Normally,  I wouldn’t do a drive this long.  My limit is a drive to Albany which is 6 hours away.  The last time I did a long drive was almost 10 years ago during labor day 2003 to Chicago from NJ and I felt that ride was pretty tough.

However, a lot of stars aligned which made this trip to Rockford, IL (1.5 hours west of Chicago) to see my wife’s family work out.  A few of which were:

1) My wife got the sudden ability midway through the month that she can just work on her project from home for the rest of the year.  (Around this time of year, my leave is usually flexible.)
2) We didn’t know when we would leave or come back which made flying hard.  Too many factors were involved for this particular trip

3) (the biggest reason) We had just bought our 2013 Acura RDX AWD Tech in late November which was a both new and fun to drive.

4) Also, I had been feeling my car wasn’t giving me good pickup like during the test drives and I thought the culprit may have been that I wasn’t using Premium Gas (as I discussed here in this Acurazine thread).  I thought a nice drive to give the car a workout w/ nothing but premium would help.

I came back late last night from my week long trip of approx 1800 miles to, from, and around the greater Chicago-land area.  Our car, which we have now owned  for a month is now at 3k miles.

Here are the stats of our trips:

Gas – Part 1: To Rockford, IL and then some driving around greater Chicago-land area (Note, each time premium was used and each time gas was filled up all the way):

1. 13.02g, Exxon on Old Columbia Pike in Silver Spring, MD, $3.80/gal, $49.47 – This one doesn’t really count since this was our gas RIGHT BEFORE we started our trip. However, it was the first time I put premium gas in this vehicle
2. 9.80g, Sheetz in Monroeville, PA $3.76/gall, $36.82
3. 5.54g, Sheetz in Streetsboro, OH, $3.55/gal, $19.64
4. 12.75g, Atlas Oil in Ekhard, IN, $3.42/gal, $43.60 – It was in this tank that we would have enough Gas to get us all the way to Rockford, IL.  I wish I had gassed up right when I got to Rockford so I knew exactly how much gas I had consumed
5. ?g, 7-eleven in Des Plaines IL, $/gal, $50.89 – This fillup was after arrival in Rockford, a short drive around the city that evening to show my in-laws the car, the next day during a drive to Chicago to pick up something

So those stats are only so helpful because they include driving that’s not just to the original destination.  But the ride back is when I reset-ed meters and gassed up before AND after the journey.

This following gas-up prior to departing really falls under Part 1 of the journey:

• 8.49g, Road Ranger in Rockford IL, $3.64/gal, $30.89 – Finishing up a gift card (luckily amount of gas I needed was just a little more than what was available)
• 1.11g, Road Ranger in Rockford IL, $3.64/gal, $4.02 – The remaining amount needed to fill up to top

Gas – Part 2: From Rockford, IL home to Burtonsville, MD with a slight, slight detour into  Chicago for Field Museum and Brunch

1. 8.32g, BP in Ekhart IN, $3.60/gal, $29.93
2. 7.30, Sunoco in Clyde OH, $3.42/gal, $24.97
3. 11.72g, Sunoco in Somerset PA, $3.80/gal, $44.51
4. 7.17g, Exxon on Briggs Chaney Rd in Silver Spring MD, $27.88 – Gas put in the car the next morning after arrival back home (before going to work)

For Part 1 of Journey (Doesn’t include initial Silver Spring gas-up, does include pre-drive back Road Ranger gas-up): 50.71 + (missing Des Plaines amount) gallons for a total cost of $185.86.
For Part 2 of Journey: 34.51 gallons for a total cost of $127.29

So as I mentioned, after I gassed up in Rockford, IL before leaving for home, I reseted the trip computer like I was supposed to at the start of the journey to IL.  So here are some more stats strictly for the ride home to Burtonsville, MD with a short, very slight detour into the city to the Field museum and a brunch place near it:

From Car:

1. 11h20 minutes elapsed time driving
2. 766 miles traveled
3. 22mpg – Note, car’s Highway MPG is 27mpg according to the sticker but we maintained some pretty high speeds on the road (me more than my wife) going anywhere from 80+ mph to 100mph.  Also I downshifted when I needed to pass cars or catch up.

Time left Rockford, IL: approx 9am CST
Time left Chicago, IL (after brunch which followed the museum):  approx 1pm CST (know for sure I put money in the meter pre-brunch at 12:20pm
Time arrived home in Burtonsville, MD: approx 12:30am EST

I will put Toll information after I get it from E-ZPass

A co-worker of my dad had given my dad these Lexus HID Bulbs ( ” Toyota Bulb, HID, 90981-20024″) sometime back:

My dad gave them to me to keep as bulbs to use if the HIDs in my 2008 Lexus IS 350 ever went out. I didn’t know if these were really compatible but held onto them.

But them my dad got a used 2006 IS 350 which didn’t come with HIDs. He asked for the bulbs back to put in his car so he could have HID. I didn’t think that it was a simple as putting in HID Bulbs into a car for it to have HID lights, I thought it was a whole projector system.

But today I took the car to the Lexus Dealer and was told that it would cost $135 to install these bulbs and my dad would indeed have HID bulbs in his IS. I was surprised. I asked if it was as simple as swapping out the bulbs. He said it was more involved then that. Specifically, there would be some disassembly and programming involved.

Unless there’s an easy DIY, or a cheaper but reputable place to go to, I plan to have the dealer do it for the $135 in the near future.

So far I have discussed on ClubLexus here and here.

In the summer of 2010 when my Lexus 2008 IS 350 was around 25k miles, I checked and replaced my air filter and cabin air filter filter for the first time. 2+ years later, with my vehicle now around 63k miles, I have checked and cleaned my Blitz Engine Air Filter and Blitz  Cabin Air Filter (also known as Hybrid, Pollen, and A/C Filter). I should have checked these filters much sooner but didn’t. The Blitz A/C filter is definitely re-usable, but the Blitz Engine Air Filter I’m not too sure about. I had read somewhere that it could be cleaned and re-used once.

I have a write-up in clublexus on a relevant thread regarding this which is worth taking a look.  Here are some pics:

The tops of the Blitz Engine Air and Blitz Cabin Air Filter taken out of the car before they were washed.

The bottoms of the Blitz Engine Air and Blitz Cabin Air Filter taken out of the car before they were washed.

The tops of the Blitz Engine Air and Blitz Cabin Air Filter after they were washed.

The bottoms of the Blitz Engine Air and Blitz Cabin Air Filter taken out of the car before they were washed.

The washed and cleaned Blitz Engine Air and Blitz Cabin Air Filter sitting out to dry in the sun.

Today’s oil change was the 3rd one that I did on my in my 2008 Lexus IS 350. Unfortunately, this one turned out to be the most complicated.

1) The Assenmacher toy 640 Oil Filter Wrench I had ordered…

… got stuck on the Housing and wouldn’t come off. I tried PB Blaster but it didn’t help. I just gave up and left it on the housing. I hope it’s not a big deal.  Next time I take the car to Lexus Service, hopefully they can pull it off for me.

2) There was also something that bothered me when I pulled down the oil pan cover to expose the drain plug.  There was an extra screw that came down with it:

For anyone unfamiliar, this is the area that’s exposed when you take this cover off:

Here’s a close up of the screw:

I have no idea where this came off of.

3) I’ve always wondered what these other items are that come with the Toyota Oil Filter:

I don’t do anything with them.

4) And lastly, I forgot to use the “Gasket: Oils and Fluids-Crush Gasket (Oil drain plug) 9043012031PC.” I just pulled the old drain plug back on after it was done draining.

Driving back from a wedding in New Jersey late on a cold, wet, windy night, we hit a pothole on the New Jersey Turnpike. Luckily I had my cousin Ali with me in the car and with more than one person, the experience was much easier. But still, a flat tire on a night like this is a good wake up call for disaster preparedness.

Here are my takeaways:

• make sure you have all tire-changing tools and they are in proper condition. So Jack, jack-raising squiggly rod, crowbar, and wheel locks all working correctly, not out of shape. I good way to make sure you have all this is to use these items when doing your own maintenance. In this car I had done my own brake fluid change last year so I knew I did.
• Also your spare tire of course with enough air. Mine had only 30psi air in there because I never checked the tire pressure in the 3 years I’ve owned this car (it was bought new) until tonight when I got the flat tire.
• an air pressure gauge-After the tire change was done we stopped at the next rest area to check the tire pressure because I didn’t have a gauge and saw that it was only halfway full of air
• a strong sheet to lay on the ground next to the tire- luckily I have this oil-stained heavy sheet in my trunk at all times. It was handy for us to put out knees on
• a warm change of clothes- I was in a suit but had a change of clothes in case I stayed the night here in NJ. Also had a north face jacket too instead of my not-as-warm dressy coat I had. The change of clothes should be older clothes you don’t care about
• warm and/or mechanic gloves- I have mechanic gloves at home. Not sure how good they would have been for the 20 degree weather we did the change in. Or if warmer mechanic gloves exist
• trunk space with moveable/arrangeable items- just be conscious when you’re looking at your trunk before a trip or even car ride with what you would do with the items in the trunk in the event of a flat tire. Particularly for accessing the spare tire and putting the larger now-flat tire back in.

One more item I have to deal with now is what road hazard protection we have for our cars from either out insurance company or any other provider. I know we don’t have AAA. But i think with Lexus you get something for a certain amount of miles.

This is more so for my wife who has to drive a lot to Jersey for her work.

Last week someone hit my IS 350 mirror in the morning.  When I walked out to my car, this is what I saw:

Some more pictures:

I took it to Lexus of Silver Spring the next day.  They said the actuator was broken and I could either replace the Actuator Sub-Assy (87908-53250-B0) $319.86, with labor $455.  Or I could get the Mirror Sub-Assy (87901-53070-B0) which would be $372.17 but easier to install.

Below are scans of the documents I brought back from Lexus of Silver Spring:

Update:

I posted on ClubLexus abbout this issue and a member had a used actuator for sale.

I purchased that in late October and finally in early December, had a chance to take the car to the Lexus dealership with this actuator. I was told then that the actuator was not enough and that the entire sub assembly and glass were needed.  Since the Sub Assembly included the actuator and you could not buy the sub assembly without the actuator, I had to purchase the actuator even though I had one.  But perhaps this was for the better because I don’t think the Dealer could use the used actuator for what was needed (I asked for them to try and leave the new actuator part untouched).

I Was also told the actual glass for the mirror was needed as well.

I went with Sewell Lexus for the parts since they seemed the cheapest there with my ClubLexus discount.  The Mirror glass was $274.10 and the sub assembly was $219.34.  The total with shipping and the two windshield wiper inserts I ordered was $528.66.

I placed the order for this in Late December and yesterday I took the car in to the dealer. The dealer said the cost of labor would be higher now at $200 because the studs needed to be found.  They said they couldn’t use the used Actuator but were able to use the old glass.  That means that I can return the new glass to ClubLexus and get a refund for that (as of right now, I have just submitted the RMA and am waiting approval).

I have started a thread in the member’s classifieds section of ClubLexus to try and sell the Used Actuator I never used and am including the remains of my broken, replaced right side mirror as well in case anyone finds it useful.

Here are some additional pics which were requested by a member of the parts I have:

Now that I have some familiarity with doing my oil changes, I thought I would try to do it on my wife’s 2007 Accord i4 and my dad’s 2007 CR-V.  Yesterday I swung by the dealer and picked up two of the Honda Oil Filters and washers (I should have prepared better and bought these online – or at least taken a printout with me to get these prices down):

I looked online and found the Changing The Engine Oil On The 2007 CR-V, Photo Essay thread.  This mentioned the oil filter wrench so today, I swung by Advance Auto Parts to pick it up along with the oil I would use: two Mobil 1 5w-20 5qt jugs, which came with a mobil 1 oil filter for $33.99 total each set.

I got home, got my brother and got to work.  We started with the CR-V.

After doing the first steps of warming up the car and removing the oil cap and cleaning it, I tried doing the next step of removing the oil drain plug.  Unfortunately, it was on too tight for the tools I was working with – a Stanley Socket Set Driver and Gearwrench flex wrench (both 17mm):

I did have a longer 1/2″ Ratchet but only SAE sockets (which I bought for using w/ my IS 350′s Oil Filter Wrench during the last oil change).  I needed a 17mm one:

I thought I would try to put the car on ramps now – the OP of the CR-V thread said not being on the ramp  would be harder but would be better.  But, I thought having more room would help:

But it didn’t, we still couldn’t get the oil drain plug off with either tool:

I gave up at that point.  The only thing I can think of now is to get the 17mm socket with a 1/2″ connecter for my longer ratchet.  Hopefully the more torque will help.

I tried my luck with the Accord 2007 i4 next (7th generation):

For that, I found this thread: DIY: 7th gen I4 oil change, filter from top

I repeated the same initial steps of warming up the engine and cleaning around the oil cap area and leaving it loosely on.  With the oil drain plug being so accessible from the front, this was much easier and I had the oil drained in minutes after beginning:

Unfortunately I didn’t lay enough newspaper down though because there was some splatter:

To deal with this, I threw some liquid detergent over the oily areas RIGHT before a heavy thunderstorm came through.  I’m not sure how good that dealt with it but it’s the only thing I knew that could work.

With the oil pretty much drained, I reached from above and pulled the oil filter out.  It came out pretty easily, I didn’t even need the oil filter wrench.  I threw it in a zip lock bag (tip from the DIY: 7th gen I4 oil change, filter from top thread).  I then took the new oil filter and put a little new clean oil in it (Wasn’t sure how much I was supposed to put in) and also applied oil around the circular opening parts.  My brother and I both struggled to put the oil filter back on, it was a little more difficult but finally did.  Then threw a new washer on the oil drain plug and put that back in.

Next I started putting the oil in which was most of the 5qt Mobil 1 5w-20 jug in but not entirely.  I knew it wouldn’t take all 5 quarts and I was on ramps and needed to be on flat ground to see how much I needed.  I took the car off the ramps and got onto a flat surface but by then it started raining.  Tomorrow I have to put the remaining necessary oil into the car.

I came back after the rain and also resetted the maintenance minder:

This oil change was done at 49,623 miles and the car was -5111 miles past when the maintenance minder wanted me to do the oil change. I have to do some more research now to figure out how far I can take this oil, if I can change the filter and push the oil longer (like I plan to do in my IS 350).  Also, if it’s ok to use the Mobil 1 M1-110 Oil Filters that I got free with the mobil 1 oil.

Last weekend I finally got around to changing the brake fluid in my 2008 IS 350. From what I had read on the IS-specific forums, the brake fluid should have been changed every 30k miles and 2-3 years. I ended up changing it when the car was at 42k-something miles.

There were a few threads with instructions on how to do it and I referred to those to help me:
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-second-generation/533616-is350-brake-fluid-flush.html
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/suspension-and-brakes/292048-whats-the-correct-size-earls-solo-bleeder.html
http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-third-generation/557413-30k-fyi.html#post6298599

As far as parts went:

I had ordered four 12oz IS 350 brake fluid bottles from Sewell.

I also ordered these brake bleeders from ebay: Motion Pro Hydraulic Brake Bleeder One Man 1 08-0143. They had been recommended to me in this post.

Right before the install I picked up the vinyl tubing from Home Depot – I think it was 3/8″ size.  Also from Home Depot I picked up some funnels but never ended up using them.  And I picked up the turkey baster from shoppers.

I bought jack stands from Harbor Freight for $20 for a pair.

Procedure:

I started off with both sides of the back of the car on jackstands:

Next was going to the brake fluid master container (I forget the proper term of it) and taking out fluid to the “min” line:

After removing some of the fluid with the turkey baster:

Then I added in the first round of new brake fluid;

The mistake I made (and kept making) was that I was filling in fluid all the way to the very top (above the max line). I’ll discuss this more at the end.

Now was to start the actual fluid flush/change process. I opened the packaging of my brake bleeder:

I installed it to the right rear caliper (on the IS 350 you start furthest-to-closest to the master reservoir) and started pushing the brakes pumping the fluid out:

The problem I was having though was that I couldn’t tell the difference between the old fluid and what the new clean fluid should look like. So I just kept pumping what I felt was a lot.

I then went over to the left rear brake caliper and flushed fluid out from there too. All in all this is the amount of old brake fluid I had from both what I pulled out from the master reservoir and pumping the rear brakes:

I then put the rear wheels back on and pulled the car off the jackstands. Then I went to the front of the car (btw, lesson I learned, loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels before starting to jack up the car), put both sides on jackstands and pulled the wheels off.

Here’s a shot of the front left brakes once the wheel was removed:

Here’s how much brake fluid I pumped out from the front two brakes:

Combined with the earlier image of the old brake fluid from the brake fluid master reservoir and the rear brakes, here is how much brake fluid was taken out total:

Al in all, I went through three of brake fluid containers (12oz each, 36oz total). It seems like I put in new around what I took out eyeballing the amount of old brake fluid in that 59oz container.

As mentioned earlier, I did fill to the very top and when I realized this, I tried to use the turkey baster again to take some out but it wasn’t working right and just falling right out (and not staying in the device). So I ended up taking some out just by spilling it everywhere (and then wiping up after). But I believe I’m still above the max line.

I’m pretty sure I have to deal with brakes in my car and it would have been nice to take care of everything in one shot but I had not done any research on brakes/rotors for my car.

I’ve had my F-sport sway bars for my 2008 IS 350 for over a month now.  I had read how easy it was to install on http://my.is and http://clublexus.com.  However, I have not been able to do it on my how.

After my F-sport sway bars arrived, my first attempt in putting them into my 2008 IS 350 was on February 18th.  It was 70 degrees that day so I attempted it at work:

(more…)

Late last year I started noticing the battery dying in my wife’s 2007 i4 Accord coupe.  The car was bought new over 3 years ago in late September 2007.  I stumbled across a series of starting with this one by dudleyr on installed a V6 battery in an i4 Accord. I thought this should be something I do as well.  I asked and was given a breakdown on what parts I needed.  I placed the order for all of them on Monday and picked them up yesterday. I also picked the battery up yesterday from walmart, the MAXX-35N (S):

I’ll be doing the install later today hopefully, following the instructions in dudleyr’s post here: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.efdf924/5497#MSG5497