greenchile

My '08 that I bought in December is coming up on 35k and needs an oil change. I do most of the maintenance on my cars myself because I have the skills (my father is a retired Toyota Master Tech and I'm a Mechanical Engineer) and I don't like paying the shops lots of labor to do things I can do myself. But I have never changed the oil on the ES350. I'm looking for tips, suggestions, pointers from those that change their oil themselves for doing it on this car. I've been trying to find a Factory Service Manual on Ebay since I bought the car but so far have only gotten the electrical wiring diagram book.

I've discovered that the car uses an oil filter element in a housing, rather than a spin-on filter. Where did you get the special tool required to remove the housing? I have a lot of tools including an expanding oil filter tool that may already work but I'm not against buying more tools . And what parts do you replace with the filter change (ie, filter, gaskets, O-rings).

My plan is to use Castrol Syntec in the weight recommended by the owners manual. I live in Albuquerque, NM so the car rarely sees temps above 100 or below 15 F and it lives in the garage during the night and weekends anyway.

Also, any recommendations for a fuel system/injector cleaner to run through it? The receipts I have from the previous owner show the dealer put a can of BG 44K in it each time he got the 5k service (for $35!)

- Marc

MikePA

Searching on Amazon will answer your questions.

There's also an Oil Change DIY thread in this forum.

mlacomb

I change my own oil. My CPO warranty isn't invalidated by it; they require you to keep receipts in case there's a potential for you doing your own work damaging something covered.

That being said, a few things I would note:
I don't have the toyota tool. For my first few oil changes, I used a ratchet end and it would unspin the whole filter - bypassing the need to drain it. It's a bit messier, but in the end a simpler process for me. When I had my dealership change the oil, they tightened the ever loving hell out of the filter housing - so when I went to do my same process, the oil filter drain plug came out - and no amount of wrestling with it would remove the housing - until I used a very large pipe wrench to get enough torque to get the housing away from the mount.

I use synthetic 5w30 now - was on dino for the first few changes. This quiets the cold knock on my 08 for the first 5-10 starts, but soon enough it's back in action. Dealership says there's nothing wrong, so I don't worry about that.

Synth changes at my Lexus dealership are $100. After the last go-round, I save about $50 doing it myself - and my time is easily worth 60 an hour, which if you're comfortable with doing your own oil changes that's about how long it should take. Sure, the oil filter casing etc is messy, but wear nitrile gloves and it's a snap.

To go through your points and address it:
1. The replacement filters - regardless of brand I've seen - all come with two O rings. One for the filter housing and one for the drain. If you're lucky enough to get the housing off without having to do the drain, then you only use / replace the larger O ring. It's pretty obvious how to change once you get the housing off.
2. Other than the goofiness of a filter housing, the change procedure is the same. 6.1 quarts of oil (I use around 6 for a full change) and a filter. Remove drain bolt, filter housing, clean housing, replace filter and O ring, place filter housing back on, replace drain bolt and fill.
3. I've seen no difference between the cheapest full synthetic and Mobil One. In fact, with the drain intervals of our cars, we probably change it a bit too soon - given newer variants of our cars with similar engines get 10k miles.

A quick search on Amazon shows this one; it's not the "official" but it looks to be exactly what will fit if you want to have the exact tool to spin the filter off:

Like I said before; I don't see the ultimate need for this as long as the filter housing isn't cranked on. Since it has an O ring it shouldn't need to be super tight against the housing; you'll see what I mean the first time you take it off.

jagtoes

You can buy the filter housing wrench at any auto store for a couple of dollars. The filters are Toyota so either get them at the dealers or buy aftermarket at a parts store. I use a Vacuum oil extractor so no drain plug to work with. I was disappointing with the cartridge insert filter and also where it is located on the engine. Even though I have a lift it is a PITA pulling the filter if the drain fitting doesn't come off. If it does then no problem inserting the plastic tube fitting (comes with Toyota filter) and drain the filter housing. I change every 5000 miles and use dino oil.

Al575

I'd recommend using the tool AST TOY640. That's what I use everyday (I'm a Lexus technician).

liquidz

I second that.

I bought and used the generic or universal filter housing tools (I think it was 64/67 mm, don't quote me on it but it was made for 2 sizes) and it was nothing but hassle. The first one was something from HarbourFright and it broke. The second one didn't grip well on the Lexus housing because of the design .The big size was on the open end with the smaller size (required for your Lexus) was in deeper. Since the opened end was too thick, the tool's small end didn't get good grip.

Finally got the AST TOY640 and no more headaches or hassle and oil changes are a breeze now.

oldgrump

As well as buying/using the Assenmacher Tools AST TOY640 for the filter bowl do yourself a favor and buy the AST OFTOY38 oil fill funnel. It makes refilling the crankcase completely mess free. It's pricey (about 30 bucks here in Canada) but getting the oil into these engines is a PITA because of a camshaft cover baffle (timing sprocket) that partially blocks the oil fill opening.
AND......a reminder......when you are under the hood, check the coolant level!

GCL

iTrader: (1)

I just recently changed the oil and filter for the first time.

It's simple. I used regular oil, since I plan on changing the oil every 5,000 miles anyways - no sense in using synthetic oil at those change intervals.

I used OEM filters and the AST TOY640 tool. I also replaced the drain pan bolt's washer, as recommended.

The next time, I'll likely skip using the oil filter drain spout. It's a bit of of pain to push the spout in and have it stay in place. I had to manually hold it in, while oil dripped all over my hand. It's also another step to replace the o-ring. The next time, I'll just spin off the filter slightly and let the oil drain out - like I had been doing on all my other cars.

I don't know how much mess is really saved by using the drain spout. And I really doubt the dealer techs would spend the extra time to use the drain spout and replace it's o-ring. Mine was torqued really high and looked like it had never been removed previously.

oldgrump

I also doubt that most techs bother using the filter drain......I witness marked the drain plug on mine and the dealer on the two oil changes that they did never disturbed/used the drain.

ThumperPup

Something I always say to people when they do there own oil changes not to discourage them from doing it because it's what they enjoy but if you have a warranty on you vehicle don't do it without checking
With your warranty contract company first to find out what documentation they will require if you engine or something goes bad because one thing they will most likely require is proof of regular oil changes if they ever have to cover something like the engine so make sure they are even ok with you doing your own and if so make sure you know what docs they want to see from you if you ever need to show them

Now my next part on this I used to do mine on my own but with the time I have or lack of time I have it's cheaper to go and pay 20 to 35 dollars for someone els to do it

mlacomb

Yeah; I have a friend with an RX330 - his warranty explicitly states to go to the dealership for all changes for it to be valid. My CPO + extended just states to keep records. It's almost more of a pain to keep records, but from what I can tell - that day will never come given the track record of these cars/engines.

greenchile

That's what I was thinking about doing. I know the parts manager and most of the parts advisors by first name at one of the local Toyota dealerships and I get 25% off list price on nearly everything because of my affiliation with a Toyota Land Cruiser club. I plan to buy the filter there as well. It sounds like the O-rings come as part of the filter cartridge assembly.

greenchile

Thanks for the suggestion on the DIY section on the forum. I will search more intently for it than my original search.

greenchile

Excellent suggestions. I did notice the coolant level low when I bought the car but thankfully the car takes the same coolant as my '99 Land Cruiser, which I had some in the chemical closet.

I'm all for buying tools that make my job easier. I'm less likely to break something, things go more smoothly and take less time.

greenchile

My vehicle was a private party purchase and being 6 years old there is no warranty left that I need to worry about violating the terms on. Now I'm just going to keep up the meticulous maintenance I do on all my vehicles. I will change oil more often than necessary and use synthetic instead of dino juice, just because $10 - $15 extra for synthetic vs non-synthetic twice a year gives me peace of mind.