magnificen

Hello everyone. I just would like to say greetings and proud to be an owner of a Lexus let alone a first gen ls 400. I decided to change my own oil for the sake of saying i can change and have changed my oil and just having that general knowledge and independence as opposed to going to a mechanic and paying from 25 to 45 dollars to change my oil and filter. I was able to get to the pan and drain easily however, my filter is what gave me trouble(not easily accessible due to lack of tools and general ignorance So in the end i was not able to change my filter which has about 3000 miles on it. Are there things I should be worried about/expecting and what to do for next time.

Things to know: Used a conventional hydraulic 2 ton capacity jack to get the car up, bolt closest to the oil filter was impossible to get off maybe from lack of tools

Banshee365

I'm afraid you are in a bit over your head here. That is fixable but it's hard for me to know how simple of a detail to inform you of as I have no clue of your mechanical ability. The oil filter is extremely easily accessible on the LS400. I'm not sure exactly what your photos are of but they appear to be the engine under cover. Those bolt's require a 10mm socket to remove. Remove the bolts holding the cover on and set the over aside for the oil change.

I guess I can give you a few pointers as if you know absolutely nothing about changing your own oil, which honestly it seems is fairly accurate.

• PLEASE tell me you didn't get under the car with the floor hack holding it up.... You could die. Period. I've personally had jacks fail but in a safe environment as I alway's make sure the vehicle is properly supported. You HAVE to put the vehicle on jack stands or, even simpler, drive it up on a decent set of ramps and change it that way. Personally, for oil changes, I use ramps. Set the parking brake before getting under the car.
• Once your engine under cover is removed the filter is easily removed with your typical oil filter strap wrench. They shouldn't be that tight but most shops wrench them on way too tight.
• You don't change your oil without changing the filter. You just don't...
• When installing the new filter you must lube the o-ring and make sure the old o-ring didn't stay behind and stock on the engine. If you buy the filter from Toyota, which I highly recommend, the seal is pre-lubricated and all you have to do it spin it on. It's mounted at about a 45 degree angle so you can pre-fill the filter partially if you wish but it's not totally necessary.
• Tighten the filter by hand only. Most instruct you to turn the filter another 1/4-1/2 then after the seal makes contact with the oil filter housing.
• When reinstalling your drain plug don't over torque it. The pan can strip fairly easily.
• Refill your engine with 6 quarts of oil prior to ever starting it.
• I use Mobil 1 5W30 oil with the Toyota filter running 7,500 mile intervals. That is probably a pretty common method and parts choices by most LS400 guru's.

If you want to learn more about mechanics maybe spend some time watching some youtube videos on oil changes of different cars. You will learn a bit that way. But, most youtube videos are incorrect somewhere along the line. Use your own judgement to move on to the next video if you see some idiot laying under a car with only the jack holding the car up or something like that.

magnificen

The pictures posted are the bolts mentioned in the original post fastening the engine cover. The engine cover however does not come all the way off due to a tight or possibly worst, rusted bolt. I was able to drain the oil anyway and began to proceed to the oil filter after but the engine cover was still on making it hard to get to the oil filter. So i just put the newer oil in. Yes i did use a 10 mm socket wrench. I will say that i am an amateur but have been told and know that the jack i was using is okay to use. I don't necessarily need a drive up ramp to conduct an oil change. And i also put stop blocks on both rear wheels.

Losiracer2

I personally think drive up ramps are a lot easier to use, especially on non-lowered cars. They make the jacking up procedure a non-issue and you won't need to worry about damaging the undercarriage of the chassis or worry about the vehicle being unstable since its still on all 4 tires.

Makes changing the oil a 15 minute process in my case, since the undertray is partially broken off where the oil filter area is, I don't have to undo all the pesky 10mm bolts. I think the previous owner did that on purpose to make accessing it a whole lot easier.

magnificen

I understand the ramp makes it a whole lot easier but I can still change my oil with a 2.5 ton jack or else they would not make them. If it is advisable to use a ramp then thanks for the information like the other replier mentioned. However my initial question was still not answered. Am I okay with a filter that was not changed? The reason for asking this question is for two things. One I know that the filter is to be changed with every oil change which is 6000 miles or 6 months when using synthetic oil. The last time my oil was changed was 3000 miles ago. So does that leave me with a clear window of operation for another 3000 miles since the filter was also supposed to last 6000 miles?

jaaa

Your inability to understand that you need jack stands in addition to a jack is troublesome. Jacks fail, period. You use jacks to lift a car up in the air and then put jack stands under the car to safely work beneath it. Yes, you can go to 6000 miles with your current filter. You can buy HF jack stands for as little as $20 for a pair, so there is really no reason not to buy them.

Banshee365

It is never advised to change your oil without the filter. With that said, you aren't going to cause a problem by not changing it.

Did you set your car on jack stands or did you just hold it up with the jack?

It looks like from your original photos that an attempt to remove the splash shield bolts was done using pliers? Is that right? Or did you try with a 10mm socket?

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Good job on trying to do it yourself and be independent, and for asking for advice here.

You should always be prepared for a jack to fail at any moment, regardless of the load rating, brand, newness, etc. Work on cars long enough and you will know it can happen. If you're under there when it happens, that will the be first and last time for that. Jack stands, ramps, driving the car up onto stable blocks of wood, working on it without jacking - all those are safer.

Use a 10mm socket to remove the screw. If it is not coming out easily, here are some suggestions:
- see if you can remove another of the 10mm screws holding the engine cover on. For practice / testing.
- it could be that a previous owner or mechanic did not have the right screw and put in an SAE screw like 3/8". If that is the case, it will be tougher to remove, and the 10mm socket may not be fitting right, so check for a better fit
- no matter what, it's just an M6 screw (M means metric, and 6 means the diameter of the threaded portion is 6mm), it should come out, so keep at it.

If you skip the filter change this one time, you'll be fine.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

All a learning experience, good for you. As mentioned about safety under the car. I have made up some ramps that are screwed together to give about 2.5" of clearance. The undercover screws are likely rusted and potentially stripped. Wedging a screwdriver between the washer and using a 10mm socket should be workable to get that off. Not all the bolts need to be there to keep the cover affixed but it is nicer if all have good threads. Head over to the dealer or fastener supply to replace any of those ruined screws/bolts that oldskewel mentioned the thread pitch.

If the previous filter is good quality it is ok to keep on there until the next interval. Synthetic oil can go to 5-7K miles typically. Dino oil change intervals at 3-5K is fine.

Banshee365

It's fairly clear to me that he attempted to remove the splash shield bolts with pliers judging by the wear on the bolt head. A proper 10mm socket will remove it no problem.

If you do not have any socket sets, start off with a 3/8" drive set. That will be your most common drive size. Every fastener is metric on the car so you do not need SAE sizes. A decent set from Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight or Sears will get you started. Sears is NO better than those other 3 anymore.

dicer

Yeah its too bad about craftsman going to junk. Some of them and the industrial brand are still made in us. They just don't get it do they?
If I need a replacement now from sears, and china junk is the only choice, I'll just get my money back.

Banshee365

Not to derail the thread, but yes. That is why I have switched nearly all of my hand tool purchase to SK. They are 100% committed to making everything in their catalog in the USA and have come back from bankruptcy a few years go with a vengeance. They're putting out some amazing products and have new lines of tools coming out as well as the ones they have been selling for 100 years.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Continuing with this derailment ... Sears Holding Company is currently in talks with multiple companies about selling the Craftsman brand. Bids are due by the end of October, in case anyone is interested. They expect they can raise around $2B, which will prolong the inevitable.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...ack-decker-tti

But even if you're not putting in a bid, if they do sell the brand, the new owners may make changes that Sears was unable to do. We've been used to the dilemma of trading in a failed USA-made Craftsman tool for a new China-made one. Who knows, maybe it will switch around.

dicer

Back to the topic, the original poster needs ramps, I really don't see where a 2 ton hydraulic jack works on the car? The plastic needs to come off before you can jack on the cross member.

And off topic, Craftsman used to be made by Danaher that makes a lot of other brand tools.
If I'm going to buy a china made anything, I want the china price, not the American price. That is for car parts, tools, shoes, clothes what ever. We the consumer are getting ripped big time.