Picked her up in good condition...3.31 gears, E40D. Came with original window sticker, owners manual. Everything seems stock. 180kmiles though. Just picked up a Haynes repair manual. Tried to change the engine oil to synthetic tonight but engine oil drain plug was not cooperating and is stuck...great! Any suggestions? Thx.

Oh she will be my DD hopefully! Will try to get her a nice tuneup and clean her up a bit.


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What a great looking truck! I wouldn't worry about that mileage at all. It looks like you and Doc Brown just ran into the side of a jcpenny at 88mph and brought it here from the past.

With that setup she shouldn't do too badly on mpg as a DD. What kind of mileage was your previous ride getting?

For the stuff specific to the truck, not just the body, you may have better luck in the 87-96 body style forum. But good knowledge all around on FTE.

Is the drain bolt seized or it spins but will not loosen? And synthetic is good assuming the engine is as well kept as the exterior. If you get any leaks or noise there's some simpler, cheaper options that're popular here.

 

Thanks. I had a 01 highlander that was getting 20 on the freeway. Currently this inline6 is avg 15-16. So definitely she needs some tuning.

The drain bolt doesn't even turn. I got the correct socket on there...22mm. Can't figure out what's the best way to get it off without damaging the oil pan. Any suggestions? Take it to a mechanic?

 

Not my area of expertise. My first car (when I was 13) had a pan bolt that jiffy dud had cross threaded with an impact. Would spin without moving.

Yep, a single cab 300 (2wd?) should be able to play ball with that. What made you make the change? Plugs, wires, filters, o2, check mix and vacuum, should have her purring for another 20 years.

 

I really wanted a truck to carry my dogs in. I have a French mastiff and he drools like crazy. Will look nicer once I beef her up. And i couldnt beef up the highlander. Highlander sure is bulletproof though. Has 170k miles and running strong.

 

Nice truck! I want to throw my $.02 because I've had my '95 for 8 years now and have grown to love the I-6 motor.

-First, take the synthetic back to the store. You need Shell's Rotella 15w-40, Chevron's Delo 15w-40, or Mobil's Delvac 15w-40, and a quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer is great if the motor is knocking already. Don't let that scare if it is knocking- mine knocks like a madman when cold then shuts up- it has since about 200k and now at 293k it's still getting almost 18 MPG in mostly city miles here in Hawaii.

The reason you want the diesel truck oil is for the anti-wear additives that aren't in any other off-the-shelf oils. Our I-6's use flat-tappet cams as opposed to modern full roller valvetrains, which is fine except that the lifter/cam interface is a serious friction point that modern oils without additives cannot properly protect you from. The cam will slowly get wiped and performance will steadily drop.

I first heard about this in Car Craft back in '06. The specific additive you are looking for is called ZDDP, and it should be in any oil rated CI-4 or greater. Today's Rotella and the others above are CJ-4 plus, which is what you want. Synthetic oil, despite it's superior fluid properties, cannot offset the anti-wear advantage of CJ-4 lubricants.

-Regarding your frozen drain bolt- just get a big ratchet and go for it. There's no magic to it, if you got a cross-threaded impact shot then you might be in for a new pan anyways so just let 'er rip. It'll probably come loose though, it's just far too tight for any reasonable person to have done it. If the threads are jacked up, any parts store has a replacement bolt and go ahead and get the nylon washer that goes under it- should set you back about $3, but I already saved you $20 over that synthetic oil

Cheers and welcome to the I6 family! -TK

 

Take a hammer and strike the head of the bolt just like you are trying to nail it in. Often times, the "blow" will free up any rust or crud in the threads. Use a breaker bar and see if it will back out. Good luck!