact it did turn out to be the washer. Of course you want to avoid scratching the surface. Not saying for sure that your washer is stuck on the pan, but you may want to continue looking into that possibility..

 

I'd concur, basically because that's what the washer always does on mine. I used to try first with just a screwdriver, now I just drag under the screwdriver AND the hammer, lol.

 

I will, unfortunately mine does not arrive until late October.

 

I check with, and drove to FOUR in my area.
Oil is always higher at dealer than Walfart.
Air filters are much higher than the OEM ones I found on the internet.

(Love those contrails in the sky! Former U.S. Air Force man. And airport employee for 20 years. Those contrails were job security. )

 

For a replacement drain plug gasket, you just need to know the O.D. of the plug, 12 mm or whatever it is. Auto parts stores usually stock replacement gaskets in aluminum, fiber, nylon, and copper all sized by the I.D. I wouldn't use copper if the oil pan is aluminum--it takes too much torque to compress the gasket to distort the gasket into the imperfections in the seating surfaces (that's how all gaskets seal). I've had good results with aluminum, fiber, and nylon. (Tip--to reuse a copper gasket, anneal it, but not like annealing steel. To anneal copper, heat it red hot and quench it in water. It's now softened and will seal again. Copper becomes work-hardened by repeated compressions.)

It's too bad Toyota didn't give us better guidance for oil change time on the Prime. They could have used an algorithm that relates to engine miles, heat, load, etc., or a simple hour meter for the engine, or total fuel consumption--but they didn't. They need us into the service departments often to sell us other services, often unneeded, usually overpriced.

Oil isn't oil--but I consider all top brands to be equally excellent. I'll buy Mobil 1 5W-30 at Costco for the other car and decide on my choice of oil for the Prime after the 2 year free period. I do buy OEM filters. In the rare case of an engine failure during the warranty period, I want to remove one obstacle point from the discussion. Yes, dealerships buy the cheapest bulk oil they can get. I'm a hot-drainer. It carries off more crud as it drains, I've been told. And, being thinner than cold oil, should drain more completely, but I haven't measured that.

Good tip about the home made pre-ramps.

 

If it's per 3rd gen, and I suspect it is, the (Toyota) oil pan drain bolt washer dimensions (measured with caliper):

ID: 12.1
OD: 21.0

Transaxle drain/fill bolt washers, same disclaimers as above:

ID: 17.9
OD: 23.9

 

I would also recommend race ramps.

I'm also kind of shocked how none of you know about the quarterly Walmart deal on Mobil 1 (pretty well known in the car community). 5 quart jugs are typically $23-25 and Mobil runs a $12 (per 5qt jug) mail in rebate - typically two per household per rebate period (which is typically every 3-6 months). This effectively makes each jug like $12.

I get a pretty decent discount at a nearby Toyota dealer due to an acquaintance in the parts department, but the online pricing comes close most of the time (it's not unreasonable to buy a half dozen filters at a time to save on shipping).

 

Does anyone have an answer to this?

 

AFAIK the Prime has 3 metal screws to back out, at a completely detachable small oil pan access panel.

No fun at all, compared to 3rd gen. Regardless, I'd still recommend occasional removal of the whole engine panel. It's maybe necessary for transaxle fluid draining, good to look for leaks and check Constant Velocity boot and driveshaft seal condition, and just to ensure the fasteners don't get seized up.

I'd recommend whenever you've got the plastic fasteners out, wash them thoroughly in hot soapy water, float all the grit out of them. That's what jams them, causes them to break as you try to remove. Also, put a little shot of oil on all the steel bolts.

Here's the 3 tools I use for plastic fastener removal. The one in the middle, actually a paint can opener, with hooked tip, is especially handy.

 

OUCH!!