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Hello, folks. I'm familiar with the Toyota & Lexus cartridge oil filter setup and how difficult they are to loosen, but our 2016 RX 350 has an additional element I haven't seen before. In the picture below, it's the metal tab or stop that you see at about the 11 o'clock position. What does that...

We've gotten ourselves a 5-year-old Toyota Highlander V6. The first oil change after we got the car I had to hire out because I couldn't get the filter cartridge to break free. Now that that's under control and not torqued to 300 foot-pounds, I have another small issue. I noticed as I did the...

I posted recently about wishing I could get a car or truck to last more than 200,000 miles with just careful maintenance. That discussion went all over the place, of course, but what became obvious is that precious few of us will ever find a shop that's good at rebuilding front suspension...

Having paid close attention to cars and pickups for more than 30 years now, one thing I've observed among a lot of people I know (my family included) is that while we always think that engine or transmission problems are the essential end of life for a vehicle, almost as often that moment of...

I really care for my vehicles with fluids maintenance, alignments, tire rotations, and inside and out cleanings, but I've NEVER gotten more than 200,000 miles out of any brand. I hope one day to make it to 201,000 miles! Even back in the 80s when I was a teenager, I greatly admired people in our...

I owned Mustangs years and years ago, but I haven't studied Ford vehicles at all for a long time. I honestly just today noticed that Ford is putting a small 2.7 V6 Turbo engine in their full size F-150. Is this a gimmick engine that will be worn out or dead at 70,000 miles or is this something...

Thank you, fellows, for all the many good comments a couple weeks ago about my Accord V6 timing belt failure. I have TWO important pieces of information for those who want to know. First, I sold the car to a mechanic who wanted to re-build the engine and keep the car for his wife since my...

I'm sad to report that a car I've loved and cared for with meticulous maintenance has died this weekend. My 2006 Accord EX V6 has been my best car ever. I've given it synthetic oil changes, ATF changes, coolant flushes, etc. for its whole life. I had the timing belt, water pump, tensioner...

I was a regular user of Lucas oil additive at every OCI until I began reading this forum a few years ago. You fellows convinced me that oil alone really is enough to protect an engine. Now I only use Lucas in one of my old mowers whose engine both burns and leaks oil. With that being said, I...

I began this morning with better tools that I rounded up in for a second day of trying to loosen the Highlander V6 oil cartridge housing . . . all to no avail. Wouldn't budge no matter what I tried even with a better steel removal cap that didn't slip off or get damaged. I ended up taking the...

Excited to do my first oil change on my 2015 Toyota Highlander V6 since I've had it, but that ridiculous cartridge filter housing won't budge! Bought the Pennzoil #19906 filter removal tool for Toyota/Lexus, but rounded the 3/8" square hole off trying to loosen the filter cap. I was very careful...

Back when Mobil 1 AP came out a couple years ago, I recall forum members wanting to see actual analysis sheets from Blackstone. Well, I ran AP 5W-30 in my 2013 Toyota Tacoma 4.0 V6 4x4 for an entire year (Dec. 2017 to Dec. 2018). In a year's time, I put 13,000 miles on the oil. At the end of the...

We purchased a 2015 Highlander with the 3.5 V6. I was loving this SUV until I got to looking for the oil filter. There was no oil filter to be found, but YouTube videos reveal a crazy, un-American, weird oil filter contraption that looks like it was designed in Soviet Russia 50 years ago. Here...

We just got a big Rural King store close by in beautiful Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I can't believe how good the oil prices are . . . better than Wal-Mart by several dollars. The full synthetic oil (all weights/grades) are $10.59 for a 5-quart jug! Any of you have any experience or opinions on...

On my 2013 Tacoma V6 4x4 there is a line that runs from the driver's side of the condenser to the AC compressor. Half of this line is aluminum, half is rubber, and the two parts are joined with a crimped coupling. Something neon GREEN and oily is leaking at the joint or coupling of this line...

Here's my first oil analysis. I don't know if these results are good or not from the numbers and comments. 2013 Toyota Tacoma 4x4, 4.0L V6; 13,000 mile OCI on Castrol Edge EP 5W-30 and Fram Ultra filter; 61,000 miles on engine at the time of oil change.

All right, gentlemen. I bit the bullet and plunked down $40 at WM for a jug of Mobil 1 AP for my 2013 Tacoma 4.0L V6. It's time for this experiment. I've run Castrol Edge EP for the last 11 months (13,000 miles) and will send a sample off to Blackstone Labs for analysis when I drain it very...

In another thread someone humorously mentioned that Castrol Edge EP is clearly superior to most other oils because it comes in that beautiful gold bottle. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging myself, so this caught my attention. I think -- forgive me for even joking about falling off the wagon here...

Vehicle is a 2013 Toyota Tacoma 4.0L with the bright pink long life coolant. Is there a safe and compatible aftermarket coolant that I can use for topping off, or should I just bite the bullet and purchase a gallon from the dealership? Thanks, fellows.

My son is off at college, so I don't have as much maintenance access to the 2012 KIA Sportage 2.4L he drives. This vehicle has 91,000 miles, and I'm about to change the oil with a fill of M1 AP in the suggested 5W-20 along with the M1 AP filter. WM has the oil for $40 now and the filter for $13...