Been going over my recently bought 17 CM Limited 4x4 38,280

Being this is my first Toyota and I really don't trust anything that a dealership says and very little that they do so I decided to drop the skid pan and change the oil. I swapped the plastic filter housing out for a metal one and that went really well. The wrench I bought worked pretty good but the 3/8 deal didn't cut it and I used a 26mm and a breaker handle to break it loose. It took a minute to figure out how to hook the skid pan hooks in the front. The only thing I found that I really didn't like was the plastic drain cock in the radiator has the ear snapped off nearly flush. The more I thought about this the more I wondered why would anybody fool with it no more miles than it has on it ??? Are these bad to leak?? No sign of it ever leaking and it has pink AF in it. This and one missing skid pan bolt is all I can find that is not clean, dry and as new. I'm still in the process of reading the owners manual but I have learned to reset the oil change reminder.

 

Maybe some untrained monkey thought the radiator drain was for the oil??

 

Most of these are backward where you turn them to the right to drain and left to close and I get how you unknowingly could break it off. It's the why part that puzzles me. Does anyone know the mileage numbers on a dealer drain/flush/fill????

 

Well they come with Toyota Long Life Coolant, meant for 100-150K miles of use. It's not scheduled for a drain fill much less a flush at 38k. Unless they're just Really nice fellas. But yeah I trust dealers as far as I can throw them.

Luck and enjoy those Toyotas. : ^ ))))

 

Thanks I suspected this. I can always take off the bottom hose when it comes time to drain it. Its a little messy but really not a big deal