Guys,

My 300 sprung a leak - very slow, but she is seeping oil ar the front of the drive shaft. There was oil on the OUTSIDE of the bell housing as shown in the picture. Again, not much but enough that something is going on. She's 12 and so I suppose stuff like this is bound to happen.

Any ideas on what this is and what needs to be done?

 

JBL- it would appear it has to be from where the spline shaft goes into the transfer housing tail shaft seal. That shouldn't be too hard to change.

 

i think this looks like the standard transfer case seal problem that i have read on this forum before.....

 

Thanks guys for the input - Took it to a Toyota dealership and showed them the picture and without putting it on a rack, the guy told me that if it is just the seal in the latter part of the Xfer case it's probably a $200-$250 repair...

Problem is that it is this leak is very slight and even imtermittant I might add...that certainly is a good thing but something will have to be done at some point.

 

i had the same problem. Just finished the rear differential seal replacement at Englewood NJ lexus dealer for a 2-hr job $240, plus parts the seal and some ATF oil $17.5.

For this type of specific toyota/lexus job, i can't trust indepent shops. so had the seal replacement done at the dealer when doing the 2 recent recalls.

My car is a 2005 RX330 with 11600 miles. never had any issue before. this seal is the first problem so far. Only changed battery 1.5 yrs ago, i also need to change the brake pads soon. lucky everything lasted so long. The car is high only though.

 

Kevintown - thanks for the info but please clarify, for the rear differential seal replacement, you needed ATF fluid? Did you mean gear oil?