Toyota Corolla DIY

Before I start I wanted to say that I think the oil change can be done with the S/C on the car. By removing the belt, go through all the same steps. Just open the nose slowly and be ready to soak up the 120ml of oil that comes out. It’s not allot of oil and a little cleaning would save allot of time compared to complete s/c removal. Someone else will have to confirm that.

I made this DIY using the Magnuson oil change kit. But hopefully we can find a equal quality replacement oil. Or buy just the oil from Magnuson without the rest of the kit for just an oil change without the rest of the spendy kit. I didn’t ask them for the price of just the oil so maybe someone else can fill in that blank.

Tools needed:
Ratchet
10mm socket
A short extension (might need a couple long extensions if your trying to leave the S/C on the car)
3/16 Allen wrench
Some towels or rags to clean up
And the kit of course, or just the oil if your skipping the whole kit

You can get the kit from Magnuson by calling (805) 642-8833. When the operator answers just tell her you want to get an oil replacement kit and she’ll send you to the right people. I got a voice mail at first, but just push “0″ to transfer back to the operator and tell her to give you another sales rep if you get the same. It cost $50 shipped and what you get is the replacement oil (120ml of synthetic supercharger oil). A replacement coupler, replacement fill cap and some loctite gasket sealant.

Remove the (8) 10mm bolts from the nose cone.

The nose shouldn’t separate right away. I took mine over a trash can and slapped the nose up a little bit to break the seal and let the oil drain out. It shouldn’t come apart right away because the coupler has to be worked off. If still mounted on your car I think you can do the same (minus the trash can part) just be ready to clean up the oil that comes out.

After drained, finish separating the nose from the body by carefully wobbling the nose back and forth until it separates. It needs to come off of the guide sleeves that it sit on each side and the coupler connecting the body to the nose.

After separated wipe out as much residue as you can. I asked a tech guy at Magnuson if there was anything I could use to spray in to clean out the residue and he suggested not to. To just wipe it out as best you can. I used some Q-tips for the harder to reach areas.

Remove the old coupler and replace it with the new one. Put the new one back on the way the old one came off. Refer back to the pic if you didn’t notice which way when you removed it. It will take a little prying to take the old coupler off. I used a flat tip screwdriver and carefully pried a little at a time in the same spot while rotating the coupler until I could remove it. Clean both mating surfaces of sealant residue.

Apply a thin layer of the Loctite gasket sealant around one of the mating surfaces. Be sure to wipe off any excess that is on the inside area where the oil will be.

Carefully line up the holes from the coupler and wiggle the two pieces back together. The tech guy said I didn’t need any loctite on the bolts but it seemed like there was some residue on the bolts from the original assembly so I used some of the “removable” Loctite. Start the bolts and snug them up. Tighten them up in a star pattern. The torque for them is 20 ft/lbs. I didn’t have a torque wrench handy so I tightened them to about what I thought they were when I removed them.

Remove the old fill cap, pour in the new oil. They should give you a pre-measured amount of oil. But if they give you more just fill it until it starts to come out of the fill hole and it’s good.

Replace the new fill cap and your done. The tech guy said for the fill cap to just snug it up, no torque spec.

Personally I think to do this every 30,000 miles is a bit much with the coupler and all. But I will plan to change the oil about every 30K. Probably will go to the Pontiac/GM dealership like someone else suggested and get some synth S/C oil and just do the oil. Will need to probably get a syringe with a flexible tube to get all the oil out. And then replace the oil without having to remove the nose cone. But I will do the coupler at 60K. The one I just took off still looks new, but since I bought the S/C used I wanted to be safe and change it out. But seeing how it looks now I’ll probably save it for my 60K service.

Pretty easy DIY, and buys some peace of mind

MaxxHavoc