Hello everyone, looking for some collective wisdom.

I own a 2011 Black SR5 with 20' Bridgestones for street use, works great, and I do my regular maintenance; my wife likes to name our vehicles, so she was christened "Raven".

Last year I had to replace the alternator, which -as some of you may know- is not an easy feat thanks to a single lone bolt placed in the most unreachable place.

I come for some advice on the oil filter housing. Due to my ignorance, I broke the original plastic one doing my first oil change a little over 5 years ago. I went and got an aluminum one from Autozone, and it worked well until this weekend when I noticed a slight leakage.

I inspected around, cleaned, and observed that the big O-ring was a little bitten, so I thought I did not lubed it well before installing. I went ahead replaced the element and made sure the O-rings were well lubed before going back in.

After a short run I saw a small puddle on the driveway, so I put Raven in the garage, and ordered a new housing (Fokes) and K&N filter element from Amazon. Not knowing how much oil had leaked, I got another 6 quarts of Mobil 1 full synthetic high-mileage. Proceeded to drain, and clean underneath trying to find the source of the leak.

The engine was clean above the housing, and there was some fresh oil drops hanging from the drain plug.

So, I replaced the housing, new filter, plugged everything up, and refilled. I ran the engine w/o replacing the skid plate, and "OH caca!", oil dripping from the new housing drain plug.

I am leery of just tightening the drain plug, as it did not come with torque specs, and I could overtighten causing a hairline break, resulting in it causing it to continue leaking w/o my knowledge.

I'll leave it here, looking forward to your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

One question, did you swap out the original filter center-insert from your old original housing into the new Aluminum? The ones that come with the aluminum housing is not the correct size for the 4Runner engine. If you didn't do that, that might be part of your problem.

If you did do that, then I would begin inspecting the threads for both the housing drain plug and the housing itself.

 

No. I did not. I did notice it was shorter, but it actually looked sturdier that th eone I was replacing. Easy fix to try.

Out of curiosity; how does the different length cause a leak? Increased pressure perhaps

 

Not sure, but I know those are supposed to be changed. Perhaps it doesn't seat properly without the right center piece.

https://trail4runner.com/2019/04/17/genuine-oem-toyota-metal-oil-filter-with-motivx-tools-wrench/

My guess is that the shorter center pipe that comes with the metal housing is for a different element, and if you don't have the longer one, the filter element itself might not seat properly causing the oil to flow through the housing differently. Just a guess. I know that I changed mine and have had zero issues through 3 oil changes. If this doesn't fix it, I would look at threads. If it DOES fix it, let us know! It would be important info.

 

That is good advice. Also, whenever possible, use OEM parts.

 

I tend to agree. If it wasn't relevant why the different lengths?
I removed the Fokes one, and the center piece cannot be removed w/o damaging the one in place. It's going back, and getting a Dorman, which shows several center piece lengths.

 

There is an OEM metal housing used for lexus that apparently works well for the 4runner.

 

Don't use Dorman! Use the OEM one Toyota 15620-31060 Oil Filter Cap Assembly.
You can get it from your local dealer or from Amazon:

$19 Toyota Oil Filter Cap - 15620-31060

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BHP68A?ie=UTF8
I have purchased 3 from Amazon and never had any issues.

 

OK, here is the update and end result.
From left to right: Elements of the Toyota housing, spring, spring base, housing and centerpiece. Then the old housing, a cheap chinese one, same as the Dorman I returned, which came repackaged with a much different looking drain plug, which probably broke at installation; Old centerpiece, spring-base, spring "cap", spring, housing, and above is the broken center of drain plug.

In all fairness, the Fokes housing I returned, looked everything as the Toyota one, and it was made in Korea. I asked a mechanic, former client, whether it was relevant the length of the centerpiece, he explained that it is what keeps the spring base pushed against the bottom, otherwise, the oil would push against the oil plug constantly, so yes, it is important.
I disassembled the toyota housing, and used the old spring "cap" to receive the longer centerpiece. Inserted the filter element, and installed torquing the housing at 25 NM, and the drain plug at 13 NM. No leaks, no runs, no errors.
Thank you all for your advice and help. Yes to josephp732 for recommending Toyota. Again the Fokes looked everything like Toyota's, bit it was just a few dollars more, peace of mind is worth it.

 

Good info so we all know that that centerpiece COULD create a problem - Thanks for updating!