I have a 2017 IS 200t. Has anyone replaced their oil filter housing to the aluminum ones? If so, is there a Toyota OEM that would fit? I looked up Dorman and I heard it’s good. has anyone used it? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

I've had this saved in my amazon cart for my next oil change in 7k miles. From what I've read, this one should fit the 200t. Working with that plastic one just makes me nervous - especially with something as critical as the oil filter
Link:

 

My first question is why change them? This isn't the only car with a cartridge style filter, and they are almost all plastic housings. If anything I'd want to change parts so I could use a spin on oil filter instead of the cartridge filter. In the case of a failure or cross thread scenario, it's better that the plastic portion get damaged rather than the threaded section on the engine, as one is significantly cheaper and easier to replace than the other.

Anecdotal experience - my in-laws have a 2012 corolla that has a similar cartridge filter/plastic housing setup (like most other Toyota/Lexus products). They bought it off a family member who had aged out of driving about 5 years ago. I've changed the oil on it since they bought it, but before that it was serviced in Florida, likely at the cheapest quick-lube place in the area and has come through unscathed with no leaks. At nine years of age the plastic housing shows no signs of wear or becoming brittle.

Just my $0.02, do what makes you comfortable and what you like, it's your car after all.

 

I have to agree with all that.
If there is going to be a point of failure, I rather it be the cap than the housing. One is super easy to change, and one is not.
Having said that, I doubt Toyota designed a cap to be that inferior that failure is anticipated.

I guess the first question that really needs to be answered is, why did they change from an aluminum cap to a composite one? When you find out the answer to that question, I think you will be sticking with the composite cap.

 

I did research back when I started doing oil changes on the 2012 Corolla for my in-laws; the shift from a spin-on filter to cartridge style was a combination of manufacturing cost and reducing their environmental impact. They have however gone back to a spin-on filter in the current corolla as third-party shops were damaging the composite cartridge housings while doing oil changes. I think the continued use of the composite piece of Lexus vehicles has to do with the fact that most Lexus vehicles wind up at the dealer for service, where they take more car than the typical chain lube-shop does - those chuckle heads cross thread oil pan drain plugs regularly. I have a local mechanic I trust when there is something needed beyond my skill and/or tool ownership level, I am not knocking local mechanics, I'm talking about the nation chains that hire kids from high school and push volume & upselling services over training and quality of work.

Composite vs. aluminum I would assume is related to manufacturing costs & an engineered failure point; again, not saying the composite units are likely to fail if handled properly, but that if one is going to fail, it's better that the removable piece fail rather than the block portion.

 

You make a good point and I appreciate the input. The only reason why I thought about changing it is because some knucklehead at the dealership decided to tighten the filter housing so tight that while attempting to remove it with a ratchet, one of the tabs cracked. Once that tab cracked I had to use an impact driver to remove the filter housing, jumped on my wife’s car and pick up a new filter housing at a Toyota dealership. I have a new plastic housing on there now and was just inquiring about the aluminum ones to see if anyone here have used it. Good points on the filter housing being cheaper to replace in case of cross threading. I guess the plastic isn’t so bad especially since I am going to be doing the oil changes moving forward and removing it the next time wouldn’t be as hard since I followed the spec of tightening it unlike the mechanic who tightened it with the intent of wanting it on there permanently. Thanks for replying.

 

Just for reference purpose, what is the torque spec for the oil filter housing? Thanks.

 

oil filter housing is 18 ft lb
Drain plug for the filter housing is 9 ft lb (NOT the drain plug from the oil pan)