Don't remove the drain plug from the oil pan.

 

So there's no oil leak when you remove the filter housing? It's been a while since I've changed my own oil, but on past vehicles I would get quite a bit of oil draining out when the filter was removed...

Your analysis results are encouraging me to start changing my own oil again. I've had Acuras in the past and the dealer's prices for oil changes work out to be roughly the price of oil, so it was easier to let them do it, but Lexus's prices are ridiculous for oil changes...

 

This is a great thread. I just passed 107k on my F. When I changed the oil, it was clear and looked brand new after 3k miles.

Im going to send mine when I reach 110k. It looks like these engines are very well built, and with proper maintenance, they will be problem free for a long time.

 

The only oil you lose on a filter change is what is in the filter housing. This is true regardless of engine model. I have also stopped doing the mid mileage filter change and it's pretty obvious from the results I'm not having filtering problems. The one thing I am concerned about is what appears to be unusual wear patterns on some of my cam lobes. I am considering whether the filter change might be a good idea again.

At any rate, just changing the filter and topping off with fresh oil gives the additive package a boost. It also raises total base number just a little bit (it's only a 10% volume change) so you get a little insurance against oil failures.

 

Quick update for all who follow this thread, I have finally done what I said I wanted to do. I have 73k on the odometer now, and I get to own any issues myself, so when I did my engine oil change today, I took a sample from the gearbox and I am sending it to Blackstone for analysis. I will post the results in a week or so when they send them to me.

 

I bet your sample was super brown or almost black..!!!!

Whats your game plan for the Diffo fluid ??


~ Joe Z

 

Does the age of the sample make any difference Lobux? I have two samples (one over a yr old and another about 4 months old) sitting by in my garage. I have been procrastinating on sending them out for analysis.

 

Diff fluid is an easy swap. I just haven't done one yet. I did it every 20k with my Supra and it was way overkill.

No, the ATF wasn't dark at all. It looked like engine oil with about 500 miles on it.

 

Thats weird... My engine oil with 500 miles is still a nice gold color...

The ATF is a nice blood red when new... and mine @ 50K was brown and not clear at all..


~ Joe Z

 

couple of questions

isnt the tranny fluid suppose to be "lifetime" fluid?

and do you think the oem oil filter will last 10k?

 

I've been running the OEM filter (actually the YZZ4 filter) for 12k without issues and Blackstone commented on the filtering working well.

 

Sounds good. im more confident in moving to 10k intervals

 

So this time I screwed up and didn't take the sample from the stream out of the oil pan as I normally do. I was distracted by oil splashing all over the floor at the time...

Anyway, I used a 2 ounce irrigation syringe I have just for things like this and sucked a sample out of my catch pan from about mid-level so it wouldn't be sucking up dirt from the bottom or junk floating on top. I noted this on the sample submission sheet so it would explain any sudden increase in insolubles. The pan was clean when I started, so at least it wasn't Supra/Scion contaminated. The results speak for themselves. Plain Mobil 1 5w-30 is doing a fine job of keeping the engine happy.

 

85k results are in. Big change in magnesium, and Blackstone says it's because Mobil 1 changed their formulation. Calcium took a big drop as well, and looking at BITOG, the magnesium to calcium ratios for M1 and others have been changing significantly. It definitely took me by surprise, but at the same time, I know there are no magnesium parts in the 2UR-GSE that would exhibit wear, so I'll take Blackstone's explanation as good for now.

 

what will you be changing your next oil to?