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I was wondering (being paranoid) if I did something wrong with the filter change that prevented the oil from getting into the filter but I can't think what I could have done wrong.
While I am not absolutely sure, I did change the oil in my 02 Avalon last week. Usually only during the winter time, I put in synthetic 0W-30, for reasons we are on the Canadian border and just east of one of the Great Lakes.
Although I am not familar too much with the new engine, it could be one of three things.
1. What does the manual say about oil/filter change volume? Sometime this is less than the entire capacity of the system.
2. I know on my older Avalon, the oil drain plug is faced oblique to the surface of the tank, I believe. If yours is the same, then putting it perfectly level would leave a little residual in the bottom of the pan.
3. Did you let it drain for an appropriate amount of time?? I usually walk away from the vehicle for 5 minutes or so and let it drain.
Check and try these. Hopefully, they put the oil filter in a better place than right under the manifold as they did in the older models.
abfisch
Unless you stuffed an old sock in the center support tube, I also can see no possibility that your oil filter is not filling. In your Avalon, the oil filter is in series with the engine, so a restricted filter means less oil flow. The the oil filter was not passing any oil through it, you would hears lots of engine noises.
In the "old days", some cars had bypass valves that routed oil around the filter if it became clogged. Your engine has a bypass valve built into the oil pump to regulate pressure. It returns the oil directly back to the pan when oil pressure becomes too high.
I'm still not convinced the removal of the center filter drain and using the plastic adapter is worth the effort. I still got oil spilling out around the edges of the filter housing when I took it off. Next time I'm thinking of skipping the whole remove the center plug, stick in the plastic spigot, drain the filter thing and just spin off the whole filter housing and let it drain into the pan. My daughters Corolla has it's filter in a similar orientation and the oil just comes out around the sides when you unscrew it. Not a big deal if you are expecting it.
This approach would also eliminate changing the cap sealing ring ("O" ring), which seems to be redundant anyway, as oil has to leak by the drain valve first to be present in the cap cavity.
abfisch
I somewhat, respectfully disagree regarding your post #101. Rather said, a flush is well, not really a flush. And some, don't recommend it. Rather, they recommend draining the fluid, removing the pain, changing the filter inside(which is a little metal filter, cleaning the magnets off, and replacing it back. Lastly, per the Service manual specs., and I am going to go back to that literature and look it up this weekend, I believe just draining the tranny fluid leaves about 1 to 1.5 quarts remaining. I don't think I read 50/50 but I will check.
So changing the fluid, or diluting it, is better than not doing anything, but a service of changing the filter, cleaning the magnets, is certainly better, more professional, albeit much more messy. A new gasket is included in all tranny kits along with a new filter.
An additional note: From an very old book called "Drive it Forever" another key point to making a Auto tranny last over 300K is to let up on the gas BEFORE it upshifts. This is every so slightly to smooth the shift points out. If you get into a habit of doing this, there will be much less wear on the tranny throughout its life. This does not replace tranny fluid service.
abfisch
Toyota specifies 6.9 qts to fill a dry engine, versus 6.4 quarts for an oil and oil filter change. This suggests they anticipated approximately one-half quart will remain in the engine after draining.
In summary:
1. With engine running make sure that the odometer mileage reading is showing, not Trip A or B.
2. Turn engine off.
3. Turn ignition switch to ON position while holding down the tripmeter reset knob and continue to hold the knob down for at least 5 seconds until the odometer shows all zeros. Reminder light should go off.
4. If the light continues flashing, repeat procedure.
Another problem I'm having is a bumping feeling in the steering when I turn left. Would like some imput before I take it back to service on Monday. Thanks, mt in Arkansas
haven't driven through a significantly dusty area (dirt roads) and clogged the engine air filter?
i think a CAT can go bad because it is overwhelmed by an engine runnning abnormally rich.
Regarding the hesitation problem, I would direct you to the Toyota/Lexus Transaxle Shift Delay forum but it was closed today to a Read Only along with the Engine Hesitation forum, which also discussed this problem in Toyota/Lexus. You may want to read through them to see if there is any advice you could use. There is also a TSB for the hesitation problem, but I don't know if it has been issued yet for the 2006 Avalon's. Ask your dealer. It has helped some people, but not all. Some have actually had it get worse, so you may want to decide how bad it is before you get the TSB done. Some have seen some improvement to the hesitation problem by switching to premium gas, which is also something Toyota said could help with the rotten egg smell from the bad cat. converter and it also could help your gas mileage. So if you aren't yet, give the premium fuel a try.
Bob
abfisch
Hello!,
I just bought a 2000 XLS and I do love it!Always taken care of at dealer and original owner with 90,000.... I am not a mechanic but I can change the oil and air filter. I am having trouble replacing the interior air filter. I took out the glove box and then I am stuck. The dealer said the cut out area should be right in front of the filter...Mine seems to be off to the left an inch or two...there is not much space to pull it out or up??..Can anyone tell me how to get out the filter to replace it with a new one?? No it has not been wrecked....THanks,JB
Would anyone know if such a pdf is available here and how to find it?
Thanks for your time.
Mike Murrell
http://members.cox.net/n0v8or/avalon_oil_change.pdf
Mike Murrell
Yes, you are right. It is a bad design. The angle and underneath the manifold. Very non logical.
abfisch
David
Roland
I work in Northern Canada, for one of Canada's largest producers of Synthetic Crude Oil. (450,000BPD) Synthetic oil will not hurt your car from new.
As you mentioned it is a factory fill for many cars.
Where I live we see -45C temps and regular regular oil just won't stay fluid. Synthetic oil is out of the ground just like what you'll here people call Dino oil.
The difference is how it is hydrotreated (removal of sulfur and nitrogen as Hydrogen sulphide gas and ammonia respectively and turning Hydrogen double bonds, into single bonds removing diolefins & olefins which are the waxes in your oil]. The process of upgrading the synthetic oil, also equals a very consistant molecular weight. Which is why it flows well in cold and doesn't break down in heat. They do not need to add as many additives to the oil to make it perform in minus degrees or plus degrees.
Non-synthetic oil may have some molecules that are a weight of 1 and some that are a weight of 100, but the average comes to 5 (this differece increases the need for additives to make the oil exibit the desired weight properties, pour point, flash point, froc point etc...). Where in synt the weight comes very close to 5 across the different cut points of the oil > less need for additives
I know that is alot of detail, but in short Synthetic oil and "regular oil" can come from the same base stock, the difference is in the upgrading. Where I work we extract the oil from sand (oil sand). The difference is how it is treated before it gets to you.
Hope that helps,
Netwon
runs fine,if the dealers never use syn,how do they know you
have to wait for 15k miles.
Roland