Prado 150 D4D Oil change

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Today I changed my oil. 25,000km on the dial and I knew it would need sorting ASAP. Spoke to the Roo with regards to soot/Carbon build up on the oil pick up in the sump etc. Even though it may have been overkill at such very low kilometers I decided to make a 300ml can of Liqui Molly engine flush a new part of my engine servicing every 25,000km. My wife drives the Prado mainly about town each week and I think due to the start stop nature of the car; this is a good idea. I added the 300ml can and let the engine idle for about 10 or 12 mins and then dropped the oil/oil filter.

I noticed that the engine spat out just over 9 litres of rubbishy black oil. Counting the 300ml of cleaner, that's still around 1 or 1.5 litres more oil than it normally does. After the filter was changed and the oil refilled, I used the starter button and clutch to spin the engine a few times to ensure oil pressure in the block, before starting the engine and idling it up to temp to final reset the oil level.

Maybe a yearly thing for me, but I think very worthwhile.

[Johno Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johno]

Matt what oil do you use?

Thanks

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Matt what oil do you use?

Thanks

Castol Magnatec 15w/40.

[Johno Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johno]

Thanks Matt.

Aaron

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

9L is a lot of oil. Must have been a lot of sludge in the engine.

[VXWesty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close VXWesty]

Just curious, but does anyone see any problem with putting a can of engine flush in before driving to the local Toyota dealer for its regular 10,000km service & oil change? The drive would only be a 15-20 minute drive from home.

Cheers
VXWesty

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Just curious, but does anyone see any problem with putting a can of engine flush in before driving to the local Toyota dealer for its regular 10,000km service & oil change? The drive would only be a 15-20 minute drive from home.

Cheers
VXWesty

As understand it, flush is only to be used at idle as directed on the instructions. You must not drive or load up the engine with a flushing agent in the oil.

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

The MSDS suggest Naptha (light fluid) is the main ingredient.

[jeff butler Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jeff butler]

No particulate filtering system (PDF) in the 1KD-FTVs, even the most recent models.
This is what I have been going on about. The soot from the EGR system is put down in the sump and taken in by the engine oil.
That's why I recommend oil changes of 5,000 km intervals for this engine, not 10,000 km intervals.
I know TMC recommend this, but I think it's marketing fluff to compete in the European market against vehicles that do have the PDF system installed. The oil change on these vehicles should be done in between 10,000 to 20,000 km intervals, the PDF engines that is.
The PDF keeps the engine oil cleaner as there is little soot going down into the sump as it ends up in the PDF system.
The Roo.

I read this post a little while ago and thought that some of it did not seem particularly accurate ( having been a diesel mechanic in a former life), so did some more research and asked a few people who are well informed and currently work on DPF equipped diesels. My conclusion is that readers of this post should do some research of their own about the operation of both DPF's and EGR systems. The bottom line is that DPFs do not replace EGRs, they perform different functions and operate together on the same engines. DPFs operate post the engine manifolds. DPF's are a very complex system and can lead to many problems particularly during "burn off" one of which is engine oil dilution. Mazda 3 diesels apparently even have an X mark above the full mark on their dipsticks to indicate that the oil needs changing due to fuel making its way to the crankcase via the rings ( during the burn off) . In other words they filling the sump with fuel. It's also worthwhile looking at when an EGR actually works, and the size of the port in comparison to the intake size. Personally i'm happy not to have a DPF on my Prado. Do your own research, draw your own conclusions.

[Joe Lighty Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lighty]

Hi there - just a beginner who did his first oil change today on a D4D Prado 150 today - many thanks for the info from many contained within this thread...
A few points I thought I may add for anyone else doing this...
- bought oil, new sump drain gasket and Toyota oil filter removal tool from local Toyota dealer - kept the receipt at the recommendation of the guy in the parts centre as the car still has two years warranty remaining.
- bought Toyota oil filter from eBay.
- also bought the LiquiMoly engine flush from Supercheap Auto but decided not to use it for the first go as the car only has 10,000km on it and the oil had been changed at 5000km by the previous owner (having said
that, it was pretty black but seemed to drain well...)
- noticed someone else said that there was plenty of clearance below the Prado 150 - well, I'm not a big guy, but I found it pretty tight - would've loved a hoist!
- removed the easy to find plate covering the sump drain (it has a small tube poking out of it - aircon drain?) and located the sump drain.
- removed the sump drain plug/bolt and oil drained easily - it was warm, not hot. What was surprising difficult was removing the old sump drain gasket - it was well stuck - needed a screwdriver and much effort to
unstick it from the bottom of the sump. Was careful not to damage the surround and eventually it came away cleanly.
- used the filter tool to remove the filter - it didn't leak oil everywhere like I was expecting, and was easy to manoeuvre out from the engine.
- once drained (dripped for an hour! Yep, oil filler cap off...) I fitted the sump plug/bolt with the new gasket.
- I had filled the new filter with new oil - amazing how much of a sponge this is - very little risk of any dripping when I then installed it, which was easy with the Toyota tool.
- Filled 6.5 L of oil to bring it up to the mid range on the dipstick and ran the engine for about 10 mins. Added another 0.5L to bring it back up to the mark.
- checked for leaks (all good) and replaced sump cover.
- cracked a beer, impressed with my (relatively unimpressive) first oil change on my Prado.

Thanks again for the previous wise words in this thread!

[tempestv8 Member Find all posts View Profile Close tempestv8]

Makes you wonder why the servicing is so expensive at dealerships.

Changing engine oils with a hoist and other workshop equipment should be effortless, and the rest of the service is mainly checks to brake pad thickness, seat belts and lights, wipers and balancing the front wheels. Probably over tighten the lug nuts when refitting the wheels. Wash and vac. Maybe they check the transfer and diff oil levels, brake fluid and power steering fluids.

$500 to 600 for all that when outside the Advantage Service period.

I bet they don't plug in the Intellitester to check for codes or even blow out the dust from the air filters.

[cbm8880 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cbm8880]

Just get it done at Ultratune (if you've got a mechanic you can trust).

[brogers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close brogers]

duplicate post deleted

[brogers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close brogers]

- noticed someone else said that there was plenty of clearance below the Prado 150 - well, I'm not a big guy, but I found it pretty tight - would've loved a hoist!

Nah, just put in a 2 inch suspension lift, and boy, does that make it even easier to crawl underneath.

- it has a small tube poking out of it - aircon drain?

I think that is an oil spill/overflow drain, from the area surrounding the actual oil filter

- I had filled the new filter with new oil - amazing how much of a sponge this is - very little risk of any dripping when I then installed it, which was easy with the Toyota tool.

Some people laughted at me when I suggested priming the oil filter before installing it, but it is a technique that was taught to me many years ago by an expert diesel fitter, that way your oil filter is primed and working from the very first instant once you start up after changing the filter.

Well done!

[Sydneydude Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sydneydude]

Has someone found a quality alternative to the pricey Toyota Oilfilter ($30 on flee bay ) ?
I would not go for a $6.99 filter (sydneyfilters.com.au) am thinking that $15-20 is reasonable.
What are the filter specs required by Toyota?