How do you change Oil Filter on 2007 Toyota Avalon?

Answer 1

Answer

Disclaimer: I am a do-it-yourselfer - not a certified mechanic...

The filter is a cartridge, rather than the usual spin-on canister. It's a little different and you need to understand a few things before tackling this. Here is a good 2 page article with illustrations available on the web (not sure who the author is, but I found it to be accurate):

One link is this one: http://members.cox.net/n0v8or/avalon_oil_change.pdf

A few additional personal observations:

1) When I changed my oil on my 07 Avalon the first time, the drain plug section did not open up as in the article (the article is correct, it is just that someone had torqued the thing so much that the main housing unscrewed instead). So I just skipped the draining as described in the article. It was a bit messier, but caused me no more mess than usual spin-on filter replacement as the oil ran down the side of the housing as I unscrewed it.

2) I have used Wix and Fram filters and found them to look and act the same as the Toyoto OEM design. I returned an STP filter that I bought recently since it had a different construction, and in my opinion would/might not flow oil properly. Didn't want to take the risk with a $30K+ car!

3) Do not excessively tighten the filter housing when putting it back on, especially via the 1/4 socket hole in the bottom center of the canister where the drain plug opens. Read the above article carefully on this point about the correct torque suitable for this unique filter design. (My Avalon shop manual shows 18 ft-lb for the oil filter housing torque and 10 ft-lb for the drain plug with the 1/4 inch drive fitting - but I just used moderate force I felt was reasonable for such aluminum threads)

4) Make sure you have enough oil. If I recall correctly it takes 6.4 quarts. Check your owners manual though !

5) When you are done, oil is refilled, and everything is double-checked and not leaking, reset the oil-change reminder timer using the odometer as follows: a) make sure it is showing the odometer reading (rather than trip meter) and then turn the car off. b) press and hold the trip-meter reset knob while turning the ignition switch to on (not start). c) continue to press on the reset knob as the - - - indication counts down. After 5 seconds it will be reset and show 000000

Save your receipts, I suppose, and write it in your service records to "prove" you changed the oil. (I even took picture of the operation :-)

Just letting you know that this answer was very helpful. The link that is provided in this answer lays everything out very clearly. Thank you for the help!