Tools you need for oil change on a 2013-2018 Toyota RAV4

On the XA40 RAV4 this is an easy oil change with one wrinkle: Toyota went to a plastic cartridge filter housing on the bottom front of the 2.5L engine instead of a spin-on canister. That means you need a 64.5 mm 14-flute cap wrench and the little drain tube tool that empties the filter cavity before you crack the cap open. Everything else is normal — 14 mm drain plug, 10 mm bolts on the splash shield, about 4.6 quarts of 0W-20.

What people get wrong is skipping the housing drain plug and just spinning the cap off. Hot oil then runs down the subframe, steering rack and exhaust, and you get burnt-oil smell for a week while chasing a leak that isn't there. The other common mistake is overtightening the plastic cap with a breaker bar — 18 ft-lb is all it takes, and a cracked cap means a new housing.

Complete tool and parts list

Differences within the 2013-2018 generation

All US-market 2013-2018 RAV4s use the 2.5L 2AR-FE, and the 2016-2018 RAV4 Hybrid's 2AR-FXE is identical for this job: 14 mm drain plug, 64.5 mm 14-flute cartridge cap. Overseas XA40s with the 2.0L 3ZR-FE or the 2.0/2.2 D-4D diesels also use a cartridge housing but the cap size and capacity differ, so check the filter box for the wrench size on those.

Torque specs

How the job goes

1. Run the engine 3-5 minutes so the oil flows, then shut it off and let it sit a few minutes. Warm, not scalding, is what you want.
2. Chock the rear wheels, lift the front of the vehicle at the factory pinch-weld points and set it on jack stands, or drive it onto ramps.
3. Remove the plastic engine under-cover: 10 mm bolts plus a few push-pin clips. Some trims have a small hinged access door — if yours does, you only need to open that.
4. Open the hood and remove the oil filler cap to help the pan drain.
5. Slide the drain pan under the 14 mm drain plug, remove the plug and let the oil drain fully. Fish the old crush washer off the plug if it stayed on.
6. Reposition the pan under the oil filter housing at the front/bottom of the engine. Remove the small drain plug in the center of the filter cap using the drain tool, then push the drain tube into the port so the filter cavity empties into your pan.
7. Once dripping stops, pull the tube out and unscrew the filter cap with the 64.5 mm 14-flute wrench. Lower it carefully; a little oil still remains.
8. Pull the old cartridge out of the cap, remove the large housing O-ring and the small O-ring from the drain plug, and wipe the cap and housing clean.
9. Fit the new large O-ring and small O-ring from the filter kit, lightly oil both, and snap the new cartridge into the cap.
10. Install the drain plug into the cap and torque to 9 ft-lb (13 Nm), then thread the cap into the housing by hand and torque to 18 ft-lb (25 Nm). Do not use an impact or a breaker bar — the cap is plastic.
11. Install a new 14 mm crush washer on the pan drain plug, thread it in by hand and torque to 30 ft-lb (40 Nm).
12. Wipe and spray down the subframe and crossmember where oil ran, reinstall the under-cover, and lower the vehicle.
13. Add about 4.3 quarts of 0W-20, run the engine 30 seconds, shut it off, wait 5 minutes and check the dipstick. Top up to the upper mark — total is roughly 4.6 quarts.
14. Check under the car for leaks at both the pan plug and the filter cap, then reset the maintenance reminder: with the odometer showing trip A, turn the ignition off, hold the trip meter reset button and turn the ignition to ON, keep holding until the display shows 000000 (on 2016+ use the multi-information display menu).

Watch out

The 14 mm pan drain plug, 64.5 mm 14-flute filter cap and 10 mm under-cover bolts are correct for all US XA40 RAV4s with the 2AR-FE; confirm your exact oil capacity and reminder-reset procedure in the owner's manual for your model year.

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