hammer0008

I think I may have made it worse. There is lots of free play now with the 10mm hex....about 20 degrees free play which I think means it has been stripped.

mann777

Ok I think now that the grips for the hex are loose, As taco Suggest "Chisel it out". Anyway before you try this spray some WD40 around and wait for a while and start this job.

RCsGX

Hammer0008 did you ever get it out? I'm surprised the PB blaster or breaker bar didn't help.

I changed my rear diff and transfer case about a month or so ago and I used my Milwaukee 3/8" impact (200ftlb.). It had no problem w/ the bolts, it hammered 1-2 times before zipping them right off. I just changed my front diff oil earlier this week and the drain bolt was on there tight, it wouldn't even budge w/ the impact. I ended up using a 2ft 1/2" breaker and literally stood on it to break it loose.

IanB2

Got this knocked off my list last night, thanks for the DIY!

shkGX470

Are you guys finding it essential to change out the drain/fill plugs and washers or just the crush washers? I'm definitely going to changing out the differential fluids with Mobil 1 synthetic (75w90) but didn't know if it was essential to change out the drain/fill plugs as well. My intention was just to replace the washers but looking at this DIY got me thinking.

Booyah

Just the crush washers I would replace! No need to replace the bolt unless its mangled up...

shkGX470

That's kinda what I figured but just wanted to check. Thanks so much!

amccaulx

My Front Diff's had a leak ever since I got it. I figured the PO just didn't replace the crush washer, so I drained/filled and replaced crush washer, but it still leaked. Then as a last resort, I decided to get a new Drain Plug, and did another Drain/Fill with the new plug, and no more leak!

You should replace the washers each time, and why wouldn't you, it is so cheap. I think it is a good idea to replace the plugs as well every few times atleast. as they are pretty cheap as well, and with so many people having issues with the stripped front ones, that would help. If you have never changed them out before, it woldn't be a bad idea to.

Sethro

Great write up, just serviced mine. My front diff drain plug was really over tight too.

Seth

JoshBunch

To the OP, thanks for the write up. This is almost identical to my 2000 4Runner.

That being said, I did the same thing as hammer with the front differential. I cannot state this enough, always remove the fill plug first. Always. I didn't find this out the hard way but a buddy did. His fill plug got stuck and well, it was a bad situation.

When changing the differential oil on my 4runner the front differential drain plug gave me fits as well. I do not know why they put a Hex fitting in this one and normal socket plugs on the others, it's infuriating. What happened was I had a ton of 'junk' (oil, dirt, road debris) crammed in the back of the hex fitting I didn't know was there, so when I stuck the 10mm hex wrench in there, I thought I was all the way in but in reality I was only 1/2 way in, so I stripped the top half out. Once I realized that, I sprayed cleaner in the hole and saw what had happened. It was too late, the back half of the plug wouldn't grab the hex wrench and eventually stripped some too. I tried heat, didn't work, over 1/2 a can of PB Blaster, I welded several sockets to the plug, nothing...finally I decided to weld the 10mm hex wrench in the hole(making sure I could get 1/2 a turn in). Once welded in place, i was able to get 1/2 a turn out of it, then had to cut off the long arm with a grinder, and backed the thing out with relative ease.

The moral of the story is make sure both the hex plugs for the front differential and cleaned out and you can get your hex wrench all the way in there to be able to grab it all the way.

I never saw Hammer respond if he got the thing resolved but I wanted to post this I case anyone else ran into this issue. I'll be changing the differential and transfer case fluids in our newly acquired GX soon and I will be sure not to make the same mistake twice.

MichaelD86

I just did it. Although mylexus didnt show any record of the diffs and transfer case fluid being changed someone has done it before. I know that because the use of a torque wrench was not utilized. I was hanging all my body weight with a breaker bar underneath the car to get them to break loose. The front diff took heat to get it broken loose. The fluid didnt look too bad but im glad I did it anyway. Did all synthetic and have some peace of mind.

shkGX470

Quick question: is the transfer case filler plug and drain plug the same as the rear differential filler plug, meaning part number 90341-18006? Thanks!

chiph9

It appears to be. p/n 36114B

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...X470-2004.html

shkGX470

Thanks! I'll buy three!

Wronglane

Tonight,I crawled under the truck to see how tough it was going to be getting the rear diff. fill and drain plug off as there is about 142,000 miles on it ans I was worried about not getting them off. I took a hammer and hit both plugs about 10 times,put a 24 mm socket on attached to a 1/2" ratchet and they both turned with very little pressure.I could not believe it!

How much are the crush washers for the fill plug and the drain plugs online?. Anyone know what Lexus or a Toyota dealer would charge?