Thanks for updates!

I found a gear oil pump at Advanced Auto that has a smaller body that will screw right on the smaller quart bottles and gallon jugs. I don't know why Autozone does not carry them since most DIY oil is pumped out of quarts.

Very similar to this:







I took someone's advice on here and got a 15/16 wrench from Ace Hardware it's their "Pro Series" to do the transfer case drain. It has a very thin walled box end and fit the plug with no grinding (worked on by brother-in law's RX330 too).

Also I got a drain plug socket set from Harbor Freight that allows you to use a 1/2 wrench or even a breaker bar if needed to get the other plugs loose, works on the tranny plug too.




Just my 2 cents.

Your DIY write ups are the best I have ever seen, the pics make these jobs so much easier, thanks!

 

My RX is now 170k and filling the oil could be done easily if a pump is available. That was what I did when I changed mine and the vehicle was put on a lift. I used a friend's shop that has all the standard tools.

 

I could probably dump my gear oil next time into an old oil bottle. Can't figure out why they don't have those other type bottles at the store.

Harbor Freight is great, they have a store just a few miles south of me...great prices.

 

For front differential, which sits behind the tranny pan, only ATF, either Toyota Type IV or Amsoil ATF. Both the front differential and transmission are interconncted in terms of their fluid (even though they have separate drain plugs) and they are filled through the tranny dipstick (don't worry whatever you pour in will trickle on over to the front differential).

Don't pour gear fluid into the tranny dipstick. This is an error as we noted previously.
_____________Hi Lemex, I have 98 camry v6, and I want to change the transmission fluid, beside the tranny pan drain plug, what else i have to drian? and is it the differential fluid and tranny fluid use the same fluid for front wheel drive? please help.

 

Right you are, I am happy you reinforced this. As mentioned only the AWD has a transfer case and a rear differential. But for everyone, both AWD and FWD, the transmission has two drain valves, one for the tranny on the pan, and one for the front differential, both of course take ATF only.

I know, because my uncle the first time we looked at it, was wondering if gear oil was supposed to go back there and that's how we actually found a separate, but inconspicuous fill hole on the back of the tranny above the front differential area.

With your Camry V6, you should have both plugs like on my RX300 as below. I believe it's the 4 cylinder version, the 2.2 Camry, that doesn't have this setup. The differential and the tranny use the same fluid. To explain this right so I don't confuse you, there are two drain plugs as you see below, but the transmission fluid for both areas is filled via the tranny dipstick at the top. The fluid trickles over to the front differential area (Takes up to 30 seconds from my experiment once in Mexico, where you can close up the tranny pan plug, leave the front differential plug open and watch fluid poured in the dipstick at the top come out the front differential plug, shown at left below).

Now, I did mention earlier that I found on the back of the transmission a separate fill hole. Don't concern yourself with this. It is our opinion that this was done for some factory reason in assembly. Just drain the two plugs and then fill up the tranny dipstick from the top.

 

Thank you Lexmex for these procedures and excellent photos. I don't know how you took the photos. It looks so roomy down there but not in reality!

I did my rear differential oil and transfer case oil change today on my 50k+ miles RX300 AWD. I replaced the original oil with Mobil 1 synthetic. It took me about 4 hrs in all including a short nap under the truck . The transfer case is short of oil by about a quarter and the oil is muddy. I put my little finger in the drain outlet and I can feel the sludge.

It's nice to have the tools ready beforehand and it made the job a lot easier. The hardest part is in putting back the filler plug. I didn't have much room for my small hands. Overall, it was well worth the price I save should I have sent it to the dealer.

 

thanks lemex! and another question, is it front wheel drive tranny has the tranny filter like tunedrx300 did on his tranny, if it has? should I replace that also? thanks

 

Thanks for the excellent write-up. This weekend i finished doing the ATF drain and fill on my Lex. 2 weekends ago did the Rear diff and transfer case. Happy that i found very little metal shavings in the rear diff 95k miles. To my knowledge this was never serviced.

 

Yes, the FWD tranny has a filter. However, if you have never replaced it before (and it depends on the year), you might have the older metal screen filter that can be just washed out and put back.

 

thanks Lexmex, yeah I never replace the tranny filter for my 98 camry, i hope it has the metal filter, like you said just clean it and reuse it if it is a mental one right?, well iam going to do my camry tranny fliud change this weekend. thanks again.

 

I hope it`s not a mental one for your sake!!

 

Getting those 18 bolts off the pan, especially those one's closest to the front that are difficult to grasp on to, will turn it into a 'mental' filter.

 

I finally had to use my angle grinder to grind down the box end of a 24 mm wrench to get the plug out. Nothing else would fit and I nearly rounded off the soft brass head of the plug trying a vice grips. I guess I now have a custom tool for the next time.

I bought a new plug a Toyota dealer as the Lexus dealer was out of stock. The plug has been upgraded since 2003; it has a steel head that should be much tougher than the brass. It's still awfully thin though. All in all, a diabolical combination of a thin head in soft metal in a narrow recess in the case. I'm glad it's over.

 

Scroll down to posts #8 & #10 for another good solution (once you get the old one out).

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...oval-help.html

 

Some guys always discover the good stuffs first.