Oil Changes and Aftermarket Skid Plates

[teotwaki]

On my 2005 Toyota 4Runner the stock skid plate has a large oval cutout for access to the engine oil drain plug. My new (Downey Off Road) skid plate does not. Because the V6 engine has a top mounted oil filter I wanted to make life simple and avoid removing the skid plate just to drain the engine oil.

Fumoto Valve company makes a really nice valve that replaces the oil plug.
Fumoto Valve



The operation is simple and the locking lever can only be moved in a deliberate fashion



What I did was to buy one of the valves with the optional nipple and put a short length of hose on it. I drilled a hole in my aftermarket skid plate and allowed the hose to peek through. Now I can reach up and over the frame cross member and flip the valve's lever to dump my oil. Be warned that it takes longer to drain through the smaller hose.

The best place to buy the valve is Lubrication Specialists http://lubricationspecialist.com/front/index.aspx


I do not worry about the valve being damaged. The new skid plate is 3/16" steel and there is a frame cross member just inches away from the valve. Both the skid plate and the cross member would have to be severely crushed before the valve will be impacted. I've had the valve on since November of 2006 without issues.

 

[adventureduo]

That's kind of cool. Thank god you have a skid protecting it. It would suck if you banged it on a rock/branch or anything on the trail... and there goes your oil.

 

[flyingwil]

Cool keep us posted how you like the Valve... I have had my eye one these for a while...
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=950&highlight=Fumoto+Valve
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28497&highlight=fumoto+valve

I never decided to fork out for one, because I noticed Fram had a big push in advertisements, and such, but looks like they discontinued the product.

 

[teotwaki]

That's kind of cool. Thank god you have a skid protecting it. It would suck if you banged it on a rock/branch or anything on the trail... and there goes your oil.

I would never use one without a really stout skid plate. The factory plate is way too thin

 

[teotwaki]

Cool keep us posted how you like the Valve... I have had my eye one these for a while...
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=950&highlight=Fumoto+Valve
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28497&highlight=fumoto+valve

I never decided to fork out for one, because I noticed Fram had a big push in advertisements, and such, but looks like they discontinued the product.

In those posts one guy has been running one for 18 months without issue and one link goes to a guy who started running one in 2004. mine has been on 6 months with no issues.

 

[Erick Lihme]

I'll second or third it, it's a cool problem solver. It also be nice if it had a hose on it to direct the flow into the pan.

FYI, found out today that Car Quest oils and sythetics are made by Valvoline. The synthetic goes for about $3.50 in the Car Quest bottle, while the Vavoline label get about $6.00+. It is at least likely that they use the same base, and it is at least better than dino oil.

 

[7wt]

Sorry it took so long to chime in on this, I over looked it some how. I have had a Fumoto for just about a year now and LOVE it. I have the factory skid plate but that will change soon so don't worry. There is thing you need to know about it, mainly that it does drain slower due to having a smaller drain hole. No big deal at all, I use the time to look uder my truck and make sure overything is in good shape. There is no downside other than the slower drain times but plenty of upsides.

They is a bunch of benifits of running this thing. First off, after you get it in you never have to worry about crossthreading your drain plug because you never have to take it out. Second, it really isn't that much bigger than the standard drain plug and it is very robust. These things have been used for years in Japan without a single failure and are endorsed by most auto manufactures. Last and probably the biggest with us synthetic oil guys, you can jump up under it and drain off a little bit of oil the check how the oil actuall looks and feels. I like to change my oil arounf 5,000 miles but this really isn't needed with the Mobil1 I put in it. So sometimes when the weekend is full and I am at 5,000, I take a sample to check how dirty it is and rub some between my fingers to see if it is gritty. This is such a great thing, you never have to worry about oil quality again, just check it! I need to order one fot the wifes Cherokee bu thaven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[teotwaki]

.......... It also be nice if it had a hose on it to direct the flow into the pan.........

Read my post all the way through and see that I have the N-series version of the valve with the brass nipple and have a short length of hose on it to get the oil past the heavy duty skid plate.

 

[devinsixtyseven]

Been using one of these for something like four years now. One of the best mods ever...