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

Finally ordered the sway bar set from clublexus.com. Also in the same order, I ordered 4 brake fluids (Assuming each bottle is a liter – and I think you need two liters for eah brake fluid change which occurs every 2 yrs/30k miles) and 6 engine oil filters and 6 crus gaskets (oil drain plug).

Here’s the price breakdown:

1	F-Sport Stabilizer Sway Bar Set-F-Sport Sway Bar Set (2006-2008 IS250 & IS350 RWD models) Part #: PTR0253082	$495.00	$381.50	$381.50
	4	Fluids: Brake Fluid-Brake Fluid Part #: 004751BF03	$7.50	$4.19	$16.76
	6	Filters: Engine Oil Filter-Oil Filter Part #: 04152YZZA5	$6.48	$3.99	$23.94
	6	Gasket: Oils and Fluids-Crush Gasket (Oil drain plug) Part #: 9043012031PC	$1.13	$0.85	$5.10
SubTotal: $427.30
Shipping Method: Standard Overnight ($174.18) Fedex 2 Day ($123.12) Fedex Express Saver ($80.55) Ground Delivery ($24.96) Shipping: $24.96
Tax: $0.00
Enter Source Code: Promo Code Discount: $(0.00)
Grand Total: $452.26

My IS 350 was bought new 2 years ago and is now at over 37k miles.  So far I’ve been doing oil changes through the dealer but for my next oil change, I want to do it myself.  I went fully through two threads: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-second-generation/533088-oil-change-question.html and http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-second-generation/276707-yet-another-diy-oil-change-for-is350-w-pics.html .  Below are the “notes” I took.  I plan to have a printout of this blog post and he OP’s original post for the actual procedure of the oil change. 

1. Parts Needed

Oil Filter
Element Kit – Toyota Part# 04152-YZZA3)
(Maybe) fumoto oil drain valve – makes changing oil easier and cleaner, makes it so oil pan bolts cannot be over tightened.
gasket ring

2. Tools Needed

The wrench – source of big debate.  The OP had used a Oil Filter “F” Cap Wrench (from AutoZone) cost about $3:

But he said that it was a “bit loose for my liking. It got stuck a few times on the housing and had to use a screwdriver to help get it off. I’d used it in a pinch again, but will probably buy the toyota filter wrench(Toyota part #09228-06501) for next time. I think it would be hard to get a strap wrench up there and use it affectly without banging up your fingers.” However, a reply was received not to “pay the $30+shipping for the Toyota special filter wrench. It gets stuck just like the cheap one that used. I had quite a time getting it off the housing cover and had to pry it off with a hammer ” Someone else added that “when the filter wrench sticks I usually tap it with a ball peen hammer (very lightly) and it comes right off. YMMV. “

A comment came later (started w/ The hammer was hilarious ) which said that the Strap wrench dosn’t scratch anything, but you can use anything you want . I bought the one from AutoZone (part #25404) but that did not work either – as I mentioned above it slipped a couple times and I got scared of damaging the housing… So I still haven’t gotten it off. I think I am going to purchase and try out that Toyota one (part #09228-06501).

Someone else:I had to use a large adjustable wrench to get enough torque to turn the oil filter housing. I remember that being incredibly hard. I used two different types of oil filter wrenches before going to the adjustable. One strap, one metal. 

The toyota filter remover is the same as the snap-on one, It is. The Snap-On piece just costs a lot more.  Someone got the snap-on one for $18. A reply came that “This might be painful.” (referring to the much cheaper price he could have gotten it at?).  He loved Snap-On, but thinks they are far from the least expensive solution for some things. I’ll still buy their sockets without batting an eye because they always fit in tight quarters, but some of their stuff is just plain ridiculous.

Finally, it seemed the most confident option was the Assenmacher Specialty Tools TOY640 wrench, fits perfectly, doesn’t slip, is strong and was fairly inexpensive.  Bichon bought it from here:  http://www.toolsource.com/advanced_search_result.php?search=1&query=toy640&x=0&y=0. 

Still, after reading through the whole thread, dmLsix still wondering the size of the filter cap wrench: I’ve read pages and researched around the forums and I see some people say the 65mm filter cap wrench works and some say it’s the 63mm.. I even saw somebody say they used a 70mm lol…. Is it the 63mm or 65mm (14-flute) filter cap wrench?

Oil pan/bucket (holds 10 qts) (from autozone)

Funnel

10mm socket (to remove pan under oil filter housing)

14mm socket (to remove oil plug)

torque wrench (to do 30 ft/lbs of torque)

Rhino Ramps

3. Process

Change on a slope so car is level when on rhino ramps.

just remember to wrap your oil filter canister with electrical tape first to prevent stripping (if you go with the “F” size filter wrench from Autozone? )

did you have to re-lube the oil filter housing before screwing it back on? The only thing I lubed up was the new rubber ring around the housing after I slipped it on. dmLsix forgot to oil up the large O-ring that goes on the oil filter housing after he was done, should he be worried?

I’ve been bad about keeping an eye on the Cabin Air Filter / A/C filter in my 2008 IS 350.   I finally got around to changing it on 6/10/2010, around a year and a half after ownership (bought the car new Jan 2009) and my car was at 25961 miles:

At the time that I did it, I noticed my A/C was barely working.  I had to keep the A/C really high and even then, it was still a little warm on the really hot days.

I had bought the BLITZ PERFORMANCE
HYBRID AC FILTER 18737 LEXUS IS350 off of Ebay for $46.75 + $16.38 shipping a weekish prior. 

The big thing to remember is that the A/C MUST be set to Auto:

That’s the one thing that’s been beaten to me on my.is and clublexus.com.

I actually struggled a bit with the installation steps.  It was supposed to be easy to remove the things in the glove compartment to have access to the back, but took me a while to fight w/ rack and get it out. 

Once I finally got to the back and opened everything up, I noticed a lot of the smaller papers I had in my car had slipped into the back (for example, envelopes, chevy chase bank deposit slips, etc).  I need to remember to check the Cabin Air Filter area often.

I have to double check how often I am supposed to look into the Blitz Cabin Air Filter.  I believe the proper procedure after I clean (not sure how to go about that) is to “expose the filter to a good 6 hrs of sun to give the Titanium Oxide time to do it’s work.“

This is what my Cabin Air Filter looked like after I Took it out: 

I think I can still use it after cleaning it according to this post on my.is, but I need to find more concrete info on this.