RX300 Steven Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Okay, I have been changing all my oils over to a nice synthetic Amsoil. Did the engine oil, rear diff, tranny, and working on the front diff. I have tried for a week now and I can't break the drain plug free yet. got the fill plug off okay, just not the drain. so I figured maybe at least I could use my pump and suck out some of it and replace it until I can either get better tools to free the drain or get something better then WD40 to loosen it up. I put in the hose and nothing would come out, so I figured it's a little low and I'd just add enough to fill it back up. well, long story short it took a full quart. so that means it was 100% empty. :cries: that may account for why the drain plug is so hard to get off, it's probably baked onto it. I filled it full and no leaks yet that I can see, and I'm going to check it several times a day for the next week to see if it's leaking and that might be why it was dry. Big question is: what might I expect to happen running the front diff with no gear oil. I've only had my RX for 5,000 miles. It's a 2000 with 75,000 miles on it now. did I do the right thing by filling it back up ? or because it's been dry and suddenly adding oil going to cause new problems. It's actually been running perfectly, getting very good gas mileage, shifting is very smooth and nice, I don't have any complaints on anything mechanical about it. someone re-assure me that I did okay filling it, and what to look out for to stop any problems. I'm planning a trip (600 miles 1 way) next month. :cries: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunedRX300 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Could you describe the fill plug (size, location)? When I loosen mine, gear oil started to drip out caused by the tilt when I jacked up the passenger side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX300 Steven Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 Could you describe the fill plug (size, location)?When I loosen mine, gear oil started to drip out caused by the tilt when I jacked up the passenger side. ← Under the passenger side axle coming out of the transmission, just a few inches up and to the left (if under the car looking forward) tilted at a slight angle (not vertical like the drain plug) I attached a pic, guess I'm not sure if you call it the front diff or transfer case, I hear so many people interchanging them I'm confused. but the drain ithe one with the blue label that says 80W90 gear oil, and the fill is just to the top of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunedRX300 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 That looks like my fill plug, it is blue but says 85w90, facing toward the rear and perpendicular to the ground. I think you mean drain plug is horizontal to the ground- not vertical. I used a craftsman 15/16 open end wrench to get the drain plug off. There is not enough space to latch completely. I patiently angle the wrench until I got a good hold. Careful not to strip it and soak the drain plug with WD40. I am not sure where your gear oil went, but it is not a good sign to pour one qt without draining. You need to loosen the drain plug to wipe off metal debris collected on the magnet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX300 Steven Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 That looks like my fill plug, it is blue but says 85w90, facing toward the rear and perpendicular to the ground.I think you mean drain plug is horizontal to the ground- not vertical. I used a craftsman 15/16 open end wrench to get the drain plug off. There is not enough space to latch completely. I patiently angle the wrench until I got a good hold. Careful not to strip it and soak the drain plug with WD40. I am not sure where your gear oil went, but it is not a good sign to pour one qt without draining. You need to loosen the drain plug to wipe off metal debris collected on the magnet. ← On mine, and in the pic, the one with the blue label on it is the drain plug, vertically, and fill is on the top of the diff at a slight angle (not horizontal/vertical) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunedRX300 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Interesting, my RX AWD has blue 15/16 as the fill plug, it is facing the rear. The drain plug also is 15/16 and has a yellow label and facing down, just couple inches down from the fill plug. What is the size of your fill plug, does it have a crush filter when you loosen it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RX300 Steven Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 Interesting, my RX AWD has blue 15/16 as the fill plug, it is facing the rear. The drain plug also is 15/16 and has a yellow label and facing down, just couple inches down from the fill plug.What is the size of your fill plug, does it have a crush filter when you loosen it? ← 15/16 size, it had a washer, not sure how to tell if is was a crush type. looked gold in color like it was brass. Did you look at the pic I attached before, your's doesn't look the same ? The blue label is at the bottom side of the gearbox, and the fill is straight up with no label, just a little yellow mark. If your fill is on the side and not on the top, how do you get fluid to stay in it ? Maybe they just put the blue label on the wrong one for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunedRX300 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 May be switched but as long as you have magnet on the drain plug, does not matter. My fill plug is on the side but it is couple of inches higher than the drain plug, i used a pump to fill about 1 qt of GL5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinK Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 I was confused about the floowing: transfer case, front differential, real differential. Went to the Lexus dealer. They cahnged/flushed the front differential fluid (=transfer case) and the rear differential fluid for $49.50 each. Not bad at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunedRX300 Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Transfer case is right behind tranny and shares the same ATF. Front and rear differential use GL5 gear oil to lubes where gears connect to drive shaft. This picture came from ederny's web Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mehullica Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 The front diff/transfer case has a total of 3 plugs. The one in the middle (from top to bottom) is the fill plug. The one on the top can be used to fill but the middle one is the level the gl5 should be at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckle Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Ok perhaps im a bit slow / for sure lost. I want to change the fluid in my front differential but I'm having a heck of a time understanding where the fill and drain plug is to do this. Please help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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