Very close call today

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

I picked up the prado after the 120k service, all good injectors well within spec.

But when draining the oil, one of those foil caps that was presumably on an oil container, came out.
Meaning as some stage when an oil change was done, the foil cap got into the engine!!!! Imagine if it had blocked the pick up?

No way of knowing who did it, or how long it's been in there for.

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

Well it's only ever been serviced by Toyota, one oil change by me.

[Guest Close Guest]

Toyota uses oil out of a drum don't they? When was the foil discovered? During the service today?

[Whitey1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey1]

How did the foil cap fit through the drain hole? Would have thought it would be too big.

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Dealers use air pumps for bulk oil.
Was it a small one like the additives some of them sell you? 10-15mm dia?

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

I can not see how it is possible for it to hit the sump from filling most likely place to end up would be lodged in a valve spring or seat or pass through out the exhaust or bouncing around on top of a piston and as stated it would not be economical for toyota to use oil out of bottles. My guess is it was picked up on the sump plug after draining from a DIY oil change.

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

I can not see how it is possible for it to hit the sump from filling most likely place to end up would be lodged in a valve spring or seat or pass through out the exhaust or bouncing around on top of a piston and as stated it would not be economical for toyota to use oil out of bottles. My guess is it was picked up on the sump plug after draining from a DIY oil change.

Sorry, you misunderstood or don't understand how a combustion engine works.

To end up near a valve seat, piston, or exhaust, the oil would have need to be poured in the inlet manifold.
Whatever goes in the oil filler, could pass valve springs, but most likely does end up str8 in the sump waiting for an oil drain.

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

Yeah, not entirely sure how it got there, and while the service book has all Toyota stamps I have no way of knowing what the previous owner may have done. Although it was a NAB owned vehicle, so I can't imagine much DIY.

Here is the offending foil cap,



And the other side

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I haven't seen an oil bottle with one of those caps. Something like Nulon maybe.

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

Nulon, as in an engine flush?

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Flush or additive. Can't really comment since I haven't used either. Neither is a bad thing necessarily. The flush is apparently very effective.

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

That's right not many oil bottles use those seals.
I use many bottles, because I buy oil specific for that customers vehicle & it's requirements.
When I worked in dealerships, & the additives I buy pretty much all have those seals under cap.

[Sako85 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sako85]

You are lucky and in my opinion this is the result of local service centers. We should always go to a dealer for service or any well reputed car care center because expert can deliver the best.

I hope that was said in jest!

I was a tech at a dealer for a while, and both the oil and additives came from bulk drums, or tanks for the engine oils. Unless some one was supplying their own oil, my guess would be it has been sitting in there from engine assembly. Some packaging, or a sticker may have fallen or was blown in when the sump was being fitted.

Most of the return passages for the oil to drain back to the sump I have seen would bee too small to pass that through unless by some fluke it folded/rolled up. So my guess would be if it some how made it through the funnel & fell into the the rocker cover. It would either be stuck on top of one of the return passages or caught up in a valve spring.

[Craigo72 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Craigo72]

It'll be an oil additive/flush seal, dealers still ad it by the bottle (wynns, fortron, nulon etc etc etc), I certainly can't see Toyota opening bottles of assembly lube at the factory. It's no big deal, that foil cap wouldn't do any damage at all. It's nowhere near big enough to even come close to blocking the oil pick up.

[butane8 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close butane8]

heath, that is why I'm proud to be responsible for my rig's maintenance, mine had 97k on the clock when i got it and the log book looked the part, but after eight , soon nine oil changes every 5k /with oil filters, the V6 has never sounded healthier

its got 135, 000 .ish on it now for a 2005 model and due for its ninth drain and fill.. done so much d.i.y maint. on it ( thanks to this site/members/ and its info... that i wouldnt look back

when i bought it i drained all oils, diffs , boxes, engine.. and filled up fresh so i knew where i stood... i use the schedule book for direction but do it my self... easy if you can research in advance, and handy with the tools... cheers butane..

lucky you saw that foil anyway.. lets you keep them honest , next time,,, hope you mention it when, it goes in for a service