Oil Change Overkill

[Tony Prodigy]

I couldn't find the seller anymore from whom I purchased my previous lot of filters, but I came across this seller in the U.S selling 10 x Genuine OEM Toyota/Lexus oil filters and so I just purchased a set for myself. I have 2 new old stock left and with these 10 on the way, they should see me through for a long while yet.

If anyone is interested, this is pretty good value. It equates to 10 bucks a piece whereas if you bought just one, it would cost you around $25 and upwards each.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/254696580462

Once these are sold, I suspect the seller will jack the prices up. If that happens we can always resort to non genuine such as these. I've never seen a link that long 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10x-Engine-Oil-Filter-For-Toyota-Aurion-Kluger-RAV-4-Camry-Lexus-RX-NX-IS-ES-GS/363044338997?fits=Model%3AAurion|Make%3AToyota&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item548720fd35:g:XtUAAOSw~edfCBsc&enc=AQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickkBSh1VzQSTzkTiSV5EE%2FHQQBkXqU%2FmKZX6eptQZed4Vjxp6szNcpiso1K%2BQKrHoxrVe31DLkNYTFJ1wLIEAQk2DqHFdEUroF68QZpYhvEuDqrUxCoHtcE%2FLPY9g%2BZcHFlk3aKZPyFBbtjkmbG7yIRCH%2FWamahq2K24v2Sagt43w3z4tqkIK53wyTvobA%2FlDxXBAns6aWZI%2BkB%2BCL3sGyC6WGlkPp%2Bs%2BPj7PQHnbtZoKy%2BRxreK88KeCbAiyOrczTKYiY9ZvNEJjx64nlb6rkNuc%2BgfpL%2BgbetuhOcersxH%2B3qsh4BsUpOsZuae%2FHLS47ea5CCp8QP2qwBPZNKp7GZK1zYTnJrxiEJcodNMPz08OPWDXZPu%2F2FNm%2BJ%2F3LO5jXVuXwM4qvPnimWvxh9tyFE2vaXjeGSfXOC9JmGpJFsWNS5VpWL90tRt%2BDJiP7AqrVRdWxF1C5FYsVbb7%2BqndDNDojO8n6QQR8zK9P9nS9u1J%2BUHai3F5fyd88erK7VU0i74%2FN9u%2BvkSGavr55LIfvCBTj31Ks%2FVviDIi66x99PJBQJgLS%2FF89lxNtgdA93FZabuizTodFE3K5nvBvA6G9jNEqQN9cq953eJz5Yxb1%2BIS%2FnVWULa6f4iGRNrWppYQU0Cz703FtsaZDuU97YqZ4kAMgwOgJkY6oAf0e1DllHuSrCPd1Dmar1hA%2FMrGjGbt%2FelL6YHUieRcCxhtHTyFnhEpiqXEjhh%2Ba9zXXuMkEm%2BQfKz%2BENS1pLnaIyaXNdaewxd$£%&$^£"%!$0SvqyZhSJBvNXE2vdg%3D%3D&checksum=36304433899713affa2914c54a62aa4b5ca10a433ce2

Edited August 29, 2020 by Tony Prodigy

[campbeam]

There can be a quality difference between genuine and the others. This YouTube video demonstrates that point quite well. 

Over the years, I have bought filter cartridges from various eBay sellers in USA and Asia. Filters have come in what appears to be original packaging. Needless to say, I cannot tell the difference between genuine, counterfeit or OEM.

Anyway I have bought some more attractively priced product from a China eBay seller.

In the meantime, I checked the oil and just replaced the oil filter cartridge. I usually give the housing a good clean but this time I used some spray can degreaser and focussed upon the bypass valve at the bottom of the housing. I was surprised at the amount of sludge that loosened even after about 6 spray cleans. Something else to include when doing future oil changes.  

[Tony Prodigy]

Do you think that video put out by Toyota is just some propaganda stuff to scare us off buying anything but Toyota parts ?

My first gripe to Toyota would be this. Why are your Genuine parts such a Rip Off to start with ? The aftermarket industry has gone to town on this very idea that regular people simply cannot afford to always buy Genuine Parts, and i feel for them when they have no choice but to seek out a cheaper alternative.

Also, further to this. Nobody likes being ripped off either. I am always happy to pay a fair price but these dealerships really push it to the limits.

I'll wait until my next batch arrive from the U.S. and I'll examine them very carefully. I trust the seller and his claim that they are actually Genuine parts. There are tell tale signs anyway.

His feedback is 100% from 19898 transactions with a five star seller rating, so I am very confident these aren't counterfeit. Someone would've blown the whistle by now if they were.

[campbeam]

1 hour ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Do you think that video put out by Toyota is just some propaganda stuff to scare us off buying anything but Toyota parts ?

My first gripe to Toyota would be this. Why are your Genuine parts such a Rip Off to start with ? The aftermarket industry has gone to town on this very idea that regular people simply cannot afford to always buy Genuine Parts, and i feel for them when they have no choice but to seek out a cheaper alternative.

Also, further to this. Nobody likes being ripped off either. I am always happy to pay a fair price but these dealerships really push it to the limits.

I'll wait until my next batch arrive from the U.S. and I'll examine them very carefully. I trust the seller and his claim that they are actually Genuine parts. There are tell tale signs anyway.

His feedback is 100% from 19898 transactions with a five star seller rating, so I am very confident these aren't counterfeit. Someone would've blown the whistle by now if they were.

I thought that the video was demonstrating the quality of the genuine parts compared to low quality fake parts and how difficult it is to identify the fakes. Therefore buy your parts from Toyota dealers. Also a bit of a scare campaign that your engine will get damaged or accelerated wear because of these fake parts. Not going to argue particularly if you are following the recommended extended oil change intervals.

My workaround [being DIY] is to have short oil change intervals and to regularly check the oil filter cartridge mainly because I am on the lookout for sludge particles in the housing and the filter cartridge. Also nothing for me to drop the oil into a drain pan to also check for these pesky oil sludge particles then refill the engine with the same oil without those particles. 

Other thought is that the high part prices [either perceived or real] charged by dealerships encourages consumers to go shopping for cheaper alternatives. I will seek parts that are better than OEM quality and prepared to pay a reasonable premium. Good to see some Toyota dealerships as eBay sellers for the DIY market. As consumers, we just have to remember to compare prices to those of known quality e.g. original brake pads vs Bendix Ultimate brake pads. 

I also saw this YouTube video and thought that the seller of those fake parts will be getting his/her just deserts having to refund in full. 

  

[ZZT86]

I've never seen a Toyota oil filter made in PRC ever, they're usually made in Taiwan.

Amayama have a Nitto filter for $9.50 inc GST plus post, personally I've been buying genuine from LSI off eBay for years now after many years from the local dealer, they look like the real mccoy to me 😉 Always get a box of 10 for good deal.

ps: part # 04152-31090

Edited September 3, 2020 by ZZT86
pt #

[Tony Prodigy]

7 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

I've never seen a Toyota oil filter made in PRC ever, they're usually made in Taiwan.

If you ever see "made in PRC" on a Toyota part, that should be the red flag right there. Looks like a low level counterfeiting mob mistake. Another thing to look for is the Toyota Hologram sticker. I have heard that even the fakes get a hologram sticker but the quality of finish and inking is usually evident. Some have a foil type sticker which is a dead give away too. 

7 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

Amayama have a Nitto filter for $9.50 inc GST plus post, personally I've been buying genuine from LSI off eBay for years now after many years from the local dealer, they look like the real mccoy to me 😉 Always get a box of 10 for good deal.

ps: part # 04152-31090

I'll have to start having a closer look at Amayama. Never really heard of it until it was mentioned here to be honest. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Tony Prodigy]

8 hours ago, campbeam said:

I thought that the video was demonstrating the quality of the genuine parts compared to low quality fake parts and how difficult it is to identify the fakes. Therefore buy your parts from Toyota dealers. Also a bit of a scare campaign that your engine will get damaged or accelerated wear because of these fake parts. Not going to argue particularly if you are following the recommended extended oil change intervals.

You have to agree that Genuine parts would be most ideal, but sometimes it's cost prohibitive or in my case I just can't bear to think that for the same money I could get twice or three the times the product quantity and have more for later. There's no real value other than the extra reliability garnered by having the Genuine product. Regular oil changes would be the best work around, I agree Ash, but for those who aren't aware of the dangers of following the "recommended" oil service schedule, this is potentially a bad thing to have the lesser quality parts.

8 hours ago, campbeam said:

Other thought is that the high part prices [either perceived or real] charged by dealerships encourages consumers to go shopping for cheaper alternatives. I will seek parts that are better than OEM quality and prepared to pay a reasonable premium. Good to see some Toyota dealerships as eBay sellers for the DIY market. As consumers, we just have to remember to compare prices to those of known quality e.g. original brake pads vs Bendix Ultimate brake pads. 

Yep, it's the dealer's own fault that the market for fakes and aftermarket have flourished. Pure and simple. I have on occasion purchased from legit Toyota dealers on Ebay and sometimes I get special offers on those parts I watch. Sometimes I even enquire about a possible discount. Never hurts to try and I've been successful on some items.

It's even possible to go one better and as you said Ash, seek out parts that are better than OEM. That's the beauty of having a place like this to be able to share information and be able to make a more informed decision of what to buy or what not to buy.

[ZZT86]

@Tony Prodigy  Amayama is based in Japan & has offices in Sydney & UAE. You will often find the parts are directly sourced from local car dealers if in stock so you can't go wrong.

I'm just waiting on some stuff from them now, fuel filters & o-rings for both Aurion & Hachi. Thought I'd get them now with the aussie $ doing OK.

[Tony Prodigy]

3 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

Thought I'd get them now with the aussie $ doing OK

Amen to that !. I have been praying the dollar would go up because I was getting reamed trying to buy stuff from the U.S or Japan when the dollar was in the 50's region. Now it's a respectable 72 give or take.So the pain isn't as bad. I wish it would go even higher. I need some BMW parts from the U.S as they sell parts over there for a fraction of what we pay here.

Happy Shopping ! 

[campbeam]

On 8/10/2020 at 4:25 AM, Tony Prodigy said:

She's getting there Ashley. After what you had to go through to desludge her over the years, all the hard work is finally paying off.

That road trip will be the medicine it needs I think. It needs a good long run, just like the extended wash cycle on a washing machine.

I hope you guys have a safe and enjoyable trip Ash. I'm assuming your girlfriend is also coming along..

You should try removing the PCV and shooting some diesel/tranny fluid mix in via the threaded hole instead of the regular oil fill spot. This way, you get to wash that section as you fill it.

Odometer reading is now 224,784km after the recent road trip to NSW. Plan was to check the oil filter cartridge for sludge particles then fit new cartridge and do an oil change later. However, oil was looking a bit brown in colour so decided to do another oil change, overkill style. 

Dropped the oil out of both the pan and the oil cartridge housing. Remembered Tony's suggestion, so I refilled the engine with diesel via the PCV opening in the valve cover.

Idled the engine for a few minutes while I emptied the drain pan and cleaned it. Surprised at the amount of accumulated sludge particles that were on the bottom of the drain pan. Put that down to the combination of the road trip and using Shell Helix Ultra engine oil.

Dropped the diesel out of both the pan and the oil cartridge housing. Surprised that even more accumulated sludge particles on the bottom of the drain pan. Attached photo hopefully gives an indication of the sludge particles caught in the filter element. 

This time I forgot to do an engine flush with a cheaper oil before fitting the new oil cartridge and refilling with synthetic engine oil. Ended up using 5 litres of Castrol Magnetec 10W-40 and topping up with Nulon 5W-30. 

[KAA]

Your overkill method is slowly getting it nice and clean Ash..that road trip probably did the job of freeing up those particles..and glad you got to hit the road for a while, I bet it felt good

Keep Safe

KAA

[Tony Prodigy]

Good to see old sludgy becoming less sludgy. It's a painfully slow process to desludge an engine. it's like the gift that keeps on giving lol..

But I have to say that it is quite satisfying seeing the fruits of your labour no doubt. Oil filter doing an excellent job trapping those unwanted particles.

Look forward to the next update.

[campbeam]

3 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Good to see old sludgy becoming less sludgy. It's a painfully slow process to desludge an engine. it's like the gift that keeps on giving lol..

But I have to say that it is quite satisfying seeing the fruits of your labour no doubt. Oil filter doing an excellent job trapping those unwanted particles.

Look forward to the next update.

Yes "Sludgy" is finally getting a lot cleaner. It has been a painfully slow process but less intrusive than dropping the engine pan and removing the valve cover. I did shine a light into the oil filler cap and there is more cleaning to be done before I will do a big reveal and remove the valve cover.

That is a non-genuine oil filter cartridge so probably only good for 5000 kms before needing to be replaced. There were also sludge particles at the bottom of the oil filter cartridge housing which also got a good clean.

I am also thinking that refilling the engine with diesel via the PCV opening would have flushed out any loose sludge particles in the baffles of the valve cover. I should make a note for next time to keep using the PCV opening whenever I am refilling the engine whether it is diesel or engine oil. 

[campbeam]

Odometer reading is now 225,225kms so driven about 500kms since the last oil change. Before the oil was relatively transparent on the dipstick but now getting a slight golden colour. Looks like "Sludgy" is keeping her name until the oil stays cleaner for a lot longer.

It was not raining yesterday afternoon, so I ended up dropping the engine oil then refilled the engine via the PCV opening in the valve cover and repeated. Thinking was that any sludge particles in the engine pan would get flushed into the oil drain pan. End result was that there were no sludge particles on the bottom of the oil drain pan.

I will leave checking the oil filter cartridge and housing for another time when the odometer reading is close to 227,227kms.

[Tony Prodigy]

10 hours ago, campbeam said:

Odometer reading is now 225,225kms so driven about 500kms since the last oil change. Before the oil was relatively transparent on the dipstick but now getting a slight golden colour. Looks like "Sludgy" is keeping her name until the oil stays cleaner for a lot longer.

It was not raining yesterday afternoon, so I ended up dropping the engine oil then refilled the engine via the PCV opening in the valve cover and repeated. Thinking was that any sludge particles in the engine pan would get flushed into the oil drain pan. End result was that there were no sludge particles on the bottom of the oil drain pan.

I will leave checking the oil filter cartridge and housing for another time when the odometer reading is close to 227,227kms.

Looks like the detergents in the oil are going to work there Ash. There are lots of hidey holes in 2GR-FE where sludge accumulates and it takes ages for the oil to get in there and flush it out I suppose. For it to have that colour change after 500 kays is a good thing. Ol' sludgy isn't giving up without a fight 

[donnot]

Just thought I'd share where I bought my Toyota (genuine) filters now they've arrived. Got them from Amazon (sold by Amazon) here: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B007QVVV7M

They're unavailable at the moment but will probably end up back in stock soon. Paid $80 for 10 filters.

Did a fair bit of research to confirm that they were genuine (holographic logo style, product code printing on the filter itself, colour, packaging etc) so I'm pretty happy!

[ZZT86]

Only $80 ? Wow, dirt cheap esp given Amazon . . . well done 👍 Part # different to mine though 04152-31090, not sure if same.

[donnot]

1 hour ago, ZZT86 said:

Only $80 ? Wow, dirt cheap esp given Amazon . . . well done 👍 Part # different to mine though 04152-31090, not sure if same.

I believe they are the same - I did a bit of research before buying after seeing @tonyaurion used the YZZA1's (cheers Tony).

Can confirm they are identical in the number of 'flaps?', length, width, height and centre hole diameter to a Ryco R2648P after comparing side by side. 

[Tony Prodigy]

5 hours ago, ZZT86 said:

Only $80 ? Wow, dirt cheap esp given Amazon . . . well done 👍 Part # different to mine though 04152-31090, not sure if same.

Hey G. Don't worry, they are both Toyota Genuine Part numbers. The 04125-YZZA1 part number is the replacement for the 04152-31090. 

[Tony Prodigy]

17 hours ago, donnot said:

Just thought I'd share where I bought my Toyota (genuine) filters now they've arrived. Got them from Amazon (sold by Amazon) here: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B007QVVV7M

They're unavailable at the moment but will probably end up back in stock soon. Paid $80 for 10 filters.

Did a fair bit of research to confirm that they were genuine (holographic logo style, product code printing on the filter itself, colour, packaging etc) so I'm pretty happy!

Well done Luke. Good catch. Was delivery extra though ? I'm guessing it was from an overseas vendor.

The one thing that bugs me about Amazon is that you get no details on the seller really, am I wrong ? There's no way to query something as if they hide under Amazon's coat tails, unlike Ebay. You can pretty much drill right down into an item.

By the way, i'm detecting a little OCD there with your display 

[donnot]

4 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Well done Luke. Good catch. Was delivery extra though ? I'm guessing it was from an overseas vendor.

The one thing that bugs me about Amazon is that you get no details on the seller really, am I wrong ? There's no way to query something as if they hide under Amazon's coat tails, unlike Ebay. You can pretty much drill right down into an item.

By the way, i'm detecting a little OCD there with your display 

Shipping was free through prime since it was sold directly through Amazon (outlet) overseas. There's always the risk that something isn't genuine, but Amazon is miles ahead of eBay if I had to deal with that. 

I think the awful state of my desk should throw out any OCD rumours 😆

[nzzr6]

23 minutes ago, donnot said:

Shipping was free through prime since it was sold directly through Amazon (outlet) overseas. There's always the risk that something isn't genuine, but Amazon is miles ahead of eBay if I had to deal with that. 

I think the awful state of my desk should throw out any OCD rumours 😆

What does Prime cost you? Every time i buy off amazon it costs a small fortune in shipping to New Zealand 😬

[ZZT86]

6 hours ago, Tony Prodigy said:

Hey G. Don't worry, they are both Toyota Genuine Part numbers. The 04125-YZZA1 part number is the replacement for the 04152-31090. 

Oh bugger, I didn't know. Last dealer RO invoice I have from a year ago shows old number which is why I mentioned it. Awesome news !

[LordBug]

I don't remember if it's been brought up, but have you thought about sending an oil sample to be analysed Ash?

[donnot]

2 hours ago, nzzr6 said:

What does Prime cost you? Every time i buy off amazon it costs a small fortune in shipping to New Zealand 😬

$59/year. Saving on the shipping costs for the intake and these filters alone have paid for it though. Easy to justify the 4000km oil change intervals now 😄