pauloil

just did an oil change and had this filter from the lexus dealer: it was hard to thread on. The middle female part is about the same size, but the threads look different.. so I went to o'reilys and got Mobil M!-102 to replace the one on there. has anyone else had trouble using this toyota filter?

Oro

No, no regular trouble with the -YZZD1 that's the factory filter for the car, and a good one. The -YZZD3 will also fit and provide a little more media if desired. it is the factory fit for the V8 2uz-fe Land Cruiser/Sequoia/etc. if you want to get one at the parts counter and not remember the whole p/n.

I find it takes a gentle hand to get the threads started correctly since it's totally blind and you can't even visualize the gasket base. Possibly it got started crossed and the threads were damaged slightly, possibly even before you bought it. I squeeze a 2nd hand down there to the base area to help line it up so as not to cross thread it; it's easy to do on these.

Other easily available, high-quality, great value filters for these are the Motorcraft FL-910S/FL-400S, same as the -YZZD1 and -YZZD3, respectively. The mobil 1's are quite good, though a bit spendy vs. other options. They are top-flight and built but inconsistent where they put the by pass valve, and I'm not sure it's on the base end, only real quibble with them. The fact Toyota uses 3/4-16 filter studs is a huge benefit in getting a lot of high-quality filters to choose from at fair prices; it's less so with metric thread designs.