BlueCrabby

is it possible to replace the oil filter without spilling a single drop of oil?

thanks!

MattRX

Yes, I have wrapped a bag around it while loosening it and letting it and the oil fall right into the bag. Works surprisingly well.

salimshah

The oil will not dump out but a slight amount will drip. I think the pump forces the oil through the filter so without the pump running there is no inflow of the oil. If you leave the filter off for a while more drips could fall.

It does beg the question why would you need to replace the filter and not drain out through the oil pan drain plug. IMHO majority of the particles end up as sediments in the pan and very few end up in the filter... correction the fine floaters get trapped by the filter.

The only time I replaced the filter only was on GS when the parts sale person gave me the short [v6 version] instead of the long v8 filter. Stayed in long enough to make the trip to the parts store.

Salim

BlueCrabby

Thanks for the bag idea. Used a heavy duty paper bag. A small stream of oil did come out, but the bag caught it. So no oil spilled on any engine parts or my garage floor.

By the way, this was the first time that I've changed the oil and filter after 180,000 miles by myself. Due to my big hands, I've had the dealer change the oil since the car was new.... should have just done it myself if I knew it was THAT difficult. Judging by the amount of oil residue and wipe marks around the filter area, it appeared that the dealership techs also couldn't loose the filter without spilling some oil.

salimshah

I miss understood your intenet in the original post ... I thought you wanted to just change the filter without loosing oil in the engine.

The filter is wedged between the radiator and engine block. Since it is almost horizontal you will have some spillage .. even after removing from engine, you have to angle it such that the filter does not spill out.

I approached (past tense) from the top and would unthread some and let the stream stop before going further.

It is indeed noble effort to avoid messing up the garage, but what ever I did, my front engine mount got some drips. I just stuffed news-paper or rags. Transmission fluid change is lot easier in RX as compared to oil change.

BlueCrabby

I always had the nearby Toyota dealer change the oil for me. I bring the 5-quart Mobil 1 5w-30 from Walmart and let the Toyota tech change it. They only charged $35(actually only $18, since I was bringing my own oil) Strangely, over the years, the Toyota dealer always used the YZZG2 Toyota filter. Not really a problem until I ordered the correct YZZD1 filter and tried to change it myself. The YZZG2 requires a size 74mm filter wrench. Too big for the YZZD1 which uses a 73mm wrench, so I had to run out and get the 73mm wrench in the middle of an oil change.

Speaking of oil... thanks to the oil sludge issue, I've been changing the oil with Mobil 1 since at yeast 10 or 15 years ago... EVERY 2000 miles. The extra money was just money down the drain... then again, the inside of my RX300 engine was super clean when the Toyota tech opened up the valve cover last year to replace a leaky gasket. Even the tech was surprised at how clean the inside was. So maybe changing it every 2000 miles helped? Who knows...

MattRX

Sounds like a keeper! My 2002 Highlander w/ 1MZ-FE has been seeing Mobil 1 5W30 every 5k miles for 17 years! Did both valve cover gaskets and an oil pan gasket and it looks super fresh in there! I think these engines are fantastic despite the backlash they got for sludge.

bordenj66

Mobil 1 all the way.

BlueCrabby

for many years, I thought that the engineers responsible for putting the '01 RX300 oil filter in that stupid location deserve to be ridiculed and shamed.

apparently they continued this trend as recently as the 2021 RX... I was helping a friend change the filter on his and couldn't believe how complicated the Lexus/Toyota engineers made the filter. It's at the bottom... still awkward, but at least accessible... but still..... oil filter housing should be on top of the engine because it's easily accessed and makes changing much easier and cleaner. When will they ever learn from the Germans? (sorry... rant over)

MattRX

It's a lot nicer on my two RX350s were it's right at the bottom, I imagine the newer RX has annoying covers in the way though. Older pre dual vvti Tacoma/4Runner etc with the 4.0 L 1GR-FE had it right on the top, but of course that was too good to last and they moved it! @#@#$#$

Worst oil change I've done: 2010 Audi Q7 3.6L, whoever decided to put the oil filter here deserves a swift kick to the jewels

salimshah

I would still say that filter location is not terrible. The trick is loosen it and let it drip in a fine stream, while waiting for the engine/radiator/exhaust-manifold to cool. The fine stream can be collected or if you just put rags to absorb it. The thing you need is patience and time. Remove the filter from above .. a tiny tilt can spill more but 80% you can extricate it provided the hot manifold does not cause you to make involuntary movements.

My worst vehicle for filter change was a diesel I grew up with. The filter was located right above the starter. The oil needed replacement every 1000 miles. After the third or the fourth change the starter needed removal and cleanup. We finally devised a metal deflector shield to divert the spillage. On the good side, I got interested in machines and cars growing up. My buddies were mechanics. At that time mechanics would only teach apprentices, and the apprentices would spend years before they were taught critical skills, but they let me observe.

Salim