Differential oil

[lexus22]

Have never changed it, should it be changed?

[ColinBarber]

Yes, every 2 years/20k miles.

[mikes5]

yes easy to do, oil not expensive. Mine had never been changed is250 2005 that was according to service records, it was black.

[lexus22]

Oops! I've never had it change🤔 it's it easy enough to do?  What would be the best oil to use...

[PCM]

1 hour ago, lexus22 said:

Oops! I've never had it change🤔 it's it easy enough to do?  What would be the best oil to use...

Presumably whatever the manufacturer recommends...

Does it say in the owner manual or service book?

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, lexus22 said:

Oops! I've never had it change🤔 it's it easy enough to do?  What would be the best oil to use...

Yeah it is straightforward. Just make sure you can undo the fill plug before draining 😉 

Crush washer/Gasket part code 12157-10010 needed for both drain and filler.

Needs exactly 1 litre for the LSD diffs, which was standard on the IS300 in the UK.

[lexus22]

The fill and drain plugs, never looked before, are they easily accessible and are they normal bolts or those countersunk hex things..?

[ColinBarber]

14 hours ago, lexus22 said:

The fill and drain plugs, never looked before, are they easily accessible and are they normal bolts or those countersunk hex things..?

I think they are hex plugs. Drain is easy, fill is a little more difficult as the exhaust is close. They are likely to be difficult to undo if they haven't been touched for years so you want to use some penetrating oil, clean out the hex hole on the plugs and use a socket with a good fit so you don't chew up the bolt.

I'll repeat myself here - undo the filler first and then drain. You don't want to be in the position of draining out all the oil and then chew up the filler and cannot get it undone.

[lexus22]

Good point, have just ordered a litre of Fuchs 75w90 synthetic oil, will be interesting to see how much (if any) of the original oil is still in there as I've owned the car from 50k and has now done 205k, and I've never changed it !! 

[lexus22]

So. Oil was changed yesterday by local garage (couldn't be arsed laying underneath it) and oil not really black at all, and no swarf stuck to magnetic drain plug either. My car has LSD but still took 1.5 litres of oil to refill though,  🤔