Front diff drain plug alternate OEM part

Just ordered Lexus drain plug at local dealer. $11.58 after tax and will be in tomorrow. Kind of annoying they wont let you order part without paying for it and won’t take card over the phone so had to make a trip out of it. With shipping and wait time didn’t make sense for me to order at any of the above listed online vendors especially because I want to do the job Asap. One of them shipping cost was same as cost of the part lol. Side benefit, Lexus has amazing espresso machine and complimentary goldfish.

Wish I read whole thread before I ordered drain plug. Wouldn’t mind replacing fill plug too even though doesn’t seem to give guys as many problems as drain plug. Just a pain to have a female hex plug in the mix when all other cases will be raised hex.

That second part number for the fill plug is also a Lexus part? Why does it cost twice as much as the drain plug?

 

That's total horse chitt they won't let you give a credit card over the phone. Are you a criminal or something? Dickheads

 

Apparently according to Adventure Taco, 9034118060 is a hex plug that will fit the front diff fill.

https://adventuretaco.com/a-front-diff-drain-fill-plug-that-doesnt-suck/

 

No are you a criminal lol? They just said that is their policy and that they don’t take credit card payments over the phone for parts orders. Not sure if that’s all dealers or just this Lexus dealer. Found it strange. When I order Toyota parts I feel like they have taken orders over the phone I believe even without payment, but maybe the parts were already in stock.

 

Found the great price today on p/n 90341-18060 (fill plug)
$8.18 plus $4.12 shipping to 50323
Have not called the local dealer yet to compare prices; time is money so I just click Purchase with SSL PARTS
https://www.ssl-parts.com
genuine Lexus parts; bought my new drain plug from them

 

Called local Lexus dealer yesterday and their parts dept. quoted me $9 and change for the fill plug. Gonna drop by and order it tomorrow.

 

Does this company have Toyota parts, too?

 

I got mine for 8.55 plus tax at local Lexus dealer. Its fortunate when a local option is available.

 

Just bought the drain and filler plugs. Good price and low shipping from AZ to Louisiana.
https://www.ssl-parts.com

 

Did these fit well in your 3rd gen?

 

Haven't put them in yet. I got them for when it is due later this year. But according to others, these are the ones to use.

 

That front diff drain plug is a B!tch!...went through two sizes of extractors before I got to solid enough steel that one would grab well enough...third times a charm...I was pulling like a monkey, got the 3.5 ton jack bending my breaker bar and just peeling metal...finally got one to bite and with the kick of my boot ...I heard/felt that sweet release. Now if I can just get the extractor extracted from the bolt...lol.

Replaced both the fill and drain with external hex bolts. Honestly, I am going 50k on that front diff from now on....it still comes out hella clean at 30k.

 

Gotta say...I really enjoy this fluid transfer pump for filling the diffs...I pressurize it with some air from the compressor and it makes life super easy...beats the snot out of the bottle pumps for thick fluids.

 

Dude... I knew that going in... and I'm still surprised how ignorant mine was.

I used to be a mechanic, and TBH I only had chrome hex sockets. Never had an issue with that, I've pretzeled a few with an impact. I had to run out yesterday & pick up a 1/2" drive impact hex for it. My 1/2" M18 impact (granted it's only the mid-torque, but still....) had nothin' on it. I ended up busting out my old 2135TiMAX I haven't used in years, and it still sat there ugga dugga'ing away for about 15 seconds before it finally let go... I didn't even bother getting the old plug off the damn thing yet. Just... WTF.

 

Thankfully I've never had issues with the hex plug, an ounce of prevention is worth a kilo of blow (I think that's the saying). I just ordered one and it's on the way for my next drain.

 

Thanks for the information on the drain plug. I am getting ready to change the fluids in my 2013 Tacoma, so I am going to order one. I also have a 2011 4Runner 4x4 - does anyone know if it will work there as well?

 

Should, 4R is closer to the Lexus it belongs in than a Tacoma is. Front diff certainly shouldn't have changed.

 

Finally got my seized plug out this weekend and installed the new one. Diff hadn't been serviced in 100k plus miles due to the seized plug.

 

How’d you get it out? I’ve already got the Lexus 14mm socket plug and it’s a stripped, rounded out mess now…that bastard is in there

 

I had to weld a nut onto mine to get it removed from my Tundra. Tried hammer and chisel, but it was tight enough that the chisel just took chunks out without budging.