2008 Scion xB: DIY Oil Change

Good Job, Dan! WOO HOO FOR DIY-ing! haha. but seriously, if I had the time, I'd do all of the main't on my car (or better yet, have my boyfriend do it :D) because you make it all look so easy!

Excellent point. I left that out of the picture (which I took before I got started,) but rest assured that one was part of the process, just before the center caps went back on.

I've had to be on dealerships in the past for extra maintenance, even when I've specified otherwise. I'm a little surprised to see a Toyota dealer doing that in a competitive car market; my Volvo dealer is the only one within a couple hundred miles.

I have had the exact same experience buying aftermarket oil filters, whether for cars or motorcycles unless it is a K&N filter. All the others seem junky compared to the real thing, which as you have found out, often is very reasonably priced.
Makes you wonder about the oil filters that places like Jiffy Lube uses.

Jdub is absolutely right. I don't even mess with my wheels since I don't own a proper impact wrench. It doesn't matter how strong you are. You'll never get it as tight as a pneumatic wrench will.
 
Kudos on the DIY. Now, how hard is it to do on a Ferrari? ;-)

Dan
 
send me an email, I can't get through to your email.
 
Mike P
p a y n e a z at y a h o o dot com

Whoa estreka. The wrench in the photo is perfectly capable of getting lugs nuts tight enough. A torque wrench helps make sure they are neither too loose nor too tight. 85 to 90 lb-ft for alloys is common.
 
If strength is an issue, someone before you OVER-tightened them. An inexperienced mechanic with a pneumatic wrench set too high can be more dangerous than a home mechanic doing it by hand.
 
I've seen more lug nuts snap off from being overtightened with air guns than falling off from being undertightened by hand--unless someone simply forgot an entire wheel.

Exactly, a tech with too much impact and not enough smarts can break plenty of stuff. One one of the worst things to hear in a repair shop is the BRRRRAAAAP of an air impact and then a lot swearing by a tech that just snapped a wheel stud off.
 
A good post and I think that it shows a guy or gal with some know how and some time can save themselves some money and have a great feeling of accomplishment at the same time.
 
Kudos to all the oil changers out there!!

Great post! How many oil changes has the Xb had? And yes, many new car dealers pile on the unnecessary services, regardless of the market size. My local Chevy dealer is a welcome exception.

Excellent blog entry.
 
I thought the xB takes 4.5 quarts of oil during a routine oil change, not four. Unless I miscalculated, you paid well over $3/qt for the engine oil, or you actually purchased five quarts, not four quarts.

i almost killed a guy at a tire shop when they used an air gun to put my wheels back on.
 
They did use torque sticks, but still, those air guns can easily over torque your wheel. Or any of the following bad things: cracked alloy wheels, broken studs, stressed studs, wrapped disks, overloaded bearings etc.
 
its not hard to get the proper torque rating with any wrench over a foot long. tighthen, then check with a torque wrench.
 
I never had a problem with an after market filter. though after reading bad things about a cretain cheap brand, that starts with F. I now use mobil 1 filters, 10 bucks, but syntehic material, and longer life

I bought 4 quarts, but it wasn't cheap. In honor of John Force, a fellow Yorba Lindian, I bought Castrol GTX.
 
With a filter change, the xB capacity is 4.5 quarts. But all of it doesn't drain out, so in cases like this I'll put in 4, drive it around a bit, then recheck and buy and add a portion of a 5th quart later, if needed. (If this were my own car, I'd have bought five and put the remainder on the shelf--but it's not, so I didn't.)
 
As it stands, the oil level is 2/3 of the way between a quart low and full. That is, nearly full.

50 minutes is a good time. I like your floor jack, I have something simular. Best money I ever spent, factory jacks suck.

I do all my own oil changes. But I've always used aftermarket filters. No more. Geez I learnt something from a blog.

I've used wix filter for my Fit.
It seems to be constructed very well, and priced high as well(for a small filter).
 
Often use Chrysler OE filters for cars, but made an exception for my own. :)
 
Certain F(ram) brand manufactures for other high end brands as well, so it's not a sure fire thing that you will get the best filter for more money.

I've heard about the check valve issue before, but I've never had the problem of too little thread engagement in an aftermarket filter. But now that it has happened, I've got to think the automaker is in a better position to know the required dimensions and filtering needs of their engines than any third party. All of the other choices I saw at my auto parts store cost more than the Toyota part. Why risk it, especially if there isn't a cost savings?
 
And the Toyota filter has a real o-ring, not a flat seal, and it came pre-lubed and was sealed with a piece of cellophane to keep dirt out. The other one was a filter in a box.

I'm all for doing things your selves, espcialy things like rotating your tires that dealers way over charge you for. But I've stopped doing my oil changes, its jsut not worth it. You saved what 70 cents? Sure you probaly got better oil, and I enjoy working on my car too, but changing the oil is a messy dirty job that I've never gotten any real enjoyment out of.
 
Regarding overzealous shop guys with impact wrench, my real concern is that I'll get a flat tire, and won't be able to get the lug nuts off with the factory lug wrench.

if I was using dino oil. I'd go to a quicky lube or dealer on sale.
 
but a mobil one change I can do for ~30 dollars with a mobil 1 filter. That would cost me at least double anywhere else.

Mohaji- You should consider using NAPA filters. Wix makes NAPA brand filters, and they're usually a little bit cheaper. It's what I use (when I can get to a NAPA store, otherwise it's Mobil 1). And they're made in NC (near me!) so you know they're High Quality!

Do ALWAYS buy OEM oil filters. Especially if the car is under warranty. One time my oil filter failed and it was an aftermarket unit. Even though I got lucky and it did not damage the engine, I still had to pay for a tow to the dealer, a diagnostic charge and for oil change. Had I used a genuine OEM oil filter, all that would have been covered under warranty. Besides, OEM oil filter is much better and normally costs about the same as an aftermarket filter, especially if purchased in bulk. And you know it will fit and work as specified by the manufacturer.

Good post, I am a big fan of doing my own oil changes. But you forgot an important note: always wear rubber gloves to avoid contact with the used oil. It is carcinogenic and frequent contact can produce skin cancer.

Oil is carcinogenic?!?! Why didn't someone tell me before?! Dang.... Thanks for the info. Here's a little link I found:
http://www.purdue.edu/dp/envirosoft/housewaste/house/motoroil.htm

Congratulation for the DIY oil change. If you had a torque wrench to torque the wheels to the specified limits you would have been perfect.
 
 What do you do with the old oil? Sure, dispose it properly but where? Do local gas stations-repair shops accept it? What's the cost of that?

In Florida, any auto store that sells oil has to take waste oil in. I assume it's the same in most states.

In CA there a numerous free drop off places for used motor oil and other hazardous waste items. Not a problem.
One thing that I think was overlooked was how cool it is that the Scion allows you to reset the maintenance light. Most mfgs need a special tool and/or a trip to the dealer for that.

I love seeing this DYI posts. Good job!
 
In California, Certified Used Oil Collection Centers will actually buy your used oil. Albeit for pennies a gallon.
 
-Darrell

GREAT BLOG ENTRY!
I think the auto press should educate and show owners how simple it is to DIY routine maintence. It doesn't take any more time than going somewhere and waiting, wasting time while being A LOT cheaper.
You also have the satisfaction of knowing it was done right.
 
I do all my own maintence and enjoy it. It also saves tremendous amounts of money as well as being able to troubleshoot and fix things without feeling helpless or at the mercy of a mechanic.
 
by the way, I only use OEM TOYOTA filters. As you found, the price difference is negligible but the quality is not!
 
You can also do faster oil changes by using a vacuum oil changer pump. If you can reach the filter from the top, you never have to crawl under the car for changes.

You made a good point about the OEM oil filter, Dan. A lot of it depends on the supplier of the filter. Subaru of America had a little fiasco in late 2005/early 2006 when it distributed leaky rebadged Purolator filters with no pressure release valve (PRV)/check valve to their dealerships. They recalled those filters and reverted back to the filters they were using before which were made by Toyko Roki.
 
cruiserhead1, Edmunds' editors and contributors have a wealth of maintenance and how-to articles at the link below.
http://www.edmunds.com/carownership.html

Interestingly, Purolator makes the oil filters for Toyota. The problem is Dan bought the cheapo version, PremiumPlus. The Purolator PlusOne is the equivalent to the OEM Toyota filter and is a very good filter. Mobi1 and K&N are identical and very good filters. They are made by Champion Industries (no relation to the spark plug company)

I took the used oil to an auto parts store. It wasn't the same one I bought the new oil at, but they didn't care. There was no charge. But they wouldn't take the used oil filter.
 
Interesting how "Premium Plus" can be the cheap one. Ah, marketing!

excellent write-up dan!! very in-depth and informative.

I'm curious about the 3 button clips you seemed to have had no trouble with. I struggled a bit with mine. And otherwise my 15K oil change (first I did) didn't go quite as smoothly as yours.

As with most everybody my dealer did the first two changes.

The button clips I pried out were not in too good of shape. And there were only two. The third hole was empty.

I'm not sure if it's common for these little clips to wear out but maybe the oil change guy at my Scion dealership wasn't too familiar with the clips because he certainly roughed them up. I'm buying new ones and would suggest others buy extras if they plan on regualarly changing their oil. I imagine they're quite cheap because there isn't much to them.

I also made the mistake of removing a number of the bolts holding the underpanel in. It didn't occur to me that I could get away with only removing the button clips.