Cheap Plastic Toyota/Lexus Oil Filter Caps

Farnsworth said:
It may be the Dorman aluminum is made in PRC and the Toyota in Japan. It probably was over tightened but maybe not. Sometimes plastic gets stuck after many heat cycles and time. Also if a tool is used that squeezes the cap, that makes the threads much tighter. by expanding in one direction. They seem to be going back to the spin on style, probably because of dealer complaints and liability.
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https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Toyota-Housing-15620-31060-15643-31050/dp/B07984MX2G/

Picture shows Made in Japan, and people in the comments mentioning that the Dorman one leaked.
 
zzyzzx said:
I was wondering if the metal ones were different.
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I’m sure they are close to the same probably I have no experience with the Toyota metal ones because we just reinstall the plastic ones at the dealership unless the customer pays extra for the metal one which is never the case since the plastic one is free if we break it.
 
PWMDMD said:
The Motivix housing tool - whoever put the filter on last time torqued it WAY too tight. As I said it is the ONE time I had the oil changed at the dealer. Only bought the Dorman because it was Sunday afternoon and not a single parts department in my area was open.
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I've got the same one. Nice tool...so, I'm still of the opinion: previous goon with a wrench. Not you...
 
The housing is sealed with an o-ring.....no need to torque down on it. A light snug is all that's needed. Not sure why so many oil change places insist on over tightening them. Toyota introduced this setup 16 years ago back in 2004 in the '05 Avalon 2GR. It's been around long enough and there are so many other Toyota engines that use this same setup that you would think people would know by now.
 
AutoMechanic said:
This is very common to happen especially when the vehicle is getting 2-3 years old. It seems whenever someone sees one with some age on it at work it ends up cracking I myself have cracked my fair share of them as well. There is a reason they are kept in stock at the dealer parts department and the auto parts stores. I bought a metal one for my moms car to replace the plastic one with.
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Then I am glad I upgraded my Tundra to the metal one. I had to swap the center tube over as it was too short for the Tundra cartridge, but it was very straightforward.
 
Astro14 said:
Then I am glad I upgraded my Tundra to the metal one. I had to swap the center tube over as it was too short for the Tundra cartridge, but it was very straightforward.
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Yes I always recommend the metal ones to anyone. And yep usually the center tube has to be switched as well but no big deal there. It is also super easy to round off the plastic ones if the cap has oil on it and your tool slips off I have done that many times as well.
 
JustinH said:
What tool were you using to remove the cap?

I've always used the dorman socket, with a half inch breaker bar attached to it.

Very simple to take it off and get it just snug.
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I just bought the Toyota cap wrench off eBay USA made I forgot the brand though as the sticker came off.
 
Kira said:
What benefit comes from inventing such a completely different system?

The system makes plastic trash with each of the small drain tubes. I don't see any advantage.
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Hard to say. There was a time when most cars had some kind of cartridge type filter or oil bath. Spin-on filters were a trickle down from the racing technology. Guess we've come full circle in some ways.
 
Astro14 said:
Really?

This isn’t new, or unique to Toyota.

Many manufacturers use a plastic filter housing that requires a special wrench for the housing....
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Sorry Astro I'm going to die on this hill 😁 Conceding that other manufacturers have similarly idiotic designs, it doesn't make it right. When the alternatives of a conveniently placed spin on filter (my old Saturn, Civic, Saab, Odyssey, Accord, etc) exists, and simpler cartridge designs (top mounted ones that take a standard socket a la BMW and from what I gather the GM Ecotecs, some VWs, etc) are available then there is no excuse for Toyota's ridiculous downward facing, plug-within-a-cap-with-a-spring-loaded-drain-valve-requiring-a-little-plastic-tool and special tool requiring housing, which they obviously know is flawed if they stock a metal replacement part. Sure if you own one of these cars it's easy enough to buy the stupid thing, but I've never heard a half decent rationale for it. And when it goes bad, or you see one for the first time when you're changing your MIL's car's oil, it is annoying.

jeff
 
Well, it ain't a great design as greenjp pointed out, compared to the other ones I have serviced. The 2015 Jeep GC has a top mounted cannister that drains down when you loosen and partially remove it. And it has 18 pound feet stamped on it!
But is has a 1 1/16 "nut" to remove. Same with the 2 water separaters. Most people will have a 1" socket, why in heck did they make it 1 1/16 ?
Check out the filter price from Mopar... $70. Now that's stupid.
 
I’ll agree that the spring loaded ball valve drain on Toyota housings is poorly executed.

I dislike how much oil dribbles out of the Volvo cartridge housing, and while I appreciate Toyota’s intent, to reduce that dribbling, it’s poorly done. The little snap on plastic doohickey provided in every filter works poorly.

I bought another tool to drain the housing, it works well, no dribbles, but yeah, having to buy two tools to do an oil change without making a mess is ridiculous.

Further, having to remove the skid plate to drain the oil, or change the filter, is also annoying, but that’s common on other cars, too, sadly.

The top mounted filter housing on my 2005 Mercedes is a marvel of simplicity by comparison. No dribbles, only one special tool. Add an oil extractor, and it’s quick and clean.
 
Last edited:
Hogwash said:
The housing is sealed with an o-ring.....no need to torque down on it. A light snug is all that's needed. Not sure why so many oil change places insist on over tightening them. Toyota introduced this setup 16 years ago back in 2004 in the '05 Avalon 2GR. It's been around long enough and there are so many other Toyota engines that use this same setup that you would think people would know by now.
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Especially the dealer!
 
My VW TDi had a plastic housing like this, and it was fine, for the 11yr & 314k I had it for. No problems. Outside of it being topside, had to be on the ready to drop it into a plastic bag else oil was going all over.

Two of my Toyota's have plastic housings. Bottomside so... no real win, have to crawl under and all. One is 160k and the other is 210k, and AFAIK they are original. And plastic (or whatever it is). Only issue I've had is a recent oops with an o-ring not being seated and oiling down my driveway--not sure if I can blame anyone for that, plenty of stories of people double-stacking stuck on o-rings from the metal housings, if they weren't careful to look to make sure it came off.

IMO I'd rather have had Toyota remove the pre-drain feature and just used a 24mm head on it. They like to use 24mm heads on drain and fill plugs. Then no fancy tool for oil changes. Not that it broke the bank to buy a $20 tool after dropping $20k on a vehicle. But it would have been nice all the same.
 
zzyzzx said:
The claim is that it's less landfill.
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Too bad we can't just incinerate paper & plastic for the heat and make electricity. Then it'd make good sense.

These days I feel obligated to cut open my oil filters to examine, also to properly sort. So there's more work to be done with the metal housings vs the cartridges. I've heard of oil filter recycling but have never gone looking for that service.
 
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