Magnetic oil drain plug, quick drain valve, and extration pump

Instead of the plain old drain plug, there are other fancy ways to do the oil change.   If your car is well maintained, meaning if you change oil frequent enough, there’s little difference in “performance”.  Does it matter at all when you car is 10 years old?  It all depends on what method suits your convenience.  If you change oil more frequent because it’s easier for you, that’s the best method.  But there’s  science behind these things instead of speculation.

I went to get a gadget, believing that I should change one whenever I do an oil change.  My other car’s oil filter kit comes with a new gasket.   They have it on computer but they don’t stock it.  They sold me a plug with gasket instead.  Little did I know that it was magnetic.  The only problem was, I used the new gasket on the old plug.  For some reason the gasket is not probably aligned and it got totally screwed up.  It was thin plastic.  When I took it out it was completely deformed by the torque and wrapped around the plug head, leaving some area without gasket cover at all.  Therefore it leaked.  It is just small drops that does need to be fixed urgently until a week after.  But it gave me a scare because I flushed the engine with gunk.

If you are on a budget, you better get gaskets online.  If you want to sustain your local auto shop, by all means buy magnetic plugs.  But I doubt if there’s real benefit.  You catch particles that are too small for the filter to catch, and that are ferrous in nature.  Come on, if they exist, and they are that small, they are probably harmless, and they are probably originate from the engine itself.

The Fumoto quick drain valve is quite attractive.  It should be reliable and not leaking if you install it probably.  And the chance of hitting something very tough at the valve but not the oil tank is remote.  However, the drain diameter is smaller because the valve remains threaded in.  I have to see the valve to see how smaller.  So the flow rate is smaller and the flow pattern is somewhat different.  It is possible that for some tanks the oil is not completely drained.

Somebody keep saying that MBZ recommends using an extraction machine rather than draining of the oil.  Well, a commercial extraction machine and your cheap Topsider pump is quite different.  The drain diameter and the flow rate is different, though they have to go through the same dipstick.  I doubt if you are sure that the tip of the extraction tube reaches the drain plug, the lowest point, every time.

For other issues, if you have a warm, cool, dry, clean garage, you probably don’t mind going under a little.  You can reach the drain plug of the RX300 without jacking it up.  And since you have to reach inside from under the car to get to the oil filter, you might not mind going under to the drain plug too.

Using drain plugs, you have to store an oily drain pan.  For the pump method, you can close the tube and wipe the tip of the tube clean.  The can can be closed so it’s not a problem.  The tube is a bit long but you can customize it.  You need a well ventilated garage for both.  For the quick valve, you can get the one with a nipple and drain to a bottle.  It’s easier to store a bottle or take it to recycle immediately.  Unless you jack it up, you probably can’t drain back to the original tall bottle.  But storing one 5 quad oily empty bottle with lid isn’t too big a problem.  You can use a different one, say a mile bottle, and dispose of it properly too.

So if you live in a cramped apartment in Asia, and your wife wouldn’t allow anything oily and smelly into the house, you can still use the Fumoto valve.  If you have a garage, you can do anything.  If you are not agile enough to go under the car often, the pump option is suitable for you, if the oil filter is located on top of the car.  The RX300 isn’t, and you can’t even see it while unscrewing it.  But then there are the oil filter relocation kits.

Engine Oil and filter change Lexus RX300

It’s easier than reported if you do it properly.

The engine oil tank is near the passenger side, with the drain plug pointing backward.  You cannot see the plug from the front, but you can easily reach it by going  under the front of the  car a little.  You don’t need to jack the car up.  But if you do, you should jack at the middle of the front frame jack point, so the drain plug still points straight back.  The socket size is 14 mm.

To reach the oil filter, you have to unscrew the tiny shield under the car front.  There are eight 10 mm screws and two of the same size at two sides, but screw into plastic.  All screws are easily reachable from the front and you do not need to go under the car.  Since there are 10 I would use a power tool.

If your oil filter can is white, you can see it at the top front under the engine closer to the passenger side.  It’s easy to reach from the front under the car.  There’s plenty of space there to use wrenches.

I would loosen the oil filter first when the engine is cold.  Then hand tighten it.  Run the engine, open the filler cap, unscrew and pull the drain plug, loosen the oil filter.  Since I do it inside the garage, I don’t care how long the oil drains as long as it finishes when I come back.

Screw back the drain plug with a new gasket.  The torque is 33 ft-lbf, or 45 N-m.  Put some oil on the filter seal, and screw it back hand tight, then following the instructions for 3/4 to 1 more turn.  Add about 5 qt of oil and you are done.

There were times when I never change the oil.  There may have been cakes at some point.  There are some goos right at the filler cap.  Flushing the engine is controversial but I have to flush at least the goo away.

I found the gunk flush for a couple of dollars.  Pour it into the filler cap and run the engine for 5 minutes.  The do the oil change.

After all that, I found out that the oil leaks a tiny bit.  I hope that it’s only trivial to fix.  The mechanics may have overtightened the drain plug (they always do).  So I have to increase the torque to match.  The oil filter seal may be leaking because I only tighten it by hand.  I have a adjustable cap wrench but it only works one way, loosening the filter.

Let’s see.

How to measure MPG

When I first own a car, I concluded that there’s no way you can get a reasonable reading of gas consumption.  I was looking at the analog gas meter, the design of which hasn’t been changed to this date.  The RX300 has an instantaneous mpg meter, and an average mpg meter, all digital.  The measurement may be accurate, but there’s no way you can tell about the gas consumption except for the analog gas meter.

I never bothered to calculate the amount of gas money I spent, irrespectively of the gas price.  Since the MPG depends on many factors, and that I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, I bothered even less.

When I took care of the care myself, I began to wonder if the car is working properly.  A measure would be the mpg, if it’s comparable to a new car of the same model, or other cars.

Looking out of the car window while filling at the gas station, it dawned on me that there are accurate gas meters all around us all the time.  The gas pump gives you the gas quantity, accurate to three decimal points.

Basically the gas pump tells you how much gas you put it, meaning how much gas you consumed since the last fill up, if all things are equal.  That means if you use the same pump and they should fill up to the same level, made sure by the sensors.

The rest is history.  You only need to measure the mileage between fill up.  You can find the instructions everywhere.  Basically you reset the trip meter every time when you fill up at the gas station.

I used 89 octane gas from new.  I have around 16 mpg for city driving, which is not too bad compared to the revised govt figures of the same model.  But my other car use much less gas.

Optimum no rinse car wash

In the research of eco-friendly and labor-friendly car wash, this one catches my eyes.  Because of 1 oz to 1 gallon, it’s the cheapest of them all.  No rinse is approaching waterless.  This one can do waterless for cleaner car  in higher concentrations.  The waterless Lucky Earth I use and any thing else will make the cloth black.  I doubt if one gallon of water will wash it clean.  I throw it in the washing machine.  If the cloth remains fairly clean, this is one to watch.

It doesn’t claim biodegradable but encourages you to wash plants.

The problem is that it advices you to dry.  I watched it on video, and I doubt if you really need to dry it for my 10 year old car, though the paint is excellent.  My Lucky Earth advices you to use two towels, one to wash and one to bluff.  I don’t.  I don’t really need to make it shine, though it shines because my Lucky Earth is suppose to shine a bit, and my lexus is  grey/silver.

I doubt if the whole car wash industry is talking rubbish.  Come on, I have my Lexus from new.  I remember I waxed it properly once in 10 years (?).  All I ever do is take it to the car wash, auto, self service or hand wash, which is pretty much the same.  Waxing is suppose to protect, but protect from what?  Nothing can protect the car from flying stones.  My 10 year old car do not have special coating.   I do have spray on wax from time to time, those from car wash machines.

And what swirl marks?  Basically nobody touches the car, except from occasional drying.  Polish is obsolete.

I have dealt with older cars too.  It’s the same thing.  Though my Lexus is garage kept, better than others exposed to the elements.

So I think modern paints (even 10 years old good cars)  don’t need any so called “protection”.   Keep it clean without rubbing it hard, damaging the surface.  Any wax will do including spray on.  There are spot free rinse finishes and rinse free products, otherwise rinse it as recommended.  This is as good as doing anything else on the car.  But if you want to show off, add quality wax, which is nothing but very shiny.  But of course the thick layer and the hard work must bring addition protection.  From what?

Nano-tech Green Earth Car Wash

I came across this car wash because Lucky earth was called green earth. This is conventional – dilute in bucket. However, I notice that your wash cloth will remain white! I’ve seen people washing cars with just one small bucket of water, using conventional car wash products. If the cloth stays clean you can certainly use very little water. Perhaps less than the water I use to wash the cloth in my washing machine!

The problem is that there is no instructions on websites. I don’t know how much each bottle last. And how much effort is needed? Need to rinse or dry the car after?

The other problem is that the company brag about nano-tech, which I doubt this one should be considered as such. This looks more like advanced organic chemistry.

The problem is that environmentalists attack anything using nano-tech right from the start. Nano tech is more like something very small that are man made. Because in nature many things are very small. New molecules are made all the time with conventional chemistry.

I doubt very much this has any potential environmental problems. It’s biodegradable. If it gets into the food chain, it will simply be digested, or it will pass through as waste.

The critic sounds to be a nut case be he/she does have a point. That’s skin absorption. Certainly some molecules will get pass the dead dead cell layer and get to the skin cell membranes. It will also get into the blood stream in wounds. That’s a medical problem. Molecules in dish wash liquids absorbed in very low concentration are almost certainly harmless. I would think that these molecules are also harmless in the body, but I would like to hear from somebody with medical and chemistry expertise.

BTW, only now I read about controversy in sun screens as they also use nano-tech. Tiny nano zinc particles are absorbed into the body but probably harmless. One conclusion is that the conventional ones are ineffective, unstable, and even potentially harmful. So the nano ones are recommended. I reserve any judgment as don’t have time to read more.

Waterless Biodegradable Car Wash

Just finished my 1st bottle of Lucky Earth Car Wash and ordered a gallon refill – beyond all expectations.  I brought it when it was called Green Earth.  I had trouble finding it again since the old website was gone, probably to avoid the brands from Green Earth Technologies.

Does it work?  Sure.   I believe they claim that at least one car dealership use it.  I had the RX300 from new and the paint is still in excellent condition.  The car looks great and shiny after cleaning.

I’m afraid car washing business will easily run out of business, although you need to do it yourself at home.  Typically I went to touch free automatic car wash.  Hand wash or not they use the same machines and chemicals.  Hand wash means they have somebody to touch up the wheels, tires, interior, and hand dry with towels.   My car doesn’t look better after “hand wash”, and certainly beat self-service automatic car wash, which use spot free rinse.  Your car is still wet after washing.

For something so good it’s still one of the cheapest on the market.  The 32 oz bottle says 7-10 car wash.  I didn’t count other than noticing that the level in the bottle drops a bit after each use.  It last for months!  Here the bottle is the price of one hand wash and two and a bit automatic wash.  It’s a no brainer.  The gallon refill is like half price.

Forget about the instructions.  I just spray a little on the car, more on dirt, and wipe off gently the dirt and dust.  You see and feel (via the towel) that the dirt are gone.   I spot clean some trouble areas like bugs, bird droppings.  For these I use my finger to rub off the dirt, of course with the towel in between.   I don’t even spray after a while when the micro fiber towel is already wet.  If you car is not that dirty, one towel can last the whole car.  But you should leave the really dirty parts at the end, like bumpers and license plates.  Then I drop the towel into the washing machine, using tough cycle and double rinse.

For bonus it cleans wheels well!  I have alloy wheels so I can’t say about others.  My other car is still using OEM metallic brake pads, meaning a lot of black brake dust.   The front wheel turns black very soon after each car wash.  For this reason I didn’t bother to clean the wheels thoroughly, if I ever wash them.  Dirt accumulate on the wheels and it is very difficult to clean, say, in automatic car wash.  Once I get the dirt all off with a biodegradable acid cleaner.  Weeks later I am surprised that the wheels look new after just wiping off with Lucky Earth.  I have alloy, not chrome though.

Though the micro fiber towel will turn black just for the wheels.  I wash the towels in the washing machine, but I may use disposable cloth or rags, preferably recycled.   The wheels are bullet proof.  Using micro fiber is only because that the dirt can be lifted out easier and the towel reused.  Using small recycled rags save a lot of water.  Also ceramic brake pads have a lot less dust, meaning much cleaner wheels.  But ceramic do not perform as good as metallic if you are racing.   But ceramic last longer.  The compromise is semi-metallic.

I have to confess I live in South Cali.  We don’t have mud cakes on our cars.  But we have a lot of dust.  When winter storm comes I try to drive the cars around for free car washing, without the guilt of urban runoff.

I drive luxury cars (and the not so luxury cars).   I have been wanting to wash the cars myself to bound with them, and show them off sparkling clean.  In the early days it’s too much work.  You need to use sponge to wash the car as if to polish the car.  Then you need to dry it thoroughly with lots of towels.  And then polish with wax.  Then those chemicals in the auto car wash begin to be available.   At least you don’t need to work all the car three times.  Just once and you can leave the car wet if you are not going to the wedding.

Then hosing your car outside your garbage becomes unacceptable due to water use and urban run off.   Hosing anything is bad.  For this reason I tried the self service car wash.  Actually  they are not that clean because the high pressure soap is too clean, but still cannot remove many dirt that I can remove using my fingers.

Now I can do it in the narrow spaces in my garage with door closed.  Nobody even know I’m washing my own car, not that I mind.  I can wash it anytime because only dim lighting will do.  A little reflection and with the feel of the towels you know which areas have been cleaned.

Brake warning light on

The brake warning light indicates that the parking brake is on, or the brake fluid level is low.

My brake waring light stays on irrespective of the status of the parking brake, together with the buzzer (dong dong dong).

Or, the brake warning light comes on intermittently while driving normally. You may not notice the light but the buzzer is annoying.

The brake is OK. So I suspect the parking brake switch, being mechanical. You can see the switch when come close to the parking brake, holding in place by one screw. But the switch is simple and solid that cannot be stuck. The guy in the Lexus club didn’t know what he’s talking about. His parking brake can be stuck, but the switch cannot.

I should have checked the brake fluid sensor first. It’s very easy to disconnect the spring loaded connector. If everything is running normally, that means the fault is with the sensor. This is my case.

Another nut brought a sensor for $100 years ago. Now you cannot find one. You can buy a whole reservoir and the cap but no sensor in it. If you know that the sensor is faulty, probably you don’t need a sensor to tell you that the brake fluid level is low.

So I disconnected the sensor and not using any. But it dawned on me that it’s only a level sensor, not a pressure sensor. So I think I can do something about it, being like a toilet valve.

I found that the sensor works if I lift the cap, when the float is at it’s minimum position, producing a close circuit. Before I knew it, the sensor was fixed because the problem was that the float was stuck. So I gently shake the sensor around to make sure that it will not stuck again.

Replace air fuel sensors procedures

The Lexus Owner Club has a good description, but under stated the difficulty.  In the picture is the difficult one at the under side of the RX300.

Let’s do the easy at the top side of the hood.  It’s going into the engine at the front side, and stick out like a sore thumb.

First remove the cable tie of the connector wire.  You have to untwist it on both side to unlock it.  Or you have to cut it and replace it with another cable tie.  I spent many minutes on it not knowing how it was supposed to unlock.

To remove the connector plug from the socket, you need to press the tab on the socket, and then pull the plug with the other hand.  This is just impossible.  The socket is tied to the side of the engine, in the small gap between the air filter box.  I ended up removing the cable tie and cable above the sensor connector.  I unscrewed the whole plate with the sensor socket and few other connectors, to get more space to work with.

Almost certainly if you press the tab and pull the plug, it wouldn’t come out.  I push a small flat screw driver into the gap where the extrusion is – the little dot on top of the plug in picture.  Somehow I unlock the latch and push the plug out with the other hand.  I actually spent a lot of time on it.  I cannot see into the gap and see how the tab works, even after I removed the plug.  But basically the connector is indestructible.   If you are sure you don’t want the old sensors, it’s easier to use a thin screw driver or even a knife to chop off the extrusion so there’s nothing for the tab and latch mechanism to lock onto.

Actually I removed the extrusion of my new sensor by accident.  The connector is still secure, or my engine check light would have come back on already.   Why?  I messed up so much and I was exhausted and tired.  I wasn’t thinking straight.  In trying to save some steps, I connected the new sensor before screwing it into the underside of the SUV!  So I have to remove it.  After repeated forceful insertion of the screw driver, the extrusion came off.

Next, unscrew the sensor.  The top sensor came off without any drama.  (May be the mechanics have unscrewed it and checked it during diagnosis.) But you should apply lots of WB-40 the night before.  I don’t suggest to use any deep socket type adapter as it’s easier to damage the threads.

Screw in the new sensor first.  The Toyota sensor comes with anti-seize compound on the threads.  Then plug in the connector and then put back the cable tie.

Now for the sensor under the SUV.  To unplug the connector, you have to get both hands under the back of the engine from the top of the hood.  To do that the only way I can is to rest my forehead on the soft rubber seal of the hood under the wind screen.  I lay flat on the open hood with my tummy over the radiator.

My right hand got under the engine at the back, on the socket side of the connector.  My left hand bring a screw driver as shown previously into the back of the engine, and after passing to the right hand, and then left and right a few times, you have just enough space to insert the driver with your left hand, into the gap where the extrusion is.  So you push the driver with your left hand, and the right hand fingers  push the plug out of the socket.

Somebody said it easy job with two people.  One push the tab from the top.  The other pull the plug from under the SUV.  It should be a good idea, only costing them some 10 minutes.  Somebody’s hand is too large to get under the right side of the engine.  Hard luck.  I don’t see any gadget can help when you need 10 minutes for two people.

Then screw out the old and screw in the new.  In the picture you can see the metal heat shield at the top left corner.  My offset wrench can get right into the space, bypassing the obstacle next to the sensor at the same area in the picture.  Also, somebody said to turn the steering wheel to give you more working space on the underside, because there’s some sort of steering bar down there.

Then you use a string to fish the plug up to the top of the hood and connect to the socket.

In case of damaged thread, I had to use my full body weight to unscrew the sensor under the SUV.  So I suggest to jack the SUV a little higher, so it’s easier to get in and out to take rests in between.  To jack the SUV a little higher, you need a larger jack.  The RX300 is about 2 ton.  My 2.25 ton jack will just jack it up.  If there’s a next time I would get a 3 ton one.  Also, a pair of 4 ton jack stands will be taller than my 3 ton stands.  Instead of army training under the SUV,  it’s a good idea to get a  slide with wheels on.

My engine check light diagnosis

When the check engine light is on, you should go to Autozone or Pepboys to have the diagnosis code read to you free of charge.  You should maintain a good relationship with them for buying engine oil from them and recycle through them, etc.  Your local mechanic (include Pepboys) should also do it for free.

Some mechanic will charge about $40 for the diagnosis if you don’t agree with their estimate to fix your car.

I knew nothing and was afraid that the car will be damaged fast if I don’t do anything.  So I paid $75 for diagnosis.  Pepboys want to charge me $100 (they do offer the free code scan for me, but telling me that it’s useless all the time).

After it is supposed to be a full diagnosis, they leave me with the code P0125, telling me to change both the air fuel sensors, quoting $800 for part and labor.   I hope that  they verify that and check the sensors.  Otherwise I paid $75 for something free.

P0125 is supposed to be coolant temperature related, which wasn’t confidence building.  I checked on the net and saw that most are the air fuel / oxygen sensor related.  Perhaps the code is manufacturer specific.  My RX300 is way pass 90,000 miles, the life of the sensors.  Also it was urban short trip driving mostly.  More importantly, it was very much under maintained, oil change way overdue, etc.  So it’s a no brainer to replace both of the air fuel sensors first.  The engine check light went off and never came back so far.

For the budget ($800), I brought a jack, stands, in additional to the sensors.  Unrelated things I brought two torque wrench for convenient tire rotation, one works and the cheap needle one didn’t.  Deep wrench sockets for the wheels lugs.  I read posts with the wrench size of AF sensor in it, but I missed it.  My German made set of wrench, strong and thin, goes only to 17 mm or 19 mm I think.  I measured and think that the sensor must be 21 mm.  I was wrong, so I think it have to be 23 mm.  I was wrong again.  After encountering damaged thread using oxgen sensor adapter from Amazon for $17, I was desperate and got a 22 mm wrench with some angle instead of straight one.  It was useless.  The last one was the Craftsmen offset one that finally worked.  Each wrench cost about $12 to $20, depending from which shop.  I think I am going to return only the 22 mm angled one from Lowes, and keep all the others.  I will resell the Amazon adapters too.

Tools for replacing air fuel sensors

If I remembered correctly, this is the flat screw driver I used to remove the connector, a typically electrical one.  Any longer it wouldn’t go behind the engine.  Any shorter it cannot reach the connector behind the engine.  If the head is bigger or thicker, it may jam instead of unlocking the spring and latch mechanism.  If the head is not thin enough, it may not dislodge the latch, and may cut the tiny extrusion for latching onto.

Actually this is the perfect wrench for the sensors.  I unscrewed the top sensor (bank 2) without hassle.  But you cannot get to the sensor under the hood at bank one.

This is the 22 mm or 7/8″ wrench with an offset, which is a Craftsmen from Sears.  Yeah, I was desperate and tried a few wrenches before I got the right one, anywhere I can get it.  A 12 pedal wrench is needed instead of a hexagon, with which you don’t have enough angle to work under the hood.

The offset is about 1.5″ high, with the handle almost parallel to the wrench head.  It’s better without the other end, which may get in the way.

The offset bypass the cat connector, while the handle can go all the way along side the cat at bank one, the difficult to get to one at the under side.

Some oxygen sensor adapters wouldn’t work for the RX300.  Basically they all have an open slot for the sensor wire to get through.  But the connector can just get through a 22 mm closed wrench, making any open slot unnecessary, unless you want to unscrew the sensor without taking the connector off.

The flat adapters do not have the offset, and are useless for the bank one sensor.  The deep socket adapter might be useful.  But the torque is very far away from the thread, as compared to the offset wrench I used.  Indeed I suspect that I damaged the thread when I used the adapter in the dark, with a large and long torque wrench.   This offset wrench is safe.  I used my whole body weight under the RX300 to unscrew the sensor with damaged thread.

There is no way that you can put an impact wrench under the SUV to unscrew the sensor via the deep socket adapter, unless for a very small air wrench.  However, you can use an torque wrench with the adapter to apply the correct torque when you put the new sensor in.  I don’t know the correct torque, and it’s academic as tight and not too tight will be sufficient.  If the sensors come out the engine light will complain again.  I really don’t care if the sensors are too tight that cannot be removed again.

It’s easy to repair damaged thread.  Get a thread chaser M18 x 1.5, standard for oxygen sensors.  Apply some anti-seize compound on it and slowly and carefully screw it into the hole by hand, then by a wrench.  When all the threads in the hole are covered, unscrew the chaser slowly and carefully.