How to Change the Oil and Filter on a 2007-2021 Tundra 5.7L V8 (3UR-FE)
Quick safety check before you begin. Required: safety glasses, gloves, and the truck level on a lift or on jack stands with the wheels chocked. Recommended: a drain pan, a torque wrench, and the filter cap wrench. Toyota's own caution on this job: used engine oil removes the natural oils from skin and contains contaminants, so wear gloves that oil cannot penetrate and wash with soap and water, never solvents. Toyota also issued a bulletin covering this engine's plastic oil filter cap assembly: use the SST and a torque wrench, or the cap and the tool can be damaged.
What you need
Parts
Tools
- Oil filter cap wrench (Toyota SST 09228-06501)
- Torque wrench: 40 N·m, 29 N·m, 25 N·m, 13 N·m and 5.4 N·m
- Drain pan and a hose with a 15 mm (0.591 in.) inside diameter for the filter drain
- Lift, or jack stands and wheel chocks; the truck must be level
- Safety glasses and gloves
The numbers
| Oil grade, 2007 manual | API SL Energy-Conserving or ILSAC multigrade engine oil, SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20 — either grade was acceptable |
|---|---|
| Oil grade, later manual | ILSAC GF-5 multigrade engine oil, 0W-20. If SAE 0W-20 is not available, SAE 5W-20 may be used, but it must be replaced with SAE 0W-20 at the next oil change. |
| Capacity with filter, 2007 | 7.4 US qt (7.0 L); without filter 6.9 US qt (6.6 L) |
| Capacity with filter, build band 08/2015–08/2017 | 7.9 US qt (7.5 L); without filter 7.5 US qt (7.1 L) |
| Capacity with filter, build band 08/2017–08/2019 | 8.5 US qt (8.0 L); without filter 7.9 US qt (7.5 L) |
| Dry fill, later manual | 9.8 US qt (9.3 L) |
| Oil pan drain plug | 40 N·m (30 ft-lb), new gasket |
| Oil filter cap | 25 N·m (18 ft-lb), SST 09228-06501 |
| Oil filter drain plug | 13 N·m (9 ft-lb) |
| No. 1 engine under cover | 3 screws and 5 bolts — bolt 29 N·m (21 ft-lb), screw 5.4 N·m (48 in-lb) |
| Level check | Warm the engine, stop it, wait 5 minutes, then read the dipstick between the low and full marks |
| Interval, 2007 manual | 5,000 miles for unpaved or dusty roads, towing, or repeated trips of less than five miles below freezing; 7,500 miles otherwise. The 5,000-mile schedule adds: or every 6 months, whichever comes first. |
Step by step
Drain the pan
Park level, on a lift or on jack stands with the wheels chocked. Remove the oil filler cap first so the pan drains freely. Remove the oil pan drain plug and gasket and drain the engine oil into a container. Install a NEW gasket and the oil pan drain plug, torqued to 40 N·m (30 ft-lb).
Open the No. 1 engine under cover
Remove the 3 screws and 5 bolts, then unhook the engine under cover from the vehicle body. That is what gets you to the oil filter cap on the front of the engine.
Drain the filter housing, the step most people skip
The cartridge filter housing holds oil of its own. Connect a hose with a 15 mm (0.591 in.) inside diameter to the pipe, remove the oil filter drain plug, and install the pipe to the oil filter cap so the housing empties into your pan. If the O-ring comes away with the drain plug, install it together with the pipe. Once the housing has drained, disconnect the pipe and remove the O-ring.
Change the element
Use SST 09228-06501 to remove the oil filter cap. Do not remove the oil filter bracket clip. Take the element and O-ring out of the cap, removing the cap O-ring by hand and not with a tool, which protects the groove. Clean the inside of the cap, its threads and its O-ring groove.
Fit the new element and both O-rings
Oil a new O-ring lightly and fit it to the cap. Set the new element in the cap. Wipe the engine's sealing face clean, oil the O-ring again, and start the cap by hand. Tighten the cap with the SST to 25 N·m (18 ft-lb) — the cap is plastic, and Toyota's bulletin on it calls for the SST and a torque wrench. Oil a new drain plug O-ring, fit it to the cap, and install the filter drain plug at 13 N·m (9 ft-lb). On both, make sure the O-ring is not caught between surrounding parts.
Fill to your truck's number, then set the level
Find the build date on the certification label in the driver's door jamb and use the capacity for that band: 7.4 US qt for a 2007, 7.9 for Toyota's band beginning 08/2015, 8.5 for the band beginning 08/2017. Pour a little short of it, then check. Toyota's method: warm the engine, stop it, wait 5 minutes, and read the dipstick. The level belongs between the low and full marks, and if it is low, check for leakage and add oil up to the full level mark. Toyota's instruction is explicit: do not fill engine oil above the full level mark.
Check for leaks and close up
Start the engine and make sure there are no oil leaks from the area that was worked on. Hook the engine under cover back to the body and install the 3 screws and 5 bolts: bolts at 29 N·m (21 ft-lb), screws at 5.4 N·m (48 in-lb). Reset the oil replacement reminder light if the truck has one.
Rather we did it?
We do fluid and filter service at scheduled events across Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, and we stock the oil and the filter. If you would rather hand it to someone, book a slot.
Find your exact tune →Questions owners ask
SAE 0W-20. The 2007 manual specifies API SL Energy-Conserving or ILSAC multigrade engine oil in SAE 5W-20 or 0W-20 — either grade was acceptable then. Toyota's later manual for the same engine specifies ILSAC GF-5 multigrade 0W-20 and demotes 5W-20 to a stop-gap: if SAE 0W-20 is not available, SAE 5W-20 oil may be used, but it must be replaced with SAE 0W-20 at the next oil change. Nothing in the 2007 manual calls for a heavier grade than the later one.
It depends on when the truck was built, which is why one number copied off the internet is wrong for a lot of trucks. With the filter: 7.4 US quarts (7.0 L) for a 2007, 7.9 US quarts (7.5 L) for Toyota's build band beginning 08/2015, and 8.5 US quarts (8.0 L) for the band beginning 08/2017. Without the filter those are 6.9, 7.5 and 7.9 US quarts. Dry fill in the later manual is 9.8 US quarts (9.3 L).
Read the build date on the certification label in the driver's door jamb, then use the band it falls in. Toyota's later manual is written in build-date bands — 08/2015 to 08/2017, and 08/2017 to 08/2019 — not model years, so the month the truck left the line is what decides it. Do not apply the 8.5-quart figure to a truck built before 08/2017.
The 2007 manual prints a real rule: every 5,000 miles if you primarily drive on unpaved or dusty roads, tow a trailer or use a car-top carrier, or make repeated trips of less than five miles in temperatures below freezing; every 7,500 miles otherwise. Its 5,000-mile schedule adds "or every 6 months, whichever comes first" for the engine oil and the oil filter. The later manual for this truck prints no maintenance schedule at all and defers to the Scheduled Maintenance Guide or Owner's Manual Supplement, so for a later truck use your own book rather than a blanket figure.
Two reasons. The cartridge oil filter housing holds oil and has its own drain plug, and Toyota's procedure empties it through a hose before the cap comes off — skip that and fresh oil goes in on top of old. And the capacity is not constant across the run, so a figure taken from the wrong year is off by up to a quart. Pour short of your number, then set the level on the dipstick.
40 N·m, which is 30 ft-lb, with a new gasket every time. The oil filter cap is 25 N·m (18 ft-lb) using SST 09228-06501, and the filter housing's own drain plug is 13 N·m — 9 ft-lb, not 10. The under cover goes back on at 29 N·m (21 ft-lb) for the bolts and 5.4 N·m (48 in-lb) for the screws.
More for the 2007–2021 Tundra 5.7L
Grade, capacities, torques and procedure are quoted from Toyota repair manuals for the 5.7L V8 (3UR-FE) Tundra: the 2007 manual, and the later manual whose lubricant and replacement pages carry Toyota's own build-date bands 08/2015–08/2017 and 08/2017–08/2019. Model years outside those — 2008 through mid-2015, and builds after 08/2019 — are not separately verified here, so confirm the capacity for your own build date before you fill. Torque to spec. AMSOIL's coverage of this application is AMSOIL's published claim. Tuned Yota is an independent AMSOIL dealer; parts links are our store.