TV Maven

I changed oil the 1st. time on my used 2007 RX350, last week. After reviewing everything on the net, I bought the 5w-30 Castro oil and the Fram Ch9972 filter. I also bought the 67/65mm oil filter wrench from Kragen,for $4.99 with the agreement that I could return it before cutting it down to the 65mm section. I removed the two 10mm screws, saw the bottom of the filter cartridge housing, checked how the wrench would fit? I then got a 3" 3/8" drive extension, and my old Craftsman ratchet wrench, and tried to removed the plug, and after a little effort, on the 6" wrench I felt something moving, I slid over and found the entire housing was now loosening. So, I got the drain pan underneath and turned it all the way off, and dumped the cartridge and the oil. This was less messy than any "screw on filter" that I have changed in the last 30 years. So the moral of this long story is "don't sweat the small stuff", If your vehicle has been serviced by the Lexus folks,they probably just hit it with a small impact wrench and the drain plug will not come out. So, forget about it! Change the "o ring", drop the new cartridge into the housing, and tighten it in place, by hand just like the old style, a quick final twist with the wrench and extension and your DONE! I am returning the unused wrench for a refund. Thanks for all the good info, but I guess I didn't really need much of it! Note: (I have been doing this stuff for over 50 years, no sweat!)

Yes, I had it done last Friday, on my 07-RX-350, when I was at the dealer for my free first oil change. They told me that they would replace the hose assembly and add a heat shield. No problems, but they could not correct the speedometer inaccuracy. They kept the car till noon on Saturday, just so they could get an E- mail, to give me, to indicate that it's within tolerance. No readings from the dyno, just a check mark! The drove it nine miles, maybe they liked the Valentine Radar Detector?

Yes, I believe they are factory tires, 6/32 remaining after 39,000 miles that were on a car from a three year lease. They are NITTO NT850 PREMIUM 235/55/18 104R, so these are probably the OEM tires? Bill

I have noticed in the past 8 months that I have owned my 2007 RX-350 that the speedometer is reading high by about 10%. At 31 MPH the speedometer reads 34MPH and the radar signs show 31 and so does the external Magellan GPS. This tracks well at 40 MPH also with the speedometer reading 44MPH and the GPS indicating 40 also. At 60MPH the speedometer reads 65MPH and the GPS is indicating 60 MPH. I had my FREE oil change yesterday, they also replaced the Variable Valve Timing Oil Hose and added a heat shield (no charge, replacement, warranty related) and drove the vehicle 9 miles and determined that the speedometer was within spec's. They gave me a printed table with acceptable chassis dyno indications, ranging from errors of 15% @ 20mph to 5% at 100mph, with a check mark (added) at 60MPH showing a range of 60MPH to 64MPH as acceptable? The next page indicated that the speed signal is present at the connector on the Combination Meter Assembly Wire Harness connector(C9 ?) and is checked with a combination meter which is used to check voltages between C9-1 and C9-18 and at 10 km/h should have a voltage change of 1V or less and 7.7 to 14V which should repeat 7 times per second. (so they need a sub-audio frequency meter, or a scope to show this waveform?) The next section is related to inspecting the Tachometer (not required) So, in summary, has anyone else noticed any high reading speedometer problems, and is there any way to correct it easily? Thank You