Replacement differential.

[Lexluther7]

Hi to all on this forum.  I became a Lexus convert a little over a year ago, previous to that I was a Toyota man... My wheels are a Lexus RX400H special edition on 2009 plate. As you would expect it is a 3.3 V6 with CVT and Electric motors fore and aft.  Just a little over 3 weeks ago I started to notice what I believed was a bearing whine..so i jogged off down to my local mechanic who likewise thought the same..however and this is where the bad news started when i spoke to him later he showed me the car on the jacking platform and demonstrated a grumbling/rumbling noise emanating from the Differential housing when the wheels were spun up manually and also extra play which should not be available when agitated manually.  I knew at this stage lexus would charge me an arm and leg for such a job to be carried out and tbh on car of this age it just wouldn't be worth it..even though it's relatively low mileage and in good overall nick...So i went online and found some parts dealers offering up diffs second hand with a warranty etc and i thought great..prob solved.  But then i thought hang on because it also has the electric motor that requires a connection is this a plug and play straight swap proposition were talking about here or would the ECU need further coding to allow a new part to be mounted so that the electric  motor works..so in short I'm really looking for some solid advice regarding the viability of my plan.  I do not have any code issues with the car (i.e. I think the rear electric motors itself is functional) and tbh honest i just love the car and don't really want to get rid of it for just such an otherwise small issue.  Thanks in advance Paul.          

[ColinBarber]

It's a straight swap, no programming required.

[Lexluther7]

Hi Colin..your a star mate..thank you for that great news!

[Lexluther7]

Just one last thing to run by you (I hope you don't mind)..I have included a link to the diff I plan to buy on ebay  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265306097497?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D74618d9b23574f559439a4bba2c70675%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D265306097497%26itm%3D265306097497%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Aedbee7e7-33d3-11ec-b7ee-de5f58a07293|parentrq%3Aac1454e917c0ab846803324bffe3b121|iid%3A1

Just wanted to offer this up for an opinion so i can say to myself I've crossed all the T's and Dotted all the I's I could feasibly attend to.. As i say only an opinion, everything else is down to me 😉 Thanks again in advance.

[ColinBarber]

Looking at the parts catalogue there appears to be only one part number for this across the entire life of the 400h (05 to 09, and the same part is used on the later 450h as well), so there shouldn't be any issue with incompatibility.

Small electrical connectors look corrosion free, difficult to see the main 3 phase motor connections with the pictures supplied but hopefully they are okay as well.

Whether the mechanicals are any good is obviously a bit of a gamble with a 90k miles used part but you have the 3 month warranty.

 

Just make sure you pull the HV Battery isolator on your vehicle and wait 10 mins before you start to remove the electrical connections on your existing motor.

[Lexluther7]

Once again...can't thank you enough for looking into this for me..many thanks.

[Rex Ruthor]

Hello, I have recently started driving the RX400h (2006) and I hear the same whining noise from the rear diff when driving and when I spin the rear wheels by hand with the car jacked up. Did the OP solve this issue by replacing the rear traction motor assembly (aka "differential")?