juncho

I'm at about 10k miles on my IS350 so I decided to do my own oil change rather than pay the dealership.

I was able to successfully drain the oil from the oil pan but for the life of me, I'm not able to get the oil filter cover unscrewed. I've tried using a universal oil filter wrench and even a oil filter cap wrench I bought from Autozone (Oil filter "F" Cap Wrench, #25404).

The cap wrench seem to fit the best over the oil filter cover but no matter how much force I put, it doesn't budge. At this point, my socket wrench is ruined and I need to purchase another one.

At this point, I'm thinking of just adding new oil without replacing the filter for this oil change. How bad is this?

Anyone else have similar issues getting the oil filter cover removed? Any tips that anyone can provide me?

IS35O

I use the OEM Lexus tool, no problems

el3ctone

I Just Used Universal Wrench. It Worked Fine. Maybe A Tapping Motion Might Help. Sorry About The Caps. Typing On My Cellphone

juncho

My guess is that the mechanics over torqued the filter cap when I got the free 5k oil change at the Lexus dealership.

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

I've noticed that the Lexus techs tend to screw the filter housing on UNBELIEVABLY tight. If this is your first time changing your own oil, you're going to have to apply a massive amount of torque to get is loose. Pull HARD. As for which tool to use, If you don't want to buy the Lexus SST filter wrench, I found this tool at Wal-Mart for ~3 bucks which works just fine:



Javier

juncho

Actually - that is one of the wrenches I bought to try to get the cap loose. At this point, I have 2 options:

1) Put the old oil back in and get the oil and filter changed by a mechanic with a lift.

2) Put new oil in with the old oil filter.

I'm leaning towards option 2 - and deferring the problem with the oil filter at my next oil change. How bad is this? I'm planning to put Moible 1.

Tuxlex

I would not put the old oil back in. You have containated it with
who knows what from your dirty oil drain pan. There is probably
even some sand in it at this point.

I regularly only change my filter at every other oil change on my
other cars. They have around 200,000 miles on them and it is
not a problem. My oil change intervals with Mobil 1 is 7500 to
8000 miles. You will be fine with not changing the filter this one
time. The dealer already changed it at the 5000 mile interval.
Most metal particles break off during the initial breakin period
and that filter was replaced already. Unfortunately you still
have a 1/2 qt of dirty oil in the filter but that is not so bad as
you might think. The majority of your new oil fill will provide
the needed additives.

I will post pics of two filter wrenches that work without getting
the overpriced Lexus wrench. One I got from Walmart and modified
it to work with the IS, the other from Napa.
The Lexus unit is nice, it's cast and chromed but robbery at $49.

juncho

Tuxlex, I appreciate the advice and thanks in advance for the pictures.

Evitzee

Don't put the used oil back in, it's contaminated now. No harm will come to you skipping the oil filter change this time. Put the new oil in and maybe change it a bit earlier than planned next time, say in 3 to 4k miles.

Tony59blue

iTrader: (3)

They had the same problem with my car at Express Lube. They told me no mattter how much they tried they could not remove the oil filter and they left it alone. I had to take it to North Side Lexus in Houston to have it changed. It took them a while but got it out.

Tuxlex

Juncho, what is needed is a 65 MM cap wrench. I do not
like the universals because they could damage the
filter housing or at best put marks on it.

My dealer did not know how to get me the SST wrench that
their Lexus mechanics use. I eventually found it at
lexus-parts.com for $49. So I kept looking for a cheaper unit.

Most of the auto parts stores and even Toyota dealers have
universal units that work on both 65 and 67 MM filters. Unfortunately,
these are steped units and the wrench will not go onto the
Lexus housing far enough to engage the inner 65 MM part.
The one I tried was from Walmart and I modified it to make it work.
This is what I actualy used to remove the housing for the first time.
To make the wrench go on fully to engage the 65 MM part,
I had to cut off the outer 67 MM section with a hack saw. Since
it is only phenolic, it cut real easy but also was not strong enough
to keep from slipping when the filter housing is rediculously tight.
To solve this problem, I put a large hose clamp on the outside of
the wrench. This allowed me to tighten the wrench onto the housing
real snug and eliminated any posibility of slipage.

I kept looking further for a single step steel wrench and found the
Napa 3253. My local store ordered it in 1 day. It should work
nicely next time and was only $8.79

SST

Modified

NAPA

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Buy a 3/8 breaker bar and get that thing off of there. Better still, get a 1/2" breaker bar and a 3/8" adapter so you can put some force on it.

Yeah, it got way over-tightened. Unfortunately some people fail to realise these things seal on the o-ring, not on the threads, so they needlessly tighten them far beyond what is necessary.

I don't know about you guys, but I change my filter twice as often as I change my oil. If you know how the filter bypass works, you'd do the same. Also, many years ago Red Line told me their oil would work on a 14k OCI as long as I changed the filter and topped off every 7k.

juncho

Thanks all for the suggestions. For now, I just put new oil in the car without replacing the filter. At this point, I'm just so pissed at it and working on it anymore will cause that big vein in my temple to pop.

I'm a bit annoyed that the mechanic at the dealership over torqued the filter housing so much. I wish I could go and complain to the dealership but I think it's not worth the effort/trouble.

At this point, when my next oil change is up, I think I'm going to need to take it to a mechanic with a lift because being under the car with jack stands, I don't think I can get enough leverage to unloose the stupid thing.

Again - thanks all.

em199si

punch a screwdriver through the oil filter. twist off. problem solved.

tt061880

eh I used a channel lock that i had laying around and it works fine.