Post your fill hole

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
What does that little gadget cost you bought at Home Depot?


I got mine off a clearance/sale table (it had clearly been opened, closed, and returned). IIRC, there it was either $125 or $150.

 

[Bumpside 427]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: Johnny
What does that little gadget cost you bought at Home Depot?


I got mine off a clearance/sale table (it had clearly been opened, closed, and returned). IIRC, there it was either $125 or $150.


Sure. We all know you do medicine on the side. Oil is just a hobby

 

[4esorselrahc]

Glad to see all of the responses, keep em coming. It's clear we like to keep the engines clean.

 

[[RT] ProjUltraZ]

we really need to see the age and miles on your holes

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: [RT
ProjUltraZ]we really need to see the age and miles on your holes


Jeez... lol

 

[Turk]

This is the best thread ever!

 

[tomcat27]

a larger picture - this posting pics thing is new to me.
as before, 2007 dodge 3.8L engine. 44k miles. unknown service history

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
a larger picture - this posting pics thing is new to me.
as before, 2007 dodge 3.8L engine. 44k miles. unknown service history

Very nice and clean on that one.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: rcy
. . .

This is a baffle that Toyota/Lexus have in the cover. Who knows why they make it look like sludge, rather than using a shiny piece of stainless steel?

There is a TSB for using caution when filling with oil that you don't jam the funnel/bottle into the hole too hard and bend the baffle.



As I mentioned earlier (I think), from what I've been able to unearth, the coating is meant to absorb noise from the DOHC valvetrain. To be perfectly clear, I am not offering this as authoritative, but I did hear this from a couple dealer maintenance people... That, and it would seem to make sense -- except for the part where they chose to install a black foam coating.

Thanks for the TSB -- I'd seen it years ago, and totally forgotten it. One of the odd things about this design is that there's almost no visible space between the foam coating and the neck of the filler, making it look like there's no place for oil to go. But it still goes in just fine. I'm sure the look of it tempted many a tech to push on the baffle. I suppose pushing it hard enough to bend it into the path of moving hardware underneath would have produced "interesting" results...

 

[wiswind]

1MZFE, I have the same crusty looking oil hole (vs pie hole) on my 2003 Sienna.
I have had both the front and rear valve covers off.....replacing the valve cover gaskets, and spark plugs.
The valvetrain, front and rear, was just fine, no sludge.....VERY slight film that wiped right off.......thin tar film on inside of valve covers.....that I was able to clean off with Simple Green.
I had given it a double dose of AutoRX, though I do not expect to need to continue with that.....most likely was not even needed, but it was something I wanted to do to my "new to me" used vehicle at just under 90K miles.
I have posted pictures in another thread (motor internals).


As far as the TSB for avoiding damage to the baffel on the 1MZFE motor from narrow oil bottle necks and bulk fill tools, there is a "special tool" that can be bought.......
True to my BITOG loyalty, I just had to buy me a "special" oil funnel.
It is a ASM #OFTOY1001.
Required, NO, Nice to have yes......threads into the 1/4 turn oil cap threads, and you can set the oil bottle in it and walk away.....vs having to stand there and hold the bottle......as it will not stay there on it's own due to the shallow spacing between the "hole" neck and the baffel.

 

[WBoer]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
WBoer:

Welcome to the site!

These are interesting pics to me. There doesn't appear to be any sludge, but that's a pretty toasty looking coat of varnish, especially for a synthetic. What oil were you using? Any thoughts on why the varnish? Not that it's horrible or anything (functionally just fine, I'm sure) but it just looks like more than should be there.


You mean the dark spots on the camshaft? That is not varnish, as you can see on the first macro pic.
Or doe you mean the 'golden' look?

Mostly used Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 in the past. On this moment Valvoline Synpower 5W40

 

[rcy]

Originally Posted By: wiswind

As far as the TSB for avoiding damage to the baffel on the 1MZFE motor from narrow oil bottle necks and bulk fill tools, there is a "special tool" that can be bought.......
True to my BITOG loyalty, I just had to buy me a "special" oil funnel.
It is a ASM #OFTOY1001.
Required, NO, Nice to have yes......threads into the 1/4 turn oil cap threads, and you can set the oil bottle in it and walk away.....vs having to stand there and hold the bottle......as it will not stay there on it's own due to the shallow spacing between the "hole" neck and the baffel.



Oh my. I NEED this. Just don't know if it will fit because the RX hybrid is laid out a little bit diffently than the regular 3.3 and the fill hole is hard to get to. It's between the intake hose and the silver 'hybrid synergy drive' cover and pretty deep down. The length of the funnel is good, but I wonder if it's too wide to fit between the intake and silver cover.

 

[ottotheclown]

You cannot make this stuff up. If you tell anyone, never mind.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: WBoer
Originally Posted By: ekpolk
WBoer:

Welcome to the site!

These are interesting pics to me. There doesn't appear to be any sludge, but that's a pretty toasty looking coat of varnish, especially for a synthetic. What oil were you using? Any thoughts on why the varnish? Not that it's horrible or anything (functionally just fine, I'm sure) but it just looks like more than should be there.


You mean the dark spots on the camshaft? That is not varnish, as you can see on the first macro pic.
Or doe you mean the 'golden' look?

Mostly used Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 in the past. On this moment Valvoline Synpower 5W40


I'm referring to the overall gold color, that is almost brown in some places. Again, I would not expect any functional impact with that level of varnishing, but being as compulsive as I am, I'd still prefer not to have it.

 

[yeti]

i just noticed this thread title.dinner and drinks first, if you don't mind -- or change the title.

 

[steve20]

My fill hole is bigger than your fill hole

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: steve20
My fill hole is bigger than your fill hole

 

[Tom_R]

On the Toyota baffles, has anyone noticed the black coating to disintegrate? Similar to one of the earlier pics, mine looks like a dime-sized piece has come off - and at the last OC the filter had some noticeable small particles/grit in it.

Only 47K on the van and have had since new - and with religious 4-5k OCI's (mostly Castrol GTX, now PP) I didn't think it could be much else.

Anyone else seen this? Thanks.

 

[lexus114]

I noticed that on my last RX, a 2001.

 

[ekpolk]

Hey, we can't just let this thread drop off into a black hole now. . .

Anyone have any tips for good illumination into the black hole? I'm going to try some non-flash lighting experiments this weekend (thinking small LED flashlight), and if anyone has had success, please share! My filler holes are so restricted that on and off camera flash is virtually worthless. I need to get tightly beamed light down in there.