Excellent write up. I have girly arms as Ahnold would say... so I go at the filter from the top. No need for me to remove TEN (10) bolts...

My hands are kind of small. I would have done the top way, but I felt it best to show the bottom at least as a start. Next time, I'll show from the top.

My first post so hope to get it right. Lexmex, you are first of all, a fountain of valuable information as are many others on this site. I have learned a lot from all of you and would like to give my most sincere thanks

In regards to the diy oil change I hope that this may help someone. I am the original owner of an 02 RX300 and have done all the oil changes on my car except for the very first one. I have tried almost every conceivable way of changing that PITA oil filter and have had many cuts, bruises and burns as a result. I have tried numerous different oil filter wrenches, almost too many to count with little success of an easy extraction. Till one day I found out about the K&N HP-1002, the filter with the 1 inch nut attached to its top.

I do the change from the top, actually from the right fender side of the car mainly because I'm right handed. My tools are a 1/2 inch drive stubby ratchet and a 1/2 x 1" deep well socket (actually a piece from my set of lug nut sockets that I use with an electric impact wrench). I just lean over the fender and with my right hand, going under the exhaust manifold to insert the nut on the filter into my socket that is already attached to the stubby ratchet. After half a turn the filter is free and is easily removed by hand. Without rushing I'd say 90 seconds and the filter is out from the time you lean over your fender. With the longer filter that Lexmex uses, you may have to adjust the lenght from the tip of the socket to the ratchet but I'm sure it can be made to fit.

BTW, because the oil pan drain plug is in the rear, I jack up the front middle part of the car (using a bottle nose type jack) about 6" to get as much old
oil out of the pan as I can.

FYI, I use a 1/2 drive because its hard finding a 1" socket with a smaller drive.

Welcome to the Club.

great write up!

Very useful info for those who want to do their oil change at home!!!!

The long Wix oil filter is 51516. The K&N is better, just harder for me to find.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...x300-diys.html

See post #14

Salim

Excellent write-up. Nice job.

Thanks Salim but I believe Ampro sells their oil filter wrenches only as a kit (14pcs) now. Not sure about this because there is no Advanced Auto Parts here and Ampro lists only the set. But I'm curious to know if all the different brands of filter for our vehicle use the same wrench size. I know that the filter diameter varies slightly but do the wrench size vary too? Since I use K&N exclusively now, there's no need to worry since the nut is standard size. At least until my son wrecked my car.

They are also known as Oriley parts.

The good thing is that fist GS, SC and RX models.

Salim

I bought a cheap filter cap at Walmart which I attach to a stubby extension and my ratchet and it works great to access the filter from above.

LexMex, thanks for the long filter info. I've done this on motorcycles, in the past. I've always felt more filtering media is better, period.

Still, I'll stick with doing it from the top-side, even though I lose skin every single time. The changes on that car are infrequent enough, I tend to forget just how unpleasant it is.... If it sees 10K miles in a year, that's a busy year.

Actually, I will also stick to doing it top side. Only reason I did it the way I showed it is that some people choose to do it that way either to get at the filter or out of personal habit. I should also add that it can be done in a cleaner manner going from below.

Nice write up. The pictures are also helpful. I have always known how to change my oil, I guess I just assumed almost everyone else who wanted to do there own knew also.