How to change oil on a Lexus IS250

This post is on how to change the oil on a Lexus IS250 2WD. I have never liked taking my cars to those quick oil change places. And after one occasion where they pushed an overpriced air filter stating that it need to be replaced and I declined. I checked the filter and it was perfectly clean and then decided I can do this myself and save a few bucks and now exactly what work was being done on my car. The Lexus dealers want a huge amount for this service so another reason to do it yourself (DIY).

The process: First you need the all the tools and parts:

Oil pan:
Car jack and stands:
Good socket set:
Shop towels:
Gloves:
This tool is a must for the oil change - it is a oil filter wrench that fits the Toyota/Lexus housing.
Recommended oil is 5W-30 for the Lexus oil change but I usually use 5W-20 across all our vehicles (YMMV). For my model year, the 2WD needs 6.6q and the AWD 6.8q. So I plan for 7 quarts on each oil change.
 
Next I usually get the Wix filters for my model year here:
Now that you have the tools and parts, the process is pretty easy...
1) Set the parking brake!
2) Jack each side placing the car jack on the frame and place the stands.
3) Locate and remove the filter cover (3 screws).

4) Locate the drain plug and using a 15mm socket take off the plug when the drain pan is in place. Allow all the oil to drain. Usually will drain better if the car has been warmed up and oil thinned out.

5) Next I remove the filter using the tool mentioned above:

6) Allow the filter to drain and replace:

7) Reinstall filter and tighten the housing with the tool. Put drain plug back in place. Wipe off all the excess oil around the areas.
8) Now time to refill:

Again, it is just under 7 quarts depending on your model.
9) Last step is to reset the oil change meter. To do this, when the car is off, keep holding down the trip meter and push the START button. Once it flashes, you are all set for the next change.
Note: I had this happen once where the VSC light came on after the oil change. If you remove the positive battery terminal, it will reset.
Good luck on your next oil change!

How to wire a subwoofer with RG6 Cable Connections

How to wire a subwoofer with RG6 Cable Connections

When we were building our house, RG6 (cable) wire was used in the home theater for the subwoofer run (actually two runs - maybe thinking it could be a 7.2 surround system).  So this week I figured out how I was going to hookup these wires.
I have a Polk PSW10 and the back looks like this:

So the first thing I noticed is there was not an LFE connector so I am choosing to use the LINE IN L & R.  The passover would be done on the subwoofer and I'll leave the auto on so that when the signal turns on, the amp kicks on.  I'll try to do this in order to show how these connect.

From here you'll need an adapter to go from a Y to a single RCA jack.  This is OK and the amplifier can resolve the signals.

Next you would need a single RCA from the adapter to the wall jack.

And then an RCA jack into the RG6 F connector:

My receiver has a single input jack for the subwoofer so you would basically reverse the process for the other end of the connection.

Will see how it works this weekend.

How to remove profiles on the LeapPad 2

On the Leap Pad 2, I was trying to find a way to remove all of the profile information on the home screen.  It is too easy for the kids using it to create new profiles and all the junk inside those profiles.


The trick is to hit the Home button and the Volume up button at the same time. 

<--Volume up

 This enters you enter the parent settings menu where you can have more admin control over the content on the leap pad.  The profiles can easily be deleted here and you can turn off some of the annoying stuff.

I thought you would be able to do this from the leap frog application but I wasn't able to find it easily.




































<--Home Button

How to change user password on Windows 2008 R2 Server

Today I ran across a situation where from my desktop I had changed my local password and wanted to synch up my admin account via remote desktop connection (RDC) (MSTSC.EXE).  The target server was a Windows 2008 Server R2 machine and via RDC I wanted to keep the passwords in synch (rather than letting it expire and changing at that point in time).

You can 't select CTRL-ALT-DEL when on the remote machine so you have to do this by

START --> Windows Security --> Change a password and then you can make this change.

How to replace the LED light bulb in a 90’s Ford

After driving the farm truck around not knowing what station the radio was on or worse - what time it was, I started to look into how to fix the display on the radio.  I first looked at the Ford website to get the part number for the radio www.fordparts.com – part # 18806.  And if you looked it up, yes that is correct, it is over $400 new through Ford.

I then checked Ebay “ford radio 18806” and you can find some more reasonable options available for replacement.  I found one bulb replacement item that looked like it would help for my situation of the LED not lighting up.  It was a couple bucks so I bought this and it was delivered with some simple instructions which I will go over shortly.  It didn’t mention this, but it would help if you had the radio out already.

Before starting, my advice for getting the radio out would be to pick up one of these at Amazon or a local auto store “ford radio removal tool”.  They are a couple of bucks and well worth it.

This tool locks in and releases the tabs so that the radio can be taken out.  I’ve seen some sites where others used coat hangers for this purpose but they didn’t seem to work too well for me.  Maybe even made it worse if the tabs get bent.  These go in about 1/4 inch and lock.

Once the radio is out, you can unplug the antenna and other connections and you are ready to replace the bulb.

There is one tab on the back that needs to be opened and then the top of the radio slides off with a little prying.  Once open, you can see the where the bulb housing is and you can simply turn it counterclockwise and it will release and you can remove the bulb

Here is the old bulb vs the new bulb.

Reverse the procedure for install (insert new bulb, clockwise into housing, slide cover back on, reapply tab).

I found it best to take out the install tools at this point with a flat screwdriver before installing it back into the truck.  Reconnect your connections.  On the dash, there is a rail that the radio slides on so that needs to be lined up properly and the radio slides back in.

If you did all of this, you should have a bright new display.  And now I can clearly see…that the LED panel is all messed up so I at least know half of the station I am on.