DIY - Oil Change Reference for 2GR-FE

[Lsp408]

Anyone know if Driven DT40 can be use for our car?

 

[Porter]

Anyone know if Driven DT40 can be use for our car?

It's a different viscosity than the recommendation. What is it about the Driven oil that interests you? Just curious.

Also, if you're looking at those sort of alternatives, why not also include MPT Industries 30K? It's similar to Amsoil, high TBN.

 

[Porter]

FYI I updated the links/recommendations post at the top of page 2 with a link to the Purolator Boss filter. It's the same construction as the Wix XP but with a bit more filter media.

 

[Lsp408]

It's a different viscosity than the recommendation. What is it about the Driven oil that interests you? Just curious.

Also, if you're looking at those sort of alternatives, why not also include MPT Industries 30K? It's similar to Amsoil, high TBN.

So my previous car using Driven DT40 and I traded for the Emira. I have 2 case of DT40 left. Figure if I can use it, might as well.

 

[Porter]

So my previous car using Driven DT40 and I traded for the Emira. I have 2 case of DT40 left. Figure if I can use it, might as well.

Gotcha. I think you should use your own judgement on it. The 2GR-FE has had specifications from Toyota for both 5W-30 and 0W-20 oil at different points in time, with different generations of the engine.

Lotus specifies a heavier/broader viscosity modern oil in a 0W-40 for this particular variant of the 2GR-FE with Edelbrock SC, but that isn't to say that another oil weight wouldn't work ok in your particular climate. If you only drive the car in warmer weather the oil you have (5W-40 synthetic) is probably fine. But make your own call.

 

[Lsp408]

Gotcha. I think you should use your own judgement on it. The 2GR-FE has had specifications from Toyota for both 5W-30 and 0W-20 oil at different points in time, with different generations of the engine.

Lotus specifies a heavier/broader viscosity modern oil in a 0W-40 for this particular variant of the 2GR-FE with Edelbrock SC, but that isn't to say that another oil weight wouldn't work ok in your particular climate. If you only drive the car in warmer weather the oil you have (5W-40 synthetic) is probably fine. But make your own call.

Appreciate the reply. Using DT40 chances are ok but you just never know. All the spec requirement etc, it’s so confusing. I guess I’ll just stick with what everyone here uses.

 

[Porter]

Appreciate the reply. Using DT40 chances are ok but you just never know. All the spec requirement etc, it’s so confusing. I guess I’ll just stick with what everyone here uses.

I mean, I would personally use it. But not below, say, 40° outside. Cold starts are rough on engines.

 

[Aero]

Didn't know if there was a maintenance thread already. Just now looked at the tiny service booklet that came in the glovebox. Really lacking the service schedule info anywhere in print.
Went looking for relevant info. Dont know if everyone already knew this:

Lotus Cars Official Site

www.lotuscars.com

Nothing too surprising except changing the engine coolant every 4 years. Porsche doesnt even suggest that short interval. Not simple to do since its a vacuum type replacement. I realize that after 3 years the warranty is gone anyway.
Has anyone been told these services HAVE to be done at the dealer to maintain the warranty? Other makes you just have to document that you did the work on schedule.
Also see post #8. for the Evora schedule.

Emira Maintenance Schedule

www.lotustalk.com

 

[Porter]

Didn't know if there was a maintenance thread already. Just now looked at the tiny service booklet that came in the glovebox. Really lacking the service schedule info anywhere in print.
Went looking for relevant info. Dont know if everyone already knew this:

Lotus Cars Official Site

www.lotuscars.com

Nothing too surprising except changing the engine coolant every 4 years. Porsche doesnt even suggest that short interval. Not simple to do since its a vacuum type replacement. I realize that after 3 years the warranty is gone anyway.
Has anyone been told these services HAVE to be done at the dealer to maintain the warranty? Other makes you just have to document that you did the work on schedule.
Also see post #8. for the Evora schedule.

Emira Maintenance Schedule

www.lotustalk.com

Those are maximums. I would actually do the coolant every two years.

 

[Totally Average]

For the lazy folks like me who like direct links to things....

Oil Filters, Toyota part number 04152-YZZA1:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=04152-YZZA1
Careful on these, some have received counterfeit goods through Amazon. Choose your seller/source wisely. They are only 5-7 dollars at the Toyota dealer, so remember you can always go there as well.

Another great filter option is the Purolator Boss, which is the premium filter in MANN+Hummel's product line which includes brands such as Wix, MANN Filter, etc. These have tested very well in online reviews recently. Here's their matching part number PBL25608 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XQ5NYKF

Drain Plug Gaskets, Toyota part number 90430-12031:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=90430-12031

Oil Filter Housing Tool and Drain Tool Kit
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RJ2L25/

Magnetic Drain Plug - Not necessary, but nice if you're paranoid
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YVKL6DQ/

6QT case of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Full Synthetic 0W-40 (meets API SP, API SN+, API SN)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JMCCE6U/

More info on Pennzoil Ultra Platinum Synthetic: https://www.pennzoil.com/en_us/products/full-synthetic-motor-oils/pennzoil-ultra-platinum.html
Great for standard oil change intervals of 5,000 mi, and a recent top recommendation of several very nerdy oil shootouts on Youtube. But it needs changing at 5k miles, don't extend it. Use a "Euro" spec ACEA A3 or better like the factory Total Quartz 9000 Energy 0W-40 if doing extended drain intervals like 10k miles. I wouldn't recommend extended 10k oil change intervals on a nice thing like a Lotus though, come on people. The owner's manual is nonsense, that's regulatory compliance and not appropriate maintenance.

Another great oil if you want the very best product available, Amsoil Signature Series 0W-40:

https://www.amsoil.com/p/amsoil-signature-series-0w-40-100-synthetic-motor-oil-azf/

Slightly more expensive than the Pennzoil, but probably slightly better absolute performance. Maybe 5%?

Both oils are state of the art current oil technology. Both are significantly better than the (now) legacy offerings from Motul, Liqui Moly, Mobil 1, and others.



[edit] - fixed the broken links

Thanks to Porter for these links. I just completed my 1000k-ish change. A couple notes from me:

1. I unscrewed pretty much every 10mm, 7mm and 4mm allen bolts from the back third of the car. I left the upper rear most allen heads on the rear diffuser on but I think next time I will just take the diffuser off entirely and then the rear tray, rather than letting it hang down and sliding the aluminum rear tray out. There might be 30 bolts to remove, I didn't count but it is most of them. If someone can tell which are optional, I'd be curious. There is a gray rubber insulated something on the rear left of the car that will hang down once the under tray is removed. I didn't like that this just rests on the tray - I am going to look for wear at my 5k oil change and see if there is something I can do to improve this potential wear/failure point.

2. Under the rear hatch, the lower plastic engine surround pulls straight up and out and is held in by push grommets. The upper section pulls up from the lower edge and horizontally back from the upper edge. You do not need to take any allen heads out to remove these pieces. Just pull them out.

3. The oil drain bolt crush washer is stuck on really tight. At the time I wasn't sure if it came off or not - after reading an earlier comment, apparently you have to pry it off. I tried a couple of times but didn't want to force it, so I kept it on and just used a new one on top of the old one but that's not ideal. Hopefully it's all good and doesn't weep oil.

4. The aftermarket mag oil plug recommended by porter has quite a few less threads than the OEM one. I used it anyway, and torqued it to 20 NM, but definitely didn't feel good about that. If I would have known that compromise, I probably wouldn't have bought it, but I figured if I strip it, then I would get the baffled oil pan as an excuse. Next oil change if there is debris on the mag I will keep using it, otherwise I will put the OEM one back in.

5. This was my first oil filter housing experience that came in two pieces. I didn't know there was an inner and an outer until I took the entire thing out. I am assuming the only reason for the inner removable section is to drain the oil before taking off the outer housing. I am assuming if you take the entire housing off, like I did, you don't have to mess with the inner part. It really wasn't messy, I'm surprised that is the purpose of the inner section, unless I am missing something. The Purolator Boss seemed to fit perfectly - I was paranoid about getting a knock-off filter and didn't want to drive to my dealership. That oil filter housing tool recommended above is super gucci and probably overkill - there is likely a cheaper one out there but I was too lazy to search.

5. Roughly 6 qt came out and I put roughly 6 qt back in to arrive in the middle of the high and low dots on the dip stick. The oil after 1,000 was mostly clean but the new oil was definitely cleaner, as I had a hard time actually seeing where it was on the dip stick. It gives me good piece of mind to know it has clean oil after a proper break in.

I hope this is helpful to someone!

 

[fcajr]

Thanks to Porter for these links. I just completed my 1000k-ish change. A couple notes from me:

1. I unscrewed pretty much every 10mm, 7mm and 4mm allen bolts from the back third of the car. I left the upper rear most allen heads on the rear diffuser on but I think next time I will just take the diffuser off entirely and then the rear tray, rather than letting it hang down and sliding the aluminum rear tray out. There might be 30 bolts to remove, I didn't count but it is most of them. If someone can tell which are optional, I'd be curious. There is a gray rubber insulated something on the rear left of the car that will hang down once the under tray is removed. I didn't like that this just rests on the tray - I am going to look for wear at my 5k oil change and see if there is something I can do to improve this potential wear/failure point.

2. Under the rear hatch, the lower plastic engine surround pulls straight up and out and is held in by push grommets. The upper section pulls up from the lower edge and horizontally back from the upper edge. You do not need to take any allen heads out to remove these pieces. Just pull them out.

3. The oil drain bolt crush washer is stuck on really tight. At the time I wasn't sure if it came off or not - after reading an earlier comment, apparently you have to pry it off. I tried a couple of times but didn't want to force it, so I kept it on and just used a new one on top of the old one but that's not ideal. Hopefully it's all good and doesn't weep oil.

4. The aftermarket mag oil plug recommended by porter has quite a few less threads than the OEM one. I used it anyway, and torqued it to 20 NM, but definitely didn't feel good about that. If I would have known that compromise, I probably wouldn't have bought it, but I figured if I strip it, then I would get the baffled oil pan as an excuse. Next oil change if there is debris on the mag I will keep using it, otherwise I will put the OEM one back in.

5. This was my first oil filter housing experience that came in two pieces. I didn't know there was an inner and an outer until I took the entire thing out. I am assuming the only reason for the inner removable section is to drain the oil before taking off the outer housing. I am assuming if you take the entire housing off, like I did, you don't have to mess with the inner part. It really wasn't messy, I'm surprised that is the purpose of the inner section, unless I am missing something. The Purolator Boss seemed to fit perfectly - I was paranoid about getting a knock-off filter and didn't want to drive to my dealership. That oil filter housing tool recommended above is super gucci and probably overkill - there is likely a cheaper one out there but I was too lazy to search.

5. Roughly 6 qt came out and I put roughly 6 qt back in to arrive in the middle of the high and low dots on the dip stick. The oil after 1,000 was mostly clean but the new oil was definitely cleaner, as I had a hard time actually seeing where it was on the dip stick. It gives me good piece of mind to know it has clean oil after a proper break in.

I hope this is helpful to someone!

How did you lift the car?

 

[Totally Average]

How did you lift the car?

Used a jack then put cement paver blocks under all 4 tires.

 

[MYFASTEFE]

10mm bolts are the ones holding the section in place. i wanna say they were a total of 12.
I just goit the car up on ramps

 

[DaaS]

Thanks to Porter for these links. I just completed my 1000k-ish change. A couple notes from me:

1. I unscrewed pretty much every 10mm, 7mm and 4mm allen bolts from the back third of the car. I left the upper rear most allen heads on the rear diffuser on but I think next time I will just take the diffuser off entirely and then the rear tray, rather than letting it hang down and sliding the aluminum rear tray out. There might be 30 bolts to remove, I didn't count but it is most of them. If someone can tell which are optional, I'd be curious. There is a gray rubber insulated something on the rear left of the car that will hang down once the under tray is removed. I didn't like that this just rests on the tray - I am going to look for wear at my 5k oil change and see if there is something I can do to improve this potential wear/failure point.

2. Under the rear hatch, the lower plastic engine surround pulls straight up and out and is held in by push grommets. The upper section pulls up from the lower edge and horizontally back from the upper edge. You do not need to take any allen heads out to remove these pieces. Just pull them out.

3. The oil drain bolt crush washer is stuck on really tight. At the time I wasn't sure if it came off or not - after reading an earlier comment, apparently you have to pry it off. I tried a couple of times but didn't want to force it, so I kept it on and just used a new one on top of the old one but that's not ideal. Hopefully it's all good and doesn't weep oil.

4. The aftermarket mag oil plug recommended by porter has quite a few less threads than the OEM one. I used it anyway, and torqued it to 20 NM, but definitely didn't feel good about that. If I would have known that compromise, I probably wouldn't have bought it, but I figured if I strip it, then I would get the baffled oil pan as an excuse. Next oil change if there is debris on the mag I will keep using it, otherwise I will put the OEM one back in.

5. This was my first oil filter housing experience that came in two pieces. I didn't know there was an inner and an outer until I took the entire thing out. I am assuming the only reason for the inner removable section is to drain the oil before taking off the outer housing. I am assuming if you take the entire housing off, like I did, you don't have to mess with the inner part. It really wasn't messy, I'm surprised that is the purpose of the inner section, unless I am missing something. The Purolator Boss seemed to fit perfectly - I was paranoid about getting a knock-off filter and didn't want to drive to my dealership. That oil filter housing tool recommended above is super gucci and probably overkill - there is likely a cheaper one out there but I was too lazy to search.

5. Roughly 6 qt came out and I put roughly 6 qt back in to arrive in the middle of the high and low dots on the dip stick. The oil after 1,000 was mostly clean but the new oil was definitely cleaner, as I had a hard time actually seeing where it was on the dip stick. It gives me good piece of mind to know it has clean oil after a proper break in.

I hope this is helpful to someone!

You mentioned a “gray rubber insulated something”. I believe you can see it in this picture.

 

[Totally Average]

10mm bolts are the ones holding the section in place. i wanna say they were a total of 12.
I just goit the car up on ramps

The 7mm might be optional, they hold two smaller plates to the main structure - but there is overlap w the rear diffuser-be great if those were optional!

You mentioned a “gray rubber insulated something”. I believe you can see it in this picture.
View attachment 42741

Yeah, exactly. It hangs down and rests directly on the bottom aero cover. I’ll zip tie some rubber or foam padding at the low point next oil change. Curious on what others think if it’s a non issue or something to deal w.

 

[Stiffarm]

Thanks to Porter for these links. I just completed my 1000k-ish change. A couple notes from me:

1. I unscrewed pretty much every 10mm, 7mm and 4mm allen bolts from the back third of the car. I left the upper rear most allen heads on the rear diffuser on but I think next time I will just take the diffuser off entirely and then the rear tray, rather than letting it hang down and sliding the aluminum rear tray out. There might be 30 bolts to remove, I didn't count but it is most of them. If someone can tell which are optional, I'd be curious. There is a gray rubber insulated something on the rear left of the car that will hang down once the under tray is removed. I didn't like that this just rests on the tray - I am going to look for wear at my 5k oil change and see if there is something I can do to improve this potential wear/failure point.

2. Under the rear hatch, the lower plastic engine surround pulls straight up and out and is held in by push grommets. The upper section pulls up from the lower edge and horizontally back from the upper edge. You do not need to take any allen heads out to remove these pieces. Just pull them out.

3. The oil drain bolt crush washer is stuck on really tight. At the time I wasn't sure if it came off or not - after reading an earlier comment, apparently you have to pry it off. I tried a couple of times but didn't want to force it, so I kept it on and just used a new one on top of the old one but that's not ideal. Hopefully it's all good and doesn't weep oil.

4. The aftermarket mag oil plug recommended by porter has quite a few less threads than the OEM one. I used it anyway, and torqued it to 20 NM, but definitely didn't feel good about that. If I would have known that compromise, I probably wouldn't have bought it, but I figured if I strip it, then I would get the baffled oil pan as an excuse. Next oil change if there is debris on the mag I will keep using it, otherwise I will put the OEM one back in.

5. This was my first oil filter housing experience that came in two pieces. I didn't know there was an inner and an outer until I took the entire thing out. I am assuming the only reason for the inner removable section is to drain the oil before taking off the outer housing. I am assuming if you take the entire housing off, like I did, you don't have to mess with the inner part. It really wasn't messy, I'm surprised that is the purpose of the inner section, unless I am missing something. The Purolator Boss seemed to fit perfectly - I was paranoid about getting a knock-off filter and didn't want to drive to my dealership. That oil filter housing tool recommended above is super gucci and probably overkill - there is likely a cheaper one out there but I was too lazy to search.

5. Roughly 6 qt came out and I put roughly 6 qt back in to arrive in the middle of the high and low dots on the dip stick. The oil after 1,000 was mostly clean but the new oil was definitely cleaner, as I had a hard time actually seeing where it was on the dip stick. It gives me good piece of mind to know it has clean oil after a proper break in.

I hope this is helpful to someone!

Your post was a very helpful oil change procedure, thanks.

 

[Jjrho]

Great write ups on oil change... the best 👌

Few Qs...
1. Why do we need to worry about oil filter drain? It's vertical... just take the whole thing down n put the new filter element n put it back on ??

2. Why is there a block in the oil cap ? Is that a Toyota thing? I've never seen any car with that... can we pull it off ?, I mean, even with the curved funnel, does the oil NOT get impeded n flow out , ? I'd hate if that happens...

3. I think I read correctly that the blur tip funnel you screw into the filler cap does NOT work due to the angle there ?


Please advise.

James R
1st Ed hethel Yellow
So.Calif


Now if any one has as good a thread on taking the 3rd cat out n or adding a Y cut out valve bfr the muffler, I d appreciate it.

 

[Aero]

I'm getting close to my break in oil change and also have never done a 2 piece Toyota filter before. There are lot of 3.5v6 youtube videos. Here is a short generic one that shows the basics. I would clean things better than shown and add a bit of oil to the housing before reinstalling. Reply if anyone notices any differences with Emira.
filter housing explained video.

 

[silent cilantro]

1. Why do we need to worry about oil filter drain? It's vertical... just take the whole thing down n put the new filter element n put it back on ??

It is not necessary but it makes for a clearner job. Less or no oil will spill from the oil filter housing if you drain it before removing it.

2. Why is there a block in the oil cap ? Is that a Toyota thing? I've never seen any car with that... can we pull it off ?, I mean, even with the curved funnel, does the oil NOT get impeded n flow out , ? I'd hate if that happens...

It is probably there to prevent objects from falling into the engine. It didn't impede flow of oil for me nor did it make it spill. I wouldn't remove it, if you are worried about it, pour slower.

3. I think I read correctly that the blur tip funnel you screw into the filler cap does NOT work due to the angle there ?

Correct

 

[Jjrho]

Re Q2...I heard from a Toyota mechanic that the grate over the fill hole is there for better flow of oil over the cams....it allows gravity flow of oil over the valve cams when first starting the car... it's a Toyota thing....