Oil Filter Cap Assembly - Metal Upgrade

Yup, did this to my truck. Works great so far

 

I plan to get this for my new Tundra. I'll admit, I over-torqued the plastic filter cap on my last Tundra and fractured it. Couldn't tell anything was wrong until I started the truck and heard oil spraying everywhere...

I still can't believe they made that stupid thing out of plastic.

 

Do we know why Toyota uses a plastic cap on the Tundra but an aluminum cap on other vehicles if they're the same?

 

My '10 4Runner has the same plastic assembly. 12 years of changing oil and never had an issue with it - even after turning it one rev too far early on. I think I'd worry more about a dealer cross threading the metal on metal than anything else, but could be wrong. I probably would have gotten the metal one for the 4R long ago if I knew it was an option

 

My original plastic cap remains functional after 14 years. Why do I need this aluminum part?

 

You don't, if you can rely on it getting torqued properly. If you let others do your oil changes, you risk them gorilla-tightening the plastic one and it could break when trying to remove it. But if you've gone this long without issue, it's probably not worth your time/money.

 

Many of us here watch the Car Care Nut on YouTube. He is a Toyota master mechanic. He says there is absolutely no reason to go to the aluminum housing. He said those that do and remove the center pipe from the plastic one to accommodate the taller size of say…the tundra filter…have just created a huge potential for failure. That center pipe is not designed to be removed and transplanted to another housing. He has horror stories where people did that and then came to him with problems. He said the plastic housing will last as long as the car if not overtightened. Oil the large o-ring and torque the filter housing to the spec (18 ft lbs) and you will have no problems…ever, according to him. https://youtu.be/G_vl2AYe7Yg

 

So you believe one person on the Internet and consider that the absolute truth? Have you ever heard of anyone who swapped over the canister and tube correctly and had a problem with it. Have you, and Joe?

 

I tend to believe the toyota master mechanic that works on cars for a living over the guy on the forum who swapped out his oil cap for one from another vehicle to fix a problem that doesnt exist unless you dont know how to take the cap on and off correctly in the first place. Im 8 oil changes in with 0 issues with my plastic cap. We get it, you love your metal cap, but its a completely unnecessary mod but if it makes you happy thats what matters.

 

Really glad you like your plastic cap Joe, you seem obsessed with keeping it for some reason, although its no different then the one I have, the one that's better.

 

You called me out in a response to someone elses post. You seem obsessed to convince yourself that somehow your cap that is not designed for our truck is somehow better because its made of a different material. Have you ever considered that maybe the reason for a plastic cap is to protect you from damaging the threads that it screws into? I dont know the reason the cap is plastic, I just know that its the correct cap and functions just fine when used properly and creating a Frankenstein cap from another vehicle serves no actual benefit. Not sure why Im even feeding into your clear attempt to troll me but for some reason you have succeeded. You should pick up one of these TRD metal oil filler caps to compliment the metal canister, I mean that plastic oil filler cap the truck comes with must be inferior to a metal one correct?

 

Trust me the Car Care Nut isn’t just some yahoo on the internet Tilly. His knowledge of Toyotas and Lexus is far beyond what any of us on this forum has….unless someone on here has been a Toyota master mechanic for the last 30 years. His point about the filters and filter housings is to always go with OEM and to install them to Toyotas specifications and you will have no problems. And btw, he says the aluminum housing are also prone to crack and chip if over tightened or dropped…just like the plastic ones. Imagine that!

 

Bingo!….Or what about those plastic valve stem caps? They must certainly be inferior to the pretty aluminum ones with the fancy logos that tend to weld themselves to the valve stems over time due to the reaction that takes place between the brass stem and the aluminum cap?

 

Seems we have Tag-Team Buddies here to convince us that an Aluminum housing is somehow inferior to a plastic one. They are exactly the same design, except stronger and less likely to seize and then break when over tightened.

 

No one is trying to convince you of anything. I don't think plastic can seize, metal can though. As you stated, the issue people have with plastic caps is them being over tightened. Dont over tighten it, and you won't have a problem.

 

Here's Toyota's idiotic stated reason for going with plastic on that cap:

 

Lol kind of makes me want to weigh it and see what the actual weight savings are

 

I'm sure it gains us at least another 0.0001 MPG in fuel efficiency.

 

Do you even know the meaning of the word "Seize"? I'm ashamed you are from my beloved Boston.

 

Yes I know exactly what it means, you have successfully seized my time from me by getting me to respond to your useless posts stating 0 facts about why your cap is better than the OEM one that has 0 issues if you use it correctly. If you close enough to Boston, I can help you with your oil changes if you're still having issues figuring out how to put the cap back on

 

Id believe it, just like the .0001 mpg you get from using 0w20 and people somehow got convinced its needed for the "tight tolerance" of the dinosaur of an engine that is the 5.7.

 

I only responded because you called me out in your quote of @BulldogDan I hadnt even posted in this thread recently. The fact is, a small miniscule number of people have taken the time to pull the guts out of one cap and use the tube from the other and the other 99% have had no issues using the plastic one. I have no doubt people have had issues with the plastic ones but its from user error. We both have the same year truck, I've done 8 oil changes on mine and have had no reason to change to a metal one because no one has over tightened my cap because no one has work on my truck but me. If you're letting someone else do your oil changes because you dont want to get your hands dirty then I completely understand why you need the metal cap

 

Not here to hate or argue with anyone, its all good. Happy 4TH Joe.

 

Haha you too buddy all in good fun, Unfortunately my plastic cap won't make a good cheers clang against your metal one

 

What part of Boston are you from?

 

Where you find a roast beef 3 way

 

After all this back and forth I am ordering the plastic housing as a back-up in case my 5 year old one with 15 oil changes on it decides to crack. All oil changes were done at a dealer until the one I did yesterday. With the MotiveX oil filter tool and my longest ratchet it was all this 71 year old man could do to break it loose. The Toyota parts manager warned me when I bought the filter element that due to the expansion and contraction of the engine and the filter housing they get tighter after installation. He said their shop tightens them to spec, 18 ft lbs. That is about one click past “hand tight”. My torque wrench is a 1/2” drive and doesn’t go down that low. So hand tighten and an eighth of a turn is what I did. We will see at the next oil change if that was a good recipe. Total for me doing the oil change was $48…the dealer recently bumped their charge up to $96 plus tax. My Tundra is used primarily for towing our camper every summer so I only put about 3,000-3,500 miles a year on it and change the oil once a year. Btw, the $$ savings bought me almost a half tank of gas….Lol!

 

….and when I think of Boston I think of baked beans and The Standells singing Dirty Water….signifying that I’m a really old dude…Lol! I am a huge Red Sox fan…whenever they play the hated Yankees! Go Guardians!

 

It's definitely not a bad idea to have a spare if you do your own oil changes.

I had one break once during an oil change on a Saturday. I just barely was able to make it to a dealer who had one in stock before they closed.

 

Did you lube the o-ring on the housing? That should help it come loose next time. I believe its the o-ring that actually makes it tough to get off many times.

Haha that is still a classic Boston song, I'm actually from the north shore which is where we are known for roast beef 3 way sandwiches.