steve55

Gents,
I just did the first oil change on my 06 SC with 3K miles on it. FYI there is a plastic cover that must be removed and it must have 16 screws that hold it in place. Once the cover is removed the oil change is a breeze. The oil drains without splashing on anything from both the drain plug and the filter housing.

I do have a question and I searched this forum and the LS430 forum without results. What is the torque value for the drain plug? I SWAG'd this oil change but I would like to get to the point of using the torque wrench.

Thanks in advance.

steve

rominl

iTrader: (4)

not sure on the tq value

but i thought for oil change you can just remove small part of the cover and it's like a lid and you can open it up? i can't recall what it was like on the sc430 but that's the case on the GS

JohnD

Steve,
Just had my first oil change on my 07 SC and asked the dealer mechanic to show me where the filter is and how to access it. They were nice enough to let me under the car. All he did was remove 3 screws on the cover just below the filter and pull the cover down. Looks like there is plenty of room to remove and install new filter. You may have to put a rag or something under the filter to catch any oil that may drip. I will be trying this myself next change. It sure looks alot easier than removing 16 screws and the entire cover. You may choose to remove the cover but I thought I would pass this along.

JohnD

steve55

Hmmm. It looked as though I could remove a few of the screws and pulll the cover down to get at the filter. It looked to me though that the oil spilling out of the filter would land directly onto the cover, making a mess. Perhaps I could get the cover pushed down enough so that I could get some type of container under the filter but over the cover to catch the oil. Am I seeing this correctly?

steve

JohnD

Steve,
Your right. Some oil may get on the cover but you have a great idea with the container and maybe a rag under it. I'll give it a try when I change the oil and see what happens.

JohnD

JohnD

Steve,
If you change your oil before I do, let me know how you make out if you just remove the 3 screws.

JohnD

steve55

OK. If no one chimes in with a better idea then we will give it a try and update each other. I am probably about 2-3 months away from the next oil change. steve

rominl

iTrader: (4)

what my mechanic did was pull down the plastic and used a clamp to clamp it down so there were so oil spilled on the plastic

steve55

Clamping the shield out of the way may work. I will report back. steve

karmann

I use a bungee cord to pull the flap forward and do not get a drop on anything other than the bucket. Probably not necessary but I jack up the left side a little higher while draining and get a little more oil to come out. I like to prime the oil filter with oil to get a quicker oil flow. I use jack stands where the car is jacked up under the lip and that works great when get under the car.

karmann

Per my shop manual for an 05 page 03-29 it is 29 foot pounds. I dont imagine anyone uses a torque wrench, I just use a six inch ratchet and tighten with one hand so as not to over torque.

steve55

Thanks for this! 29 ft-pounds it is!

I use a torque wrnech but maybe that is because I had to repalce an $800 oil pan after I stripped the drain plug.

steve

steve55

One thing I toss out to the group. I bought a drain valve for my truck and it works great. Once you screw in this valve then you never have to retorque the drain bolt again. It has been working great for me on the truck and I plan to install one on my lexus on the next oil change.

http://www.fumotovalve.com/

steve

tfischer

I'm too old and tired and stupid to change the oil in my cars any more, but I've done that many, many times over the past 40 years, and I sure wish I had been about to get one of those drain valves back then. That looks like a great invention.