Oil drain plug gasket question

[schleppy]

I just did my first oil change on the Yaris. It has got to be the easiest oil change I've ever done, and I've done a lot of em.

My only question is about the oil drain gasket. I tried (gently) to scrape it off, but it didn't want to budge. It looked like a metal gasket with a blue papery coating on it. It felt very permanent. Needless to say I left it on and installed my new magnetic drain plug. It felt like it made a tight seal and so far no leakage.

Am I crazy? Should I have got out a razor and tried to get the old gasket off? Did they switch to a "permanent" gasket in 09?

Thanks all!

[jambo101]

Its called a crush washer and its supposed to come off.

[YarisSedan]

Yeah sometimes they are hard to remove. If you left it on your okay for 1 or 2 oil changes. Then you may develop a very slight oil leak if you dont replace it with a new gasket. I just buy a bunch of cheapo paper gaskets. And replace them every time.

BTW thumbs up on the drain plug. Whenever i do a oil change i always see a little bit of metal debri on the magnet. Will greatly extend the life of your oil pump. I also use a giant neoprene magnet on the bottom of my oil filter. That way i just toss the filter at the oil change and stick the magnet on the new one. For just a couple of bucks i figure its worth the investment if it extends the life of your motor.

[schleppy]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Its called a crush washer and its supposed to come off.

I'm well aware of what it's called, I've just never seen one with a colored felt-like material on it. Usually it's just an obviously (mildly)smushed metal washer. This one was thick and didn't look compressed at all.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, I just wanted to double check with the collective mind on here :D

Thanks all!

[YarisSedan]

Trick i use is take a screwdriver and put it at a angle where the washer is and tap it gently and it flys off.

[schleppy]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

Trick i use is take a screwdriver and put it at a angle where the washer is and tap it gently and it flys off.

I'll give it a go at the next change. Thanks!

[AlexNet0]

ive never seen this before, Ive done most of my own oil changes.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by schleppy

I'm well aware of what it's called, I've just never seen one with a colored felt-like material on it. Usually it's just an obviously (mildly)smushed metal washer. This one was thick and didn't look compressed at all.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, I just wanted to double check with the collective mind on here :D

Thanks all!

You could ask your dealer about it.