2007 Lexus GS 350 with 300K Miles and Climbing - Part 2

Time for an oil change

Forum Member mmade22 purchased this White Pearl 2007 Lexus GS 350 back in 2010. When he acquired the car, it had 46k on the odometer. Jonathan is a technician by trade who works on complex machinery from Japan so he's had a lot of experience when it comes to wrenching cars. "I drive my car 5,000 miles every 30 days," he told forum members in a thread back in 2010. "I need to do all the work myself to save some money and time." In Part 1 of his story, he took us through several maintenance steps he took to get started on the right foot. In Part 2 we resume with the oil change.

Before getting started, use a jack and jack stands to lift the front of the car up, or buy a pair of ramps and simply drive up onto them. Whichever method you use, make sure to park on a flat surface and set the emergency brake on. If you use a jack and jack stands, raise the car up to a comfortable height and set one jack stand under each side of the car.

Drain the old oil

Open the oil cap to relieve the pressure. Locate the oil pan centered underneath the vehicle and place your drain pan or another container underneath the drain plug to catch the old oil. Loosen the drain plug with a 14mm wrench and then finish removing the plug with your fingers. The old gasket may stick to the pan but you can remove it with a screwdriver if necessary. Allow all the old oil to drain out.

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Replace the oil filter

The filter cover has one screw at the top with a clip underneath that holds it in place. Remove it using a flathead screwdriver. Behind it, you will find a metal oil filter casing. Move your oil drain pan underneath this casing and use your filter wrench to loosen it until you can remove it by hand. Remove the old filter from the casing and remove the old rubber seal. Place the new filter and rubber seal in the casing and apply some fresh oil on the new rubber seal. Re-install the casing.

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Fill your Lexus with fresh oil

Screw your oil drain plug back in and tighten with a wrench. Place your funnel in the oil fill tube to prevent spilling. Pour the new oil in. For mmade22, almost 7 quarts did the trick. If you are not sure how much oil to use, check the back page of your owner's manual, and make sure to check the oil level with your dipstick. Do not overfill or underfill! Once you are finished, re-install the oil cap and start the car, letting it run for at least three minutes. Check for any leaks under the car or around the oil filter casing. Turn the engine off and check your oil level again.

For more information on changing your oil, please see our how-to article in the forum.

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Changing the engine air filter

Using a plastic, narrow-blade putty knife or a flathead screwdriver, remove the plastic pop-rivets that hold the left-hand engine cover in place. Push in the top center of the rivet until it is recessed and no longer flush with the outer edge of the rivet. Then, from the bottom edge, use your tool to pop the rivet up and out. There is also one plastic Phillips head screw holding this piece in place. Take care when removing these plastic bits.

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Removing the air filter housing cover

After removing the engine cover, you'll see the air filter housing. This can be slightly difficult to open as sometimes the latches on the side get pretty stiff. Unlatch each of the four clips from the side of the housing, and the top will come right off. The hose will be attached to this lid, so you just need to hold it up with one hand long enough to pull out the old filter with the other hand.

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Clean out air filter box and install new filter

Before replacing your air filter with a new one, band the dirt out of your air filter box. Your dealer would never do this extra work, but as the owner, you should!

Then replace with your new air filter, and re-attach the air filter housing and engine cover.

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Onto the Cabin Filter

The cabin air filter is accessed through the glove box. There may be a shelf in your glove box that needs to be removed first. You won't need tools because it simply comes right out. In the back of the glove box, you'll see the access panel for the filter. Make sure not to let it drop down behind the glove box when removing it.

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Set vent to internal

Also, the part of the cabin air filter assembly that covers the air filter cannot be opened if your vent or A/C setting is set to external. Make sure that your environmental controls are set to internal, recirculating air only. You will need to start your vehicle to make sure of the setting. This will allow access to the actual air filter itself.

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Remove the cabin air filter

With the air flow setting turned to internal, the door should be automatically opened to gain access to the air filter. If not, it lifts up rather easily. Pop up and pull out the old air filter, and replace with the new. The new air filter will click into place.

For more information, please see How to Change Air Filter and Cabin Air Filter in our How-to section.

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Seafoam in the tank

Now it's time to put a can of Seafoam into the tank. One can every 15k keeps my local dealer away.

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Spark Plug Change

A rough idle, misfires, and a sluggish throttle response are symptoms of a bad or dying spark plug. They're one of the few engine components that are exposed to combustion, so they're pretty rugged. Still, Lexus recommends you change them every 60K miles. However, they can fail earlier and trigger a check engine light. Luckily, changing the spark plugs yourself isn't difficult.

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Remove old spark plugs

After removing the engine covers and air intake assembly, you need to loosen the ignition coil harness. Then you will remove fastening nuts from the ignition coils and unclip the coils. Once you've done that, your old spark plugs will be exposed. You can use a spark plug socket with an extension to remove the old plug.

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Install new spark plugs

Now that you have your spark plug out, you can check its condition to see if your engine is having problems. A spark plug can tell you a lot about what's happening in your combustion chamber.

Using the spark plug socket and the extension, guide the new plug into the hole and thread loosely. If your engine is running poorly, this will help you figure out why. Using the torque wrench, set it to 18 ft-lb and tighten.

For more information, please see How to Replace Spark Plugs in our How-to section.

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Clean engine bay

Since all the covers were off, mmade22 cleaned up the engine compartment. Maintaining a clean engine bay may not be a priority, but it actually adds to the overall value of the vehicle while keeping your engine components free of debris.

For more information, see How to Clean Your Engine Bay in our How-to section.

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Eliminate dashboard squeaks

For dashboard squeaks, mmade22 cut up rectangles of felt and used a screwdriver to wedge them in between the dash and the glass. A quick and inexpensive fix that will have that crazy-making squeak out of your life.

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New tires for new rims

Forum member mmade22 wanted to use Continental DWS tires on his new rims up front. Above are the rear rims with the tires mounted. "The car was just dropped on F-sport springs," mmade22 shared. "So the gap isn't as bad as stock."

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Oh what a ride

This is what mmade22's car looked like back at that 47,000-mile mark. With that level of care, it's no wonder that six years later, he reached 340,000 miles! "I couldn't afford to drive this car if I had to pay the dealer to maintain my car for me," he told Club Lexus forum members. "As you can see, a lot of this work is pretty easy to do yourself and it will save you thousands over the long term."

Stay tuned for maintenance updates from mmade22!

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For help with your maintenance and repair projects, please visit our How-to section in the forum.