tractng

I never done oil change for this car before. Just called dealer for pricing on oil filter. He said I need a special tool that costs $13?. Can somebody confirm?

Also how many quarts do I need? Going with synthetic Mobil1.

oldgrump

You'll need to buy 7 US qts. because you'll actually use about 6 &1/4 qts. to bring the oil level up to the Full mark on the dipstick. Your Owner's Manual states that the crankcase capacity after draining (including the oil filter) is 6.4 US qts., but I've found that using that amount would bring the oil level quite a bit above the Full mark.......but that can vary somewhat on how much was actually drained out.
Don't waste your time and money on any other filter housing cap wrench but the "Toy 640" wrench here: http://asttool.com/search_results.ph...ta%20/%20Lexus. The "OFToy 1038" funnel (shown on the same website), I've decided is worth the money, and I've got one on backorder.
If you are going to use the filter housing drain (makes the job a little less messy) you'll need a short 3/8" drive extention and ratchet/bar to remove the drain valve safety plug/cap.
The crankcase drain plug is a 14 MM hex head.......use a hex socket if it's been really over tightened......not a 12 point.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

oldgrump,do you take off that drain piece to drain?
I just loosen the assembly and let it drain.Yes,messier but worth a little wiping of the cannister to me.

dreyfus

Same here. Too much bother the other way.

You don't need any special tools. Any self-adjusting oil filter removal tool in this size will work.

oldgrump

I'm in no rush, so I do use the filter housing drain and let it drain/drip while the crankcase is draining and I"m doing other things. The amount of oil that drains from the filter housing drain is not much.......whatever the filter element is made of, it doesn't hold much oil......unlike paper filters. I check the old filter and cap for any contamination/crap etc. (highly unlikely that one will ever see anything), install the new filter element in the cap, and then I fill the filter cap up with oil just about to the top, lube the new "O" ring with oil and slowly thread the cap in until it's seated then I torque it to 19 ft/lbs (= 25 newton/meters, which is embossed on the cap). The drain valve safety plug with a new "O" ring is installed and torqued to 10 ft/lbs. The crankcase drain plug uses what appears to be some type of fiber material gasket (which I've reused twice now and I'm pretty sure that the dealer never replaced it when they changed the oil) and the plug torque spec is 30 ft/lbs.
If someone has overtorqued the cap (and someone invariably will) then a good quality tool like the AST TOY 640 could save you a lot of grief. The dealer did it on mine and on the first oil change that I did I had to use a micarta drift and large hammer on one of the two lugs (that I had access to) on the cap, to get it loose. I had a cheapo 65 MM wrench that distorted/spread and was useless, and I had a metal spin on filter strap wrench that also didn't cut it. The correct tool is a 64 MM (14 flat) ONLY.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

This is the wrench I use:


I had a cheaper one, and broke it trying to change the filter on a friend's ISF. The person who changed his oil previously had put the filter on much too tight. BTW, I have a socket which I have bolted on to this wrench to make it easier to use. It's a 15/16" 1/2" drive socket.

And, I put in six quarts exactly in my wife's ES at each oil change and it fills up. For comparison, my F takes ten.

Lou

cl206

+1

I actually bought (overpaid or heavily invested ) and am using the toyota oem SST. It's not too bad but I wish I had bought the assenmacher.

I have heard so many times that the dealer or indy shops can overtighten that filter and if you have a cheapo filter wrench, you might be in for a losing wrestling match. And BTW I don't recall the torque specs but it is stated on the OEM oil filter and I don't remember having to tighten it that much at all.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^Torque specs to tighten an oil filter - Never. Over the years it has become common practice to tighten an oil filter by hand only, no wrench should be involved in the tightening processes of an oil filter.

And, I'm old school and lubricate the rubber gaskets with vasoline rather than motor oil.

Lou

oldgrump

lowrideraz.......the oil filter on the ES is not like a spin-on oil filter whereby the filter was threaded on until the flat (usually) neoprene seal/gasket contacted the mounting face and then the filter was rotated a further 3/4 to 1 turn. This compressed the gasket preventing oil leaking (obviously) and it also supplied the resistance (the friction) to prevent the filter from unthreading/loosening. Usually worked, but sometimes they did loosen and leak. The canister type oil filter on the ES uses a separate filter element that is installed in the oil filter housing (in the housing cap, actually) and the oil seal is an "O" ring that is installed in a "groove" on the outside diameter of the cap. The "O" ring is not designed to offer the resistance to the cap unthreading/loosening (although it may offer some) because it is compressed very little. It uses the principle of "line or point contact" with the inside diameter of the housing to prevent oil leaking by it. The cap is threaded into the housing until the lip of the cap contacts the face of the housing. So it's metal to metal contact and now the cap is further tightened/torqued (in this case to19 ft/lbs) to prevent the cap from loosening.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^I know exactly what it is. I have two of them, my wife's ES and my F. and while you are correct on the type of filter, I still maintain that hand tightening is the correct way to tighten this type of oil filter as well as canister filters. I have been changing the filters on both cars every six months for four years now with no problems. Again, IMO, hand tightening is the way to go here.

Lou

tractng

Thanks guys. You guys use 5w30? Trying to keep the same oil type with my tacoma if I could.

What is up with the having to scroll the page horizontal? So hard to read.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^Yep, it is a pain isn't it? I don't know what's going on this morning EDIT - The problems is now fixed

BTW, I use pennzoil 10w30. I'm in Southern Az where it get very hot in the summer and we really don't have winter. My wife's ES started out with the start up clatter reported by some ES owners, after I changed to the 10W30 that clatter went away. If I lived in a place with a real winter (temps below freezing) I would use 5w30 in the winter and 10w30 in the summer or maybe 5w30 all year round.

Lou

tractng

I am in socal with nice temperature . Wife's car is at 98k miles so I think 5w30 will do. So I have to get that toyo 640 device or else my life will be miserable? I already have many standard oil filter wrenches (trying to avoid another purchase if i can) . Hopefully, the dealer didn't tighten so hard.

mlacomb

I haven't had to buy anything special. I put my ratchet in the drain plug and the dealership had it so tight it just worked the whole canister loose.

The oil canister isn't supposed to be jammed on, it's just tightened enough to where metal meets metal - the canister hits a lip and can go no further, so there's no need to crank it down further.

As long as you can get the entire canister to drop, you don't really need a special tool. Honestly, you could use a pipe wrench expanded out to pull the thing off; if I am remembering right there are two lips that protrude out from either side of the canister.

oldgrump

Common chaps........the torque value/s that I referenced are from the Lexus ES350 shop/service manual and the specified 19 ft/lbs for the cap is not much more than "hand tight", it's more like a "nip up".
As far as the wrench goes.......don't mickey mouse the job and/or cause damage for Pete's sake. When one is lying flat on one's back on a cold, hard concrete floor doing this job and with not that much room to work, then a quality tool can be really helpful.