dreyfus

Well, I just changed the oil myself for the first time at 10,000 miles. The filter housing is easy to get to and both it and the drain plug can be reached at the same time. I did not need to elevate the car at all.

This is the first time I've changed a filter element oil filter (as opposed to the spin on kind). It was less messy and easy to do. I used three inches of 5/8" inner diameter hose to connect to the disposable oil filter drain fitting to make things neater. Be careful when taking it off as it can spray a bit of oil.

The only change I made to the directions on the box was I hand tightened the small o-ring and the oil filter drain plug onto the oil filter cap before reinstalling the cap and element on the engine. This was easier to do than after the cap was back on the car. I final tighted it after installation.

Used Mobil 1. No problems, no worries. I bought the filter kit from the Toyota dealer for $6 (part # 04152-YZZA1) to save money. I know it's the correct part because the parts guy called the Lexus dealer to confirm.

A funny side note: I backed the car into the garage with the trunk open. I was really suprised to see the ceiling of my garage go by on my nav display - "What??!! That's looks like the ceiling!!" Of course the backup camera is in the trunk lid - duh! It did give me a start for a second, there.

ES350Bob

LOL...I feel so much better about some things I do now and then.

LexBob2

Me too. It took courage to admit to it. I usually just look around to make sure no one saw some of the things I do!

lexusk8

Good job on changing the oil and giving us your thoughts on the process. It sounds like on the ES350 it's a lot easier to access the drain plug and filter housing than from the ES330/300 in which the filter is located below the exhaust manifold (not exactly a smart location from a design perspective).

07LexusGuy

I like the ES350's oil filter placement more than the previous version. I remember when I replaced the oil filter canister on the previous generation, I'd get a bunch of oil comming out of the filter because its actually upside down when you unscrew it.

With the new setup, it sits right side up and as long as you drain the oil out before you remove the canister, everything will be nice and neat.

BillP

One step I did when replacing the filter element was to prime the canister with oil before reinstalling it. It will help minimize a dry start up.

kingofire

If you want to make changing oil very easy, get the fumoto valve at www.fumotovalve.com. I just ordered mine and it was $30 shipped. All you have to do is move a tab and the oil comes out! Dont need to worry about dropping the drain plug or breaking the gaskets. It cuts your oil change time in half and as they say, time is money.

Marc08EX

hold on... 10k miles?!?! isn't that a little too long?

Ingram4868

I believe he is saying that is the first oil change he has performed on the car. Remember the first one at 5,000 miles is performed free by Lexus.

dreyfus

That is correct.

Citylights

I am getting close to 5K. Since the delearship is paying for the first one, should I go with synthetic oil?

If I go with synthetic and later revert back to regular oil, will this cause any issues?

BobsGX

I believe the dealer will use regular petroleum oil, unless you want to pay the difference for the synthetic oil. And switching back either way later on will cause no problems. Well, if you were using synthetic oil, you might, and I mean might notice a bit worse fuel economy by going back to petroleum oil.

cocopops

iTrader: (1)

just wanna hop on this topic. Not sure if its a practice with all dealers, but my dealer use a synthetic blend motor oil (not sure on the % of synthetic n non-synthetic). I dont really know if synthetic oil is really required. I was told that unless there are some extreme cases in your driving lifestyle, synthetic oil might not be off a much advantage, and they cost more.

situations:
1. extreme weather/driving condition in your area
2. long intervals between oil changes
3. very short trips most of the time (not sure the mileage # on this, but if you u drive very shortly to work/places and then leave your car there for some time and then drive another short distance to another place, you probably fall into this category)

kingofire

A very good synthetic oil, group III which is severely hydrocracked, is Pennzoil Platinum. At AdvanceAuto its on sale, Buy one get one free. With this special it comes out approximately the same price as dino. I highly recommend this oil.