OK, my last oil change at the dealer for 10k miles cost me over $100 (just the oil change). That's CRAZY!! I only paid it because I was too lazy to do it myself.

Figured it's time to step up and do it myself. Here is the equipment I used to change the oil in my 2006 IS 350.

Oil Filter (Element Kit - Toyota Part# 04152-YZZA3)
Oil Filter "F" Cap Wrench (from AutoZone) cost about $3
Oil pan/bucket (holds 10 qts)
Funnel
10mm socket (to remove pan under oil filter housing)
14mm socket (to remove oil plug)
2 x 5qt jugs of Mobil 1 (10W-30)

Note: I use the 10W-30 because I'm in the south and have found that viscosity to work better here. Others may disagree, but to late now, the oil is in the car. I'm sure you'll use the oil of your choice.


I live on over 4 acres and have a long gravel driveway. I have no place to change oil but on the gravel or grass. I already have a set of steel ramps to use for changing the oil in the Suburban(wifes tank) but they are too steep to use for the Lexus, even when used with additional wood step that takes you half way up ramp. So I bought the Rhino Ramps($30) and they worked. Only problem I had was them slipping on the gravel when the car drives up them.

For you gravel driveway owners, I fixed that by drilling two holes in a 8ft 4x4(from old wooden swing set) then using 8" nails to spike the board in the ground.


Now the car is safely on the ramps.


I used the 10mm socket to remove the oil filter pan. You can see the 3 red circles around the bolts that need to be removed. I've already removed the 2 towards the front of the car. This pan is not far from the front of the car, only about 18" or so from the front bumper. The oil plug I've circled in blue to give you some relation as to where it's at.


DRAINING THE OIL:

I moved down to the oil drain. Now I'm over 6ft, and weight in at 255lbs. Those Rhino ramps didn't lift it far enough for me to wiggle myself on the gravel to get to the oil drain with two hands. I basically laid under the right front bumper and used my left hand to remove the oil plug.


TIP: When you remove the oil plug, I put the drain pan about 4 inches to the left of the hole because I figured it would come gushing out a few inches to start with. OK, I misjudged. It came out about 8-10 inches with alot of force. It missed the drain pan and got all down my arm(and watch). Go ahead, laugh. I did. So... don't make the same mistake I did and be quick to move the drain pan if you need to.

Also, forgot to mention I removed the oil filter cap on top of engine before I did this.

OK, after the oil was at a dripping state from being drained, I cleaned the oil plug and put it back on. I don't have a torque wrench, so I used my best guess as to how tight it was when I removed it. I've heard from other posts 30 ft/lbs of torque.

CHANGING OIL FILTER:

After the oil filter pan was removed with 10mm socket(see pic with red colored circles), I used the oil filter wrench to remove the oil filter housing. I had my oil filter and gasket ring ready.


You can read on the oil filter housing the direction to turn it to open and close the housing. Standard , left is loose, right is tight method works. It did take some muscle to break the seal loose but after that it twisted right off. I let alot of the oil drain first by just cracking it a little since I was sure how much was going to come out.


Once the oil filter housing was fully loose, I just set it in the drain in the pan. Took picture of housing removed also.



Here is picture of new filter in housing with new o-ring seal.


I put the oil filter housing(with new filter) back in housing and screwed back on. Interesting thing when you put it back on, it doesn't get tighter and tighter until you can't tighten anymore. OK, it does do that a little, but then all of a sudden stops. You can use the oil filter wrench to tighten a little, but it doesn't go far. I've heard from other posts 18 ft/lbs of torque.

Once the filter was back on, I filled the engine with 6.7 qts of oil, closed the cap, and started it up. I let it run a bit, check for leaks, and checked engine oil level.

I put the oil filter pan back on with the 10mm socket and rolled it off the ramps. Put everything away and took a shower.

Lessons learned for next time:

1. Be better prepared for oil draining out. It shot out way further than I expected.

2. Don't wear watch next time. It got covered in oil. It's still rubbing off oil on my arm after wearing it a few days. Yes, I cleaned it a dozen times. At least I don't have to oil it later. OK, bad joke.

3. I probably won't use oil fiter wrench again. It fit, but seemed to be a bit loose for my liking. It got stuck a few times on the housing and had to use a screwdriver to help get it off. I'd used it in a pinch again, but will probably buy the toyota filter wrench(Toyota part #09228-06501) for next time. I think it would be hard to get a strap wrench up there and use it affectly without banging up your fingers.

4. Try to build my own ramps from stepped 2x10's. This would deal with my gravel problem.

I do want to give thanks to all those guys that changed their oil themselves and posted pics. I would not have tried this myself if I hadn't read their posts.

Good Luck.

 

Nice writeup. Couple things to suggest. Don't pay the $30+shipping for the Toyota special filter wrench. It gets stuck just like the cheap on you used. I had quite a time getting it off the housing cover and had to pry it off with a hammer . Also, I have those Rhino ramps also. I would suggest getting a couple pieces of plywood (2x2) to put under them to distribute the weight of those ramp edges. It always makes me nervous seeing a car lifted on anything but a level concrete surface. Good job.

 

Well done -- thanks for the write-up.

 

awesome

 

When the filter wrench sticks I usually tap it with a ball peen hammer (very lightly) and it comes right off. YMMV.

 

Thanks for the write up!

 

Thanks. Looks like I might just keep using that same filter wrench if I'm going to have the same problem with the Toyota filter wrench. For anyone interested here is a closeup or the "F" cap wrench from AutoZone.

 

Very nice write up with pics. This should go in the sticky section as it is better than the current one. At least merge the two together.

 

did you have to re-lube the oil filter housing before screwing it back on?

 

The only thing I lubed up was the new rubber ring around the housing after I slipped it on.

 

Missing Images??? Yes, the power outages we are having where I'm at has knocked out a server that has the images on it.

As soon as I get home, I'll move those images to a production server with UPS so you shouldn't see this problem again.

No, I didn't attach the photos to the forum. I've had trouble in the past making that work.

 

OK, images are back online and moved to production server, so you should see them now.

 

Wow good write up, but way to much work for me to do.

 

good write up!... i might as well do my own oil changes from now on. I can't believe ur dealer charges $100+ just for an oil change.. thats outrageous!

 

The hammer was hilarious
Strap wrench dosn't scratch anything, but you can use anything you want.
I like the Valvoline Synpower, car seems to like it. may stretch oil change intervals to 5k. Its just so easy to change, and $4.50 a filter, no mess.