Oil change by lexus

DJT · October 16

Hi have got around to doing an oil change on my 2004 LS430. Got genuine filter off eBay from a company called JDM ?????. Photo attached of filter after I finally got it off. Instructions on filter say to hand tighten then do a 3/4 turn with a approved tool. Last oil change was done by Lexus Edinburgh. I drained near 5.5 litres plus 300ml from oil filter. That makes 5.8 litres plus what I managed to spill on road 🫣. To get to full mark on my LS430 it took 5 litres. Never really took much notice before as engine oil was very clean (hard to read level) with car parked on slope. Hopefully got photos attached showing how much oil I drained. Think Lexus Edinburgh over filled my engine, but when looking online to check oil capacity there are 3 amounts for 2004 LS430. Lowest on is 5 litres for oil change. Highest is 6.5 litres for a fill on dry engine. Think technician took wrong number for a fill. I did buy a service kit from Opie Oils which included 6 litres of oil. So I have an unopened 1 litre of Opie Oils nano tech oil. Car does perform alot better but whether is down to clean high spec oil or having right amount of oil in engine, or combination of both.

cruisermark · November 8

The manual states 4.6l with filter and 4.3l without filter

Not sure why there is a different quanitity required for vehicles sold to different parts of the world?

I bought some oil from Opie Oils and they sold me 6 litres aswell

Razor61 · November 8

Have you checked the level again after running the engine for a minute then leave to drain into the sump again? The level will drop when the oil is circulated and fills the new oil filter.
I've found the level will drop and need to put another 500ml or so in to reach the full mark.

RONNIE W HODGEKINSON · November 8

24 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

Have you checked the level again after running the engine for a minute then leave to drain into the sump again? The level will drop when the oil is circulated and fills the new oil filter.
I've found the level will drop and need to put another 500ml or so in to reach the full mark.

Funnily Enough Paul I Always Think My Oil Level is a Bit On The High Side....!!!!

Razor61 · November 8

On 10/16/2024 at 10:02 PM, DJT said:

I drained near 5.5 litres plus 300ml from oil filter. That makes 5.8 litres plus what I managed to spill on road 🫣.

Assuming you dropped the oil when hot the volume will be greater than when the oil is cold, the oil will expand by around 6% when hot as far as I know.
For 5.5 litres when cold that equates to 330ml more volume when hot (if my math is correct) and thus accounts for 330ml more oil.
For 5 litres when cold that equates to 300ml more volume when hot (if my math is correct) and thus accounts for 300ml more oil.

My method of doing an oil change with engine warmed up/hot - remove filter - remove drain plug - drain oil - leave draining for 20 - 30 mins - refit drain plug with new washer - fit new filter - refill oil to max - run car for a very short while - leave for 30 mins so oil is drained into sump - check level and top up so the level is just under max.
Check again the next day when 'cold' and top up as needed.

DJT · November 9

Razor61 I measured drained oil when it was cold. 6+ litres of cold oil is going to way over full mark on dipstick. Reason I never noticed before car is parked on a slope with dipstick side lower than non dipstick side. Photos show volume of cold oil. My mpg has improved over mpg when I had when lexus do the service. Car care nut on U-tube who is lexus trained says to check oil on warm engine after it has sat for 15-20 minutes to get accurate measurement. So on a cold engine should be just below full mark. Merc sprinters have similar issues only fill to 3/4 on dipstick. Know this because when I worked delivering hire vans, mechanic's always told us to make sure previous hirer's had not topped up oil in belief that engine was short on oil.

cruisermark · November 9

The manual also states checking oil at operating temperature

So are we running the risk of over-filling if checking and topping up on a cold engine?

Razor61 · November 9

1 hour ago, cruisermark said:

So are we running the risk of over-filling if checking and topping up on a cold engine?

Maybe we are, maybe I need to RTFM😀

Razor61 · November 10

17 hours ago, DJT said:

I measured drained oil when it was cold. 6+ litres of cold oil is going to way over full mark on dipstick.

That is excessive for sure.

Razor61 · November 10

16 hours ago, Razor61 said:

Maybe we are, maybe I need to RTFM😀

So I ‘read’ TFM for my LS400 and will be amending my method for oil change.
Although from memory I don’t remember needing to add much more oil the next day after an oil change, if I did it would have been very minimal

Razor61 · November 10

Further to this topic.

This morning I needed to take my LS400 out to test the wheel balance on the motorway (I’ll update about this in another topic) and fill up with fuel.
Engine warmed up, parked up at home, after 25 mins I checked the oil level.
Oil level was over the full/max mark by about 1 mm maybe 1.5 mm which means it is overfilled according to the manual. How much its overfilled by, I can’t quantify but I’d guess it isn’t by much at all, maybe 100ml.
Checking the oil level when cold/next day for me was to make sure all the oil had drained into the oil pan.
I will in future check the oil level 20-30 mins after engine has reached operating temp and top up as needed. If I remember to do it on the next oil and filter change, I’ll try and quantify how much oil equates to 1mm on the dipstick.
The transmission and power steering level has a cold and hot level marker, the coolant level has low and max. I’ll need to RTFM the manual about the coolant level as well. Just replaced the coolant on my LS400 with correct Red coolant so want to get this right🫡

Spock66 · November 10

I don't think you need worry about an extra 1mm 😉

Razor61 · November 10

1 hour ago, Spock66 said:

I don't think you need worry about an extra 1mm 😉

I’m not worrying about it at all😉
I’m more than happy with the way I’ve done oil changes and checking the level for ‘god knows how long’, this topic just made me curious on ‘the correct way to do this according to the manual’ because it was brought up in this topic.

Malc1 · November 11

Thankfully our cars have the oil dipstick .... remembering maybe some 20 or more years back a work colleague bought a brand new Mercedees and that was sans dipstick .. having to simply rely on the dash warning when or if the level dropped ......... and just accepting that it was all ok between services 🤔

Malc

2019 Rx450 · November 14

On 11/8/2024 at 11:51 AM, Razor61 said:

Assuming you dropped the oil when hot the volume will be greater than when the oil is cold, the oil will expand by around 6% when hot as far as I know.
For 5.5 litres when cold that equates to 330ml more volume when hot (if my math is correct) and thus accounts for 330ml more oil.
For 5 litres when cold that equates to 300ml more volume when hot (if my math is correct) and thus accounts for 300ml more oil.

My method of doing an oil change with engine warmed up/hot - remove filter - remove drain plug - drain oil - leave draining for 20 - 30 mins - refit drain plug with new washer - fit new filter - refill oil to max - run car for a very short while - leave for 30 mins so oil is drained into sump - check level and top up so the level is just under max.
Check again the next day when 'cold' and top up as needed.

Filter first. Never.

VFR · November 14

16 minutes ago, 2019 Rx450 said:

Filter first. Never.

Why ?

rich1068 · November 15

11 hours ago, VFR said:

Why ?

More messy surely? I always drain the sump then remove the filter.

rich1068 · November 15

On 11/11/2024 at 8:21 AM, Malc1 said:

Thankfully our cars have the oil dipstick .... remembering maybe some 20 or more years back a work colleague bought a brand new Mercedees and that was sans dipstick .. having to simply rely on the dash warning when or if the level dropped ......... and just accepting that it was all ok between services 🤔

Malc

My '03 CLK is like that and I've always considered it to be very unsatisfactory. I think I'm correct in saying that you won't get an "add oil" warning until it's a litre down which seems a lot.

steve2006 · November 15

45 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

More messy surely? I always drain the sump then remove the filter.

I drain the sump first then filter off but given the filter is higher than the sump and should have a non return valve I can’t see is making any difference if you removed it first.

Plus is’s easier to reposition the drain bowl with just a splash of filter oil in it than drag it from under the sump plug to under the filter when it’s full of oil and slopping around.

Razor61 · November 15

23 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

its’s easier to reposition the drain bowl with just a splash of filter oil in it than drag it from under the sump plug to under the filter when it’s full of oil and slopping around.

Exactly, and described very well👍
Plus, if the filter slips out of your hand into the drain bowl full of warm or hot oil there will be a big 'sploosh', probably oil all over the place and on 'you' as well, especially if you are on your back under the car doing the job, as most probably will be.
Filter first or not filter first..............................that is the question🤔 🤣
I remember reading something a while ago that a garage changed to removing the filter first, can't remember what the exact 'method' was, and it reduced mistakes and saved time for the garage. That's for a garage of course not us DIY mechanics who change their oil/filter every 6 months or 5,000 miles🙂

BigBoomer · November 15

I've always done sump first on all my cars and bikes, mostly because I don't want my hand covered in litres of hot oil when removing the filter, but the LS430 filter is horizontally mounted so you can unscrew it a bit to let the oil drain and get zero hot oil on your hand so I guess either way around will work. 😁
Repositioning a full oil tray is not an issue if you do it slowly and carefully. You will have to do that anyways to get it out from under the car.
You are using the 16 litre easy pour oil drain pan aren't you? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oil-Drain-Litre-Capacity-AU295/dp/B006B3Q3H4
SOOOOOoooo much easier than with any other oil pan I have every used. :thumbup:

On my GTR1400 the filter is also horizontal so it can be removed without getting ANY oil on your hand, but you'd better drain the sump first or you get a jet of oil shooting across your garage from the filter mount. You also need to be very careful as super-hot headers are right next to the filter.
On the GTR1000 it is a cartridge filter that screws into the sump from underneath and the the oil from that goes everywhere no matter what you do, but draining both (yes it has 2) sump plugs makes the mess manageable.