[salty joe]

I have a 2008 Sienna. I have changed oil in this vehicle four or five times without a problem. I tried to change the oil today, but only the little bit of oil in the oil filter would drain out. I thought that perhaps there was a problem with the plastic pipe that snaps into the filter to drain it, so I removed the entire filter, but the engine oil would not drain ???.

I have never experienced anything like this; I hope that somebody can help me troubleshoot.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[robo5]

There is only "X" amount of oil that is in the filter assembly. To drain the oil you need to drain the pan. By taking the oil filter off it will not drain all the oil.

How much oil came out by removing the filter? I think the plastic piece was not pushed in far enough. I have only used that system a couple of times.

 

[Delphi51]

Are you saying you took the drain bolt out of the oil pan and nothing came out?
What does the dipstick indicate - no oil?
The only thing that comes to mind is that it had a leak and lost all the oil!!!
You sure don't want to start that engine until you find out for sure what is going on. Definitely worth hiring a mechanic!

You might try pouring a liter of oil in and watching for it to come out the drain. It should all come out in a minute or two. Close the drain and put in enough oil to bring the dipstick indicator up to full before starting the engine. Then watch very closely to see of any is leaking out.

 

[jh818]

Are you saying that there was no oil in the filter housing, but you had oil in the pan and it was up to level before you drained it?

I would go ahead and change the oil as you normally would, fill up the oil pan, and start the engine. Afterwards, stick that plastic drain fitment back into the filter housing and see if oil drains from there. If not, then no oil is going through your filter. If it does, then you're ok. Refill the oil up to level.

 

[salty joe]

The first time I changed oil in this vehicle, I had no problem. Except maybe that little round disc with 1/4 inch indentation was over tightened on the filter and the entire filter came off. So I did not have the opportunity to use the plastic drain tube. But when the filter came off, all of the engine oil came pouring out as expected. It was messy, but no big deal. Since then, I have changed oil in this Siena several times with no problem.
Yesterday when I took the little round disc off of the oil filter and inserted the plastic tube, only a little bit of oil came out. So I thought maybe that tube mechanism is messed up or plugged or something. So I removed the entire filter and no more oil came out. The dipstick still registers full. At that point I put the filter back on and ran the engine for a few minutes to warm it up a little bit more. When I tried to change the oil again I had the exact same problem. The only oil that came out was what was inside the filter itself.
At that point, I topped off the engine oil with maybe 1/2 quart. We could probably go another thousand miles or so before an oil change becomes drastically important. So fortunately this is not an emergency situation for us. But I do need to get it resolved. I have been thinking about this and the only thing I can come up with, and this is probably a long shot, is that the filler cap for the engine oil is airtight and will not allow the oil to flow out the bottom of the engine. Kind of like keeping your finger on top of a straw full of water. I don't know. Tonight I'm going to try to change the oil again and this time I will take off the filler cap and see if it drains. I will most definitely post my results here.
Thanks for your replies I appreciate them very much.
Joe

 

[tcp]

does your oil pan not have a drain plug? Why are you trying to drain all the oil out of the filter? Undo the plug on the pan to drain the oil OUT OF THE PAN.

 

[homer]

The first time I changed oil in this vehicle, I had no problem. Except maybe that little round disc with 1/4 inch indentation was over tightened on the filter and the entire filter came off. So I did not have the opportunity to use the plastic drain tube. But when the filter came off, all of the engine oil came pouring out as expected. It was messy, but no big deal. Since then, I have changed oil in this Siena several times with no problem.
Yesterday when I took the little round disc off of the oil filter and inserted the plastic tube, only a little bit of oil came out. So I thought maybe that tube mechanism is messed up or plugged or something. So I removed the entire filter and no more oil came out. The dipstick still registers full. At that point I put the filter back on and ran the engine for a few minutes to warm it up a little bit more. When I tried to change the oil again I had the exact same problem. The only oil that came out was what was inside the filter itself.
At that point, I topped off the engine oil with maybe 1/2 quart. We could probably go another thousand miles or so before an oil change becomes drastically important. So fortunately this is not an emergency situation for us. But I do need to get it resolved. I have been thinking about this and the only thing I can come up with, and this is probably a long shot, is that the filler cap for the engine oil is airtight and will not allow the oil to flow out the bottom of the engine. Kind of like keeping your finger on top of a straw full of water. I don't know. Tonight I'm going to try to change the oil again and this time I will take off the filler cap and see if it drains. I will most definitely post my results here.
Thanks for your replies I appreciate them very much.
Joe

You cant drain all the oil from the filter only !!!!!! You need to drain the oil pan also. The adapter serve only the purpose of draining the filter housing. I'm not sure about your knowledge of the subject but I strongly suggest to you to make some research before attacking a job, even as simple as an oil change

 

[blade2001]

I think you should stop everything you are doing and take the car to a shop for oil change. If this is how you changed oil all the other times (through the filter), then the car never had an oil change..

 

[salty joe]

For some reason I focused in on the unusual oil filter and lost sight of the simple fact that the engine pan has a drain plug just like every other engine. This is pretty embarrassing because I really have changed the oil in this vehicle several times and I drained it from the drain plug. So right about now I am feeling pretty half-baked.

Thanks to all who responded.

 

[robo5]

No worries. Thanks for letting us know what was going on.

See you around the forum.

 

[topspy]

No worries....
We're all here to learn and share. You may have helped someone in the future to avoid the same/similar error. ;D ??? ;D ;D ;D 8)

 

[wiswind]

We have all had those kind of moments.....I sure have.
I look back on mine and smile at my slice of humble pie.

 

[brian_bp]

We have all had those kind of moments.....I sure have.

Me, too. Lots of them. We all do.

Not everyone, though, has the maturity to admit them.

 

[jc]

Hi Get yourself a Fumoto valve to make your oil changes easier.

http://www.quickoildrainvalve.com/

I'll tell you a funny story about the first time I ever did an oil change on my 1984 Toyota Tercel. I couldn't find the drain plug so I accidentally drained the manual transmission oil and added an additional 4 litres of oil to the engine. LOL.

Well the next day when I hit the highway, it was like I was James bond with a smoke screen coming out of my tailpipe. How embarrassing.
Oil had made it up into the air filter assembly etc. I felt like a moron and the next day I took the car to Toyota to have the oil changed and tranny oil refilled.

Needless to say I survived. Don't worry about it, you will too!!! ;D

Regards, Jason.

 

[joe1951z]

Revision:
Turns out I drained the trans then added oil to crankcase. The result is that the dipstick registers a high level because the oil was never drained; instead added 4 quarts to the existing oil.
Fix:
Find correct drain plug for crankcase, drain the double amount of oil and dispose. Add new oil to crankcase; add Toyota suitable trans oil.

First Notes:
Ran into the same problem. The solution is that I was checking the dipstick of the "Transmission" not the engine. When cold, the trans dipstick will read higher than the top mark.
Make sure you are pulling the correct dipstick.

 

[Gordon]

Post deleted because the problem was already solved.

 

[cannondale29]

For some reason I focused in on the unusual oil filter and lost sight of the simple fact that the engine pan has a drain plug just like every other engine. This is pretty embarrassing because I really have changed the oil in this vehicle several times and I drained it from the drain plug. So right about now I am feeling pretty half-baked.

Thanks to all who responded.

Dude! I had the same problem. The first time I changed oil in the Tundra I naturally drained the oil from the oil pan. Then I noticed the strange oil filter. 6 months or so later, I changed my oil and focused on draining the oil from the oil filter that I forgot about drain plug. That is when I found this post. Duh!

 

[pejmanlevian]

Great information shared.. . .

 

[TJC]

I have a 2008 Sienna. I have changed oil in this vehicle four or five times without a problem. I tried to change the oil today, but only the little bit of oil in the oil filter would drain out. I thought that perhaps there was a problem with the plastic pipe that snaps into the filter to drain it, so I removed the entire filter, but the engine oil would not drain ???.

I have never experienced anything like this; I hope that somebody can help me troubleshoot.
Thanks,
Joe

I have a 2008 Sienna. I have changed oil in this vehicle four or five times without a problem. I tried to change the oil today, but only the little bit of oil in the oil filter would drain out. I thought that perhaps there was a problem with the plastic pipe that snaps into the filter to drain it, so I removed the entire filter, but the engine oil would not drain ???.

I have never experienced anything like this; I hope that somebody can help me troubleshoot.
Thanks,
Joe

It looks like there’s a valve just above the drain plug. It is connected to an electrical line that is most likely an actuated valve. Most likely what happens is that valve closes when the vehicle is off and prevents oil from leaking out of the filter housing.. Or, Toyota put it there and it prevents you from being able to change the oil yourself.. for some reason I was able to do the first change on my 2020 Tacoma with no problem. but on the second try, I experienced the same issue. Only the oil in the filter housing drained out and my dipstick showed an engine still full of oil.