I changed oil at home 10K miles ago with top rated syn oil and AC Delco filter. Today I went to change oil again, and am *really* non-plussed to find out that the oil will not drain! I checked the oil guage, which showed half-way full. I then added 1/2 a pint of oil, and the oil guage shows full, so I am confident that oil is present, just not draining. I drove the car about 15 minutes before the oil change, and the oil is warm, but not hot, to touch. The bolt that takes the oil filter can itself be removed. Is this the next reasonable step ? I presume there is crud blocking the oil exit, and in the pan. Is a trip to the dealer needed to clean it out ? Any other advice ? Thanks!
That's odd. Of course, you already knew that. I just changed my oil yesterday. Took three quarts just fine. Did you put in 1/2 pint or 1/2 quart. A half-pint is a very small amount. Not that it matters much, either way it's apparently not doing it correctly.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 22 2006, 04:42 PM) [snapback]336563[/snapback]</div> יהיה יותר קל אם תשתמש בליטרים
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 22 2006, 04:17 PM) [snapback]336553[/snapback]</div> Do you mean to say that NOTHING comes out? Not a single drip? Try poking a sitck up into the drain hole. If that doesn't work, you've got a real mystery on your hands. There sure as hell shouldn't be anything in the pan large enough to block the drain hole! You're sure you're removing the drain bolt, yes???
EricGo - if you have oil in the ICE as the oil guage indicates then you must have oil in the sump. I can only think you are undoing one of the bolts that holds the black sump plate onto the base of the ICE and not the bolt for draining the oil - which is slightly offset to assist draining. If on the other hand you are undoing the right bolt and no oil is coming out - get a tow to your nearest Pruis dealer - don't drive it. Pinball <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Oct 23 2006, 07:26 AM) [snapback]336665[/snapback]</div>
Pinball, Darrell -- thanks for the hint. I am an idiot. I forgot about the drain bolt completely, and only removed the oil filter ! It was from the oil filter drain that some 30 ml of oil came out. Now that I think about it a bit, the oil filter drain must be pressurized in normal operation, explaining why gravity drainage did not work. My daughter was helping me yesterday. She is *never* going to let me forget this.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 23 2006, 07:42 AM) [snapback]336732[/snapback]</div> Glad it was solved so easily. Hey, look at the troubleshooting section of a manual for an electrical item. The first question as to why it doesn't work is, "Is it plugged in?" And here I was going to comment on whether the oil fill cap was removed or not. That can create a vacuum that'll slow a draining.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 23 2006, 07:42 AM) [snapback]336732[/snapback]</div> Thanks for your honesty Eric, makes me feel better about some of the really dumb things I've done. I haven't done that one but I've done some other stuff that is really astounding. BTW that's what daughters are for isn't it?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Oct 23 2006, 12:06 PM) [snapback]336768[/snapback]</div> Thanks :blink:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 23 2006, 10:42 AM) [snapback]336732[/snapback]</div> Hey, we've all been there. I remember the time I was replacing a temperature sensor on our Honda, and was so happy with having diagnosed it and to be fixing it myself, that I forgot that something that screws into the back of the engine block to sense temperature is probably keeping a half gallon of antifreeze from squirting out into your face.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 23 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]336732[/snapback]</div> Don't feel too bad. My friend who is a mechanical engineer, drained the oil in his SUV and added five replacement quarts of oil. He drove a few miles and experienced shifting problems. This was his first car with an automatic transmission and he had drained that instead of the engine. He thought the dark red, sweet smelling and very clean fluid he drained was odd but didn't think too much about it. He drove to work in this condition and gave me a call. Whereas, in hearing his description of the fluid, knew right away what he had done. There was a mad scramble to get five quarts of Type T fluid from the dealer to get the transmission back to full and a very slow (low rpm) ride back home to drain the ten quarts of motor oil that was in the engine. The engine suffered some oil seapage from the front seal and the transmission had enough fluid volume to survive and run (not too well) with the extremely low level. Otherwise it seems no permanent damage was done. This was a new Toyota 4Runner!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EricGo @ Oct 23 2006, 07:42 AM) [snapback]336732[/snapback]</div> Ah good. I thought it was odd that you were talking so much about the filter, and what to remove next to aid in draining. The drain bolt question occurred to me after mulling that one over for a bit. I had a friend show up here at the end of a 100 mile drive in her Volvo with smoke pouring out from EVERYWHERE in and under the car. Her husband had just "topped up" the oil and forgot to put the cap back on. She had about two of five quarts left in the sump. The rest of on the road and in the air. Hey, we've all been there. All's well that ends well.
Now, the next thing to remember is that after you drained the oil to PUT THE DRAIN PLUG BACK IN! It would be very embarassing to post that you thought that the Prius took only 3.7 quarts and you ended up putting in 12 until you discovered the oil river coming out from beneath your car. Now watch me make that very post later on. :lol:
