45K/45,000 Miles Service on my 2006 IS250 6AT - Experts, Chime in please.
03-19-08, 03:29 PM
#1
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45K/45,000 Miles Service on my 2006 IS250 6AT - Experts, Chime in please.
Okay guys and gals, it's that time for me to do the maintenance on my IS250 and keep it running strong. I'm trying to compose a "suggested" list that we, car enthusiasts, believe that we should do to keep our car running safe and strong.
So far, these are all I can think off, please chime in with things I should add or advices on doing these. Thank you very much.
That's all I can think of now, is there anything that you may suggest? I'll try to come up with the DIY for each of this as I go through them.
Thanks again for the help
So far, these are all I can think off, please chime in with things I should add or advices on doing these. Thank you very much.
- Oil & Oil Filter change - Switch to AMSoil ASL 5w30 Full Synthetic Fluid + Lexus OEM Oil filters. We've been having changes at Lexus to keep the "good will" relationship but I feel it's time we switch over. Oil is rated at 25K miles interval. We'll go 10K on these. I've ran it on my G35 as well as other cars from 10K-15K miles and they're all good. Filters will be changed out every 5K miles.
- Air Filter Change - Switch to SRI Intake + AMSoil EaaU Washable Filter. By my experience on the G, these filters are the best. Best Flow + Protection. Also, what is the common intake pipe's diameter on the aftermarket kit? is it 2.5" with 3" flared for the filter or they're 3" straight? Thanks. Also, I'm going to have a shield and a duct for this so it can draw cool air from the front instead of the hot air trapped under hood.
- Cabin Filter Change - Replace (either DIY or use Dealer's parts that my friend can hook me up with) - Anyone has a DIY or somewhere that show how to change it? Thanks
- Rotate and Balance - Free from Discount tire on our new set of Nitto INVO
- Fuel Injection Cleaner - 1 bottle of BG44K On new tank of gas
- Brake Fluid - Check, if brown/not good, flush and fill with ATE Super Blue, good stuffs. TSB got me new brake pads @30K, so they should be good still.
- Differential Fluid - Change out with AMSoil SAE 80W-80 or 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube
- Complete Detail Job - Wash, Clay, Fine Polish, Glaze, Seal, and Wax with Porter Cable DA, Menzerna stuffs as well as S100 Wax
That's all I can think of now, is there anything that you may suggest? I'll try to come up with the DIY for each of this as I go through them.
Thanks again for the help
Last edited by RED_IS250; 03-19-08 at 03:36 PM.
03-19-08, 05:06 PM
#4
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Why would you bother rotating? My tires wear pretty evenly across the tread (at least in the rear) so there's no advantage to swapping them left to right.
Why did you wait so long to run synthetic oil? That was the first thing I did after the free oil change at 5k miles. And regardless of what Amsoil says, there is no substitute for UOA. Send your stuff to Blackstone and update our Blackstone thread.
Cabin air filter change is in the FAQ and in your owner's manual. Just be sure to put it in recirculate mode. You'll see the filter as soon as you remove the covers.
I don't know whose Kool-Aid you've been drinking, but best filtering and best flow never meet. They're not even friends. You get one or the other. A lot like "cheap, fast, reliable - pick two." Amsoil makes some good things, but like all companies, their marketing department makes some over the top claims for some of them because they know no one can afford to independently test and refute their claims.
Brake fluid should have been done already at one year. Color is completely unimportant. After a year in service, the fluid has picked up plenty of humidity (especially here in GA) so it needs to go no matter how good it may look.
The BG44K is a waste unless you're running really cheap gas. Don't get me wrong, it's the best of the pour-in cleaners, but for what it costs and the benefit you'll see, I'd say wait until 100k miles.
Still, it's your car...spend your money as you see fit.
Why did you wait so long to run synthetic oil? That was the first thing I did after the free oil change at 5k miles. And regardless of what Amsoil says, there is no substitute for UOA. Send your stuff to Blackstone and update our Blackstone thread.
Cabin air filter change is in the FAQ and in your owner's manual. Just be sure to put it in recirculate mode. You'll see the filter as soon as you remove the covers.
I don't know whose Kool-Aid you've been drinking, but best filtering and best flow never meet. They're not even friends. You get one or the other. A lot like "cheap, fast, reliable - pick two." Amsoil makes some good things, but like all companies, their marketing department makes some over the top claims for some of them because they know no one can afford to independently test and refute their claims.
Brake fluid should have been done already at one year. Color is completely unimportant. After a year in service, the fluid has picked up plenty of humidity (especially here in GA) so it needs to go no matter how good it may look.
The BG44K is a waste unless you're running really cheap gas. Don't get me wrong, it's the best of the pour-in cleaners, but for what it costs and the benefit you'll see, I'd say wait until 100k miles.
Still, it's your car...spend your money as you see fit.
03-19-08, 05:14 PM
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I would want to change my auto tranny fluid too. I know its "lifetime" fluid. But I do not believe in lifetime fluids.
BMW's have this "lifetime" fluid and their trannies where breaking left and right.
BMW's have this "lifetime" fluid and their trannies where breaking left and right.
03-19-08, 08:58 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
Why would you bother rotating? My tires wear pretty evenly across the tread (at least in the rear) so there's no advantage to swapping them left to right.
Why did you wait so long to run synthetic oil? That was the first thing I did after the free oil change at 5k miles. And regardless of what Amsoil says, there is no substitute for UOA. Send your stuff to Blackstone and update our Blackstone thread.
Cabin air filter change is in the FAQ and in your owner's manual. Just be sure to put it in recirculate mode. You'll see the filter as soon as you remove the covers.
I don't know whose Kool-Aid you've been drinking, but best filtering and best flow never meet. They're not even friends. You get one or the other. A lot like "cheap, fast, reliable - pick two." Amsoil makes some good things, but like all companies, their marketing department makes some over the top claims for some of them because they know no one can afford to independently test and refute their claims.
Brake fluid should have been done already at one year. Color is completely unimportant. After a year in service, the fluid has picked up plenty of humidity (especially here in GA) so it needs to go no matter how good it may look.
The BG44K is a waste unless you're running really cheap gas. Don't get me wrong, it's the best of the pour-in cleaners, but for what it costs and the benefit you'll see, I'd say wait until 100k miles.
Still, it's your car...spend your money as you see fit.
Why did you wait so long to run synthetic oil? That was the first thing I did after the free oil change at 5k miles. And regardless of what Amsoil says, there is no substitute for UOA. Send your stuff to Blackstone and update our Blackstone thread.
Cabin air filter change is in the FAQ and in your owner's manual. Just be sure to put it in recirculate mode. You'll see the filter as soon as you remove the covers.
I don't know whose Kool-Aid you've been drinking, but best filtering and best flow never meet. They're not even friends. You get one or the other. A lot like "cheap, fast, reliable - pick two." Amsoil makes some good things, but like all companies, their marketing department makes some over the top claims for some of them because they know no one can afford to independently test and refute their claims.
Brake fluid should have been done already at one year. Color is completely unimportant. After a year in service, the fluid has picked up plenty of humidity (especially here in GA) so it needs to go no matter how good it may look.
The BG44K is a waste unless you're running really cheap gas. Don't get me wrong, it's the best of the pour-in cleaners, but for what it costs and the benefit you'll see, I'd say wait until 100k miles.
Still, it's your car...spend your money as you see fit.
Rotating - Always help, doesn't hurt. Plus 1 car is driven by 1 person most of the time, and I push the car pretty hard, so they do get uneven wears.
Synthetic oil - I've already mentioned why I waited so long. But I'll explain it again: 1. Is to build good will relationship with the dealer and I did get a lot of benefits out of it. 2. I got offers for many free oil changes from the tech. With regards to intervals on the AMSoil syn oil, I've ran AMSoil on my other cars, including my G35C and did blackstone lab after 10K miles, came back good.
Cabin Filter - Thanks, I'll give it a look.
Air Filter - I've been drinking my own kool-aid because I've had some tests and experiences with various filters.
AMSoil Eaau filter proved to be the best for me. This was on my G35C. I've used couple brands, Apexi, K&N, etc. I've opened up my intake plenums + intake on my G many times before during diff mod phases and checked. AMSoil proven to have the cleanest and didn't rob my car of any HP, even compared to open tube. We did a dyno like that between an open CAI and AMSoil air filter just for **** and giggles, makes same HP . It protects my engine during heavy rain and puddles in the rain. I'm not just spitting BS, this was through my experience. I may not be active here, but been around the scene long enough. 
Brake fluid - we had it changed out before. Time isn't the matter, it's what condition it's in. I've always changes fluid before and after track days. That's why I check for it if it's brown, it's heavily contaminated, or if it's not good (test the fluid's viscosity, feels, etc.) then it's time to change it.
Thanks for the tips on BG44K. I just thought of using it since it's only 12 bucks and I've been using mix brands of 93oct. It only helps right.
Not only it'd help with the injectors, but also the engine & valves as well right?Again, thanks for the suggestions.
I'm interested in this too since I don't have experience with this type of tranny fluid.
Last edited by RED_IS250; 03-19-08 at 09:26 PM.
03-19-08, 10:12 PM
#7
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Rotating - can aggravate the lap joint in the tread and cause catastrophic failure. Seen it happen.
If you're as experienced as you say, why bother with the dealer at all? My car has been to the dealer three times in the 47k miles I've driven it since new. Free oil change at 5k, TSIB pads/interior rattles at 21k, and TSIB for cam drive sprockets at 45k. I wouldn't let them do anything else. I've seen what some techs do, and I had to show a Lexus Master Tech how to time aftermarket cams with adjustable sprockets, so I'm pretty confident I know more than they do about engine building. I also have a subscription to TIS. The only thing I don't have is the Toughbook with the Toyota software load. But that's me.
If you're confident of your air filter test results I won't argue. But I will say your testing methodology leaves a lot to guesswork. Real air filter testing is quite different from what you described. And any square cut open tube flows like crap. Any flow bench will show you that.
It is impossible to determine the real condition of brake fluid by looking at it, just as it is impossible to determine the real condition of engine oil by looking at it. If it's a year old, it's pretty dead and very likely at its wet boiling point no matter what you've done with it, and it very well might appear clear.
If you want to clean the valves and pistons, run some water through the engine. Nothing knocks out more carbon than water injection. BG, Techron, Red Line, STP, and the myriad other cleaners won't even come close to what plain old water will do for valves, pistons, and combustion chambers.
And I still don't know why some of you guys insist on breaking open a sealed gearbox just to change the fluid. If it had cooler lines you could use to flush it, I could see it. But it doesn't. There is no simple way to get the fluid out and replace it with fresh. All you're doing is risking contaminating the existing fluid.
If you're as experienced as you say, why bother with the dealer at all? My car has been to the dealer three times in the 47k miles I've driven it since new. Free oil change at 5k, TSIB pads/interior rattles at 21k, and TSIB for cam drive sprockets at 45k. I wouldn't let them do anything else. I've seen what some techs do, and I had to show a Lexus Master Tech how to time aftermarket cams with adjustable sprockets, so I'm pretty confident I know more than they do about engine building. I also have a subscription to TIS. The only thing I don't have is the Toughbook with the Toyota software load. But that's me.
If you're confident of your air filter test results I won't argue. But I will say your testing methodology leaves a lot to guesswork. Real air filter testing is quite different from what you described. And any square cut open tube flows like crap. Any flow bench will show you that.
It is impossible to determine the real condition of brake fluid by looking at it, just as it is impossible to determine the real condition of engine oil by looking at it. If it's a year old, it's pretty dead and very likely at its wet boiling point no matter what you've done with it, and it very well might appear clear.
If you want to clean the valves and pistons, run some water through the engine. Nothing knocks out more carbon than water injection. BG, Techron, Red Line, STP, and the myriad other cleaners won't even come close to what plain old water will do for valves, pistons, and combustion chambers.
And I still don't know why some of you guys insist on breaking open a sealed gearbox just to change the fluid. If it had cooler lines you could use to flush it, I could see it. But it doesn't. There is no simple way to get the fluid out and replace it with fresh. All you're doing is risking contaminating the existing fluid.
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03-19-08, 10:34 PM
#8
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Thread Starter
Rotating - can aggravate the lap joint in the tread and cause catastrophic failure. Seen it happen.
If you're as experienced as you say, why bother with the dealer at all? My car has been to the dealer three times in the 47k miles I've driven it since new. Free oil change at 5k, TSIB pads/interior rattles at 21k, and TSIB for cam drive sprockets at 45k. I wouldn't let them do anything else. I've seen what some techs do, and I had to show a Lexus Master Tech how to time aftermarket cams with adjustable sprockets, so I'm pretty confident I know more than they do about engine building. I also have a subscription to TIS. The only thing I don't have is the Toughbook with the Toyota software load. But that's me.
If you're confident of your air filter test results I won't argue. But I will say your testing methodology leaves a lot to guesswork. Real air filter testing is quite different from what you described. And any square cut open tube flows like crap. Any flow bench will show you that.
It is impossible to determine the real condition of brake fluid by looking at it, just as it is impossible to determine the real condition of engine oil by looking at it. If it's a year old, it's pretty dead and very likely at its wet boiling point no matter what you've done with it, and it very well might appear clear.
If you want to clean the valves and pistons, run some water through the engine. Nothing knocks out more carbon than water injection. BG, Techron, Red Line, STP, and the myriad other cleaners won't even come close to what plain old water will do for valves, pistons, and combustion chambers.
If you're as experienced as you say, why bother with the dealer at all? My car has been to the dealer three times in the 47k miles I've driven it since new. Free oil change at 5k, TSIB pads/interior rattles at 21k, and TSIB for cam drive sprockets at 45k. I wouldn't let them do anything else. I've seen what some techs do, and I had to show a Lexus Master Tech how to time aftermarket cams with adjustable sprockets, so I'm pretty confident I know more than they do about engine building. I also have a subscription to TIS. The only thing I don't have is the Toughbook with the Toyota software load. But that's me.
If you're confident of your air filter test results I won't argue. But I will say your testing methodology leaves a lot to guesswork. Real air filter testing is quite different from what you described. And any square cut open tube flows like crap. Any flow bench will show you that.
It is impossible to determine the real condition of brake fluid by looking at it, just as it is impossible to determine the real condition of engine oil by looking at it. If it's a year old, it's pretty dead and very likely at its wet boiling point no matter what you've done with it, and it very well might appear clear.
If you want to clean the valves and pistons, run some water through the engine. Nothing knocks out more carbon than water injection. BG, Techron, Red Line, STP, and the myriad other cleaners won't even come close to what plain old water will do for valves, pistons, and combustion chambers.
Yea, I too don't trust dealership. But I went there to get some good connections. I let them do free oil changes, TSB, and free waxes & interior cleaning.
That's how I made friends for my business as well as getting hookups on discounted parts I don't let them do anything else. Just to keep on good terms with them as well as some mtn paper work if I do decide to sell the car later.About the air filter, it's just on what I experienced. Btw, where did you get the idea about square-cut open tube thing?. I'm confused
While I had the AMSoil filter with the G, I drove through heavy rain and and puddles, and I felt that the filter trapped the water outside better since the car bogged down a lil bit. MAF sensor sensed less air came in. Immediately took off the filter and checked the tube when I got home (40mi drive). Filter was wet, but inside the intake tube was dry. That explained the filtration efficiency of the filter. Like regular physics, air is draw from the quickest path. Filter had enough large opening to draw air from dry spots instead of the wet spot. With the great filtration it had, the water didn't get suck in, thus protected the engine. I was very surprised, so I did these tests.
I didn't do any extensive technical test, just basic user-end test. I've tried different filters on my G35's CAI. After 5000 miles, I check the filter condition. I also checked the internals of the intake & plenums on my car. My intake tube is the most cleanest with AMSoil. I even went and did the vacumm test on the filter with dirt particles. They all filtered good, AMSoil being closest to my APEXi filter, best filtration. HKS Shroom filter was the worse, it sucked dirts in a lot. K&N was decent, but less efficient than the other 2.
I've also dynoed the car with 3 different filters back to back as well as an open CAI tube. OPEN CAI tube made the most hp of all 4 runs. AMSoil was the closest to open CAI tube, with same AFR reading and only 0.2whp less. HKS Shroom made the same whp as the AMSoil filter with same AFR. K&N ran a lil leaner and lil less hp (about 3whp). I didn't have an Apexi to ran since I accidentally crushed mine after the filtration test.
Any other tips or suggestions you want to add to the 45K service?
Btw, thanks a lot for your helpful tips
Last edited by RED_IS250; 03-19-08 at 10:42 PM.
03-19-08, 10:49 PM
#9
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Square cut open tube=the end of most CAIs I have seen. Actual flow area is 2/3 the area of the tube because of turbulence. I know this from years of cylinder head porting and from working on high vacuum systems. Air can't ever be pulled - it's a misconception.
Air molecules move from high pressure to low pressure because there are fewer molecules to impede their progress. Air molecules act like Velcro covered ***** that are constantly in motion. If they move fast enough, they bounce off things they hit. If they move too slow they stick. High pressure regions are where lots of air molecules are sticking to everything. Low pressure regions are either because the air is moving so quickly it doesn't have time to stick, or there are so few molecules present that they impart no energy to the vessel containing them.
So, it's not possible to "suck," "draw," or "pull" air. You can only give it an opportunity to move from high pressure to low pressure.
Turbulence brings its own set of rules to the party, and that's why a tube with a square cut end only flows the same as a properly shaped bell mouth tube 2/3 the diameter of the square cut tube. It's the reason you see "velocity" stacks - they flow more air. A LOT more air.
All the air filters you mentioned do a poor job of filtering. Sad but true, paper filters do the best job of capturing the really small stuff. Check the link I added. The damned AC Delco paper filter performed best. I wish it weren't true, and I can't tell you how much money I've wasted on K&N filters that only made things worse in the long run. It got to the point I'd rather just rebuild frequently than deal with crappy filtration for what I was told was a couple of hp, but really wasn't at all.
Which also reminds me - the genius who arrived at the conclusion that air is colder just above pavement and insisted on putting the intakes low on cars never put a thermometer over a road on a sunny day. He sure never walked across a flightline in boots on a hot day, or he'd've put that thing as high as he could...
Air molecules move from high pressure to low pressure because there are fewer molecules to impede their progress. Air molecules act like Velcro covered ***** that are constantly in motion. If they move fast enough, they bounce off things they hit. If they move too slow they stick. High pressure regions are where lots of air molecules are sticking to everything. Low pressure regions are either because the air is moving so quickly it doesn't have time to stick, or there are so few molecules present that they impart no energy to the vessel containing them.
So, it's not possible to "suck," "draw," or "pull" air. You can only give it an opportunity to move from high pressure to low pressure.
Turbulence brings its own set of rules to the party, and that's why a tube with a square cut end only flows the same as a properly shaped bell mouth tube 2/3 the diameter of the square cut tube. It's the reason you see "velocity" stacks - they flow more air. A LOT more air.
All the air filters you mentioned do a poor job of filtering. Sad but true, paper filters do the best job of capturing the really small stuff. Check the link I added. The damned AC Delco paper filter performed best. I wish it weren't true, and I can't tell you how much money I've wasted on K&N filters that only made things worse in the long run. It got to the point I'd rather just rebuild frequently than deal with crappy filtration for what I was told was a couple of hp, but really wasn't at all.
Which also reminds me - the genius who arrived at the conclusion that air is colder just above pavement and insisted on putting the intakes low on cars never put a thermometer over a road on a sunny day. He sure never walked across a flightline in boots on a hot day, or he'd've put that thing as high as he could...
03-20-08, 06:11 AM
#10
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Thread Starter
yup, I see what you mean exactly but air movement. I didn't want to get into all the technical details, thus my uses of layman terms.
I agree, V-stack gave the most gain. It's been tested and dyno proven before with exceptional gains as much as 6whp over stock setup (I'm speaking about Nissan's VQ engine platform). Not to mention ITB setup, now we're talking extreme ends
We've also tested it back to back on my setup as well and surprisingly, there wasn't a different. I guess one of the reason being is the AMSoil filter mounting end shapes like a V-stack as well as the CAI used on the car had a flared out wedge from 3" pipe to 3.5" inlet.
Btw, you're right about the the misperception of Colder Air being just above the pavement. I guess their logic behind it is to move the intake entry point further away from the engine as possible since under hood temp can rise greatly as well as the thermal logic of Cold air = dense and at the bottom, while hot air is up top. But there are many other factors involved as well when talking about road condition. I've seen road course heated up so badly after many track session before and having cold air down low can't actually hurt the performance.
Anyhow, thanks for the tips. For some reason, I feel like like we've getting way too technical for a simple 45K job. However, I thoroughly enjoy the conversation with these technical details.
-Kevin
I agree, V-stack gave the most gain. It's been tested and dyno proven before with exceptional gains as much as 6whp over stock setup (I'm speaking about Nissan's VQ engine platform). Not to mention ITB setup, now we're talking extreme ends
We've also tested it back to back on my setup as well and surprisingly, there wasn't a different. I guess one of the reason being is the AMSoil filter mounting end shapes like a V-stack as well as the CAI used on the car had a flared out wedge from 3" pipe to 3.5" inlet.
Btw, you're right about the the misperception of Colder Air being just above the pavement. I guess their logic behind it is to move the intake entry point further away from the engine as possible since under hood temp can rise greatly as well as the thermal logic of Cold air = dense and at the bottom, while hot air is up top. But there are many other factors involved as well when talking about road condition. I've seen road course heated up so badly after many track session before and having cold air down low can't actually hurt the performance.
Anyhow, thanks for the tips. For some reason, I feel like like we've getting way too technical for a simple 45K job. However, I thoroughly enjoy the conversation with these technical details.
-Kevin
03-20-08, 06:59 AM
#11
If you want to clean the valves and pistons, run some water through the engine. Nothing knocks out more carbon than water injection. BG, Techron, Red Line, STP, and the myriad other cleaners won't even come close to what plain old water will do for valves, pistons, and combustion chambers.
Please tell more.
03-20-08, 07:09 AM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
ISX50's a sealed tranny? I should look in the manual. This would make sense since I cannot seem to locate the tranny dip stick under the hood (LOL).
03-20-08, 09:42 AM
#14
Suggestions!
Amsoil 0w-30 or 0w-20 (motor oil) would give you better cold flow with the same protection.
The IS uses a proprietary (low viscosity) synthetic fluid, Type "WS". Don't waste your time and money changing what does not need to be serviced. Even the filter is maintenance free.
Amsoil severe 75w-90 gear oil in the diff. (100K mile life)
Koz
Amsoil 0w-30 or 0w-20 (motor oil) would give you better cold flow with the same protection.
The IS uses a proprietary (low viscosity) synthetic fluid, Type "WS". Don't waste your time and money changing what does not need to be serviced. Even the filter is maintenance free.
Amsoil severe 75w-90 gear oil in the diff. (100K mile life)
Koz
03-20-08, 02:55 PM
#15
Rookie
Thread Starter
Yea, though I'm still skeptical on the tranny and understand well about the fact that it's virtually imposible to do a regular change, I'll stick by what the manual says
Koz - Thanks for the suggestion. Luckily I have some 0w-30 as well
Koz - Thanks for the suggestion. Luckily I have some 0w-30 as well