96 camry differential plug?

I can't remember the size of the nut, but you better wear clothes you don't want anymore. A large plastic ground cover will be necessary also. If you have a pump to get the fluid into the differential that would help A LOT. Gravity feed from above through a little tube doesn't work very well.

There is a hex nut for the drain, right? I can drain that into my oil pan, shouldn't be that big a deal.

Can't I gravity-feed through a funnel + 1/2-inch 3-foot section of clear plastic tubing?

The hard part seems to be getting the fill nut off...

Already got clothes I "don't want" anymore... got them from changing my tranny pan gasket. :)

17 sounds right from memory, but you should acquire a complete set of combination wrenches When you say hex nut drain plug - it takes a 10mm Allen head socket. Best way to remove the fill plug is to "daisy chain" two combination wrenches together. A combination wrench simply has a box or closed end plus an open end and you hook the two together to effectively double the length and force you can apply, so it makes removal easy. I usually use a 17mm and 19mm, plus I recommend you replace both gaskets. They're both the same size aluminum washer type. Funnel and a plastic tube should work, but you might want to limit size to half inch outside diameter. Nice to see someone learning to care for their own car. Just take your time, go step by step, be careful, and you should be fine.

Yes, I meant that. :)

Ok, thanks for the advice.

Thanks also for the Tri-Flow Idle Air Control Valve advice. Finally got some Tri-Flow from a motorcycle shop, sprayed four quick squirts into the throttle body IAC intake, and now the car doesn't seem to stall anymore on the hills. There was a hill in front of my parents' house that the car would always stall on... no more stalling on that hill. :)

I use an oil-pump to fill the diff ('96 Manual). It's a messy job as you either keep withdrawing the tube to check how full it is, which drops oil on the ground,..or you keep pumping till it over-flows, which drops oil on the ground.

My pump has a tube for inlet and outlet.

A more intelligent way might be to jack the front up to give you some more fill-space, and then pump the exact amount as per the handbook into the diff.

Jason

You have a manual... don't you need a very viscous fluid for the manual diffs? The automatics call for Dexron II/III...

That's true. The manual diff uses SAE 70w/90 . Why that is I can only surmise the diff is more likely to suffer harsh power application,.like too fast clutch take-up, so they use an increased film-strength oil to stop metal to metal contact.

Jason

I went to Pep Boys and bought a 17mm socket for $2.50, then went under the car to see if it was the right size. Yes, it's the right size, but now I've got a problem - there's a crossbar in the way so I can't use my socket wrench. Maybe if the 17mm socket were half as long as it is... they don't make "short sockets" do they?

Good thing I checked... I was about to buy a whole set of 1/2" sockets for $20 from Wal-Mart. They wouldn't be necessary, at least not yet, at my skill level...

Guess I should buy a regular 17mm wrench, but maybe a foot long, for extra torque? I googled "combination wrench", and these look just like the (English) wrenches I have; I have an 11/16-inch which is really close to 17mm (17.526 mm, my conversion program says), but it's only about 7 inches long. I'm not sure how I would extend the length of my combination wrench... stick a smaller sized wrench in the "box"? Doesn't seem very secure...

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: but

You're on the right track. Put the box end on the plug, take an additional combo wrench and put the box end on the side of the open end that is in the direction you want to turn. Kind of like a puzzle, but if you position it right it will become (almost) one wrench that's twice as long. They do make a handle of sorts that's designed to extend an end wrench but I've never used one as the above worked for me any time I needed additional torque. HTH, davidj92

30" of 5/8" OD clear vinyl tubing has worked very well on my Camrys. From above, fish the tubing down to the fill opening and insert snugly the lower end of the tubing maybe an inch. Using the differential fluid spec from your owner's manual, measure out that much fluid plus an ounce extra. Effortlessly and slowly pour the fluid into the upper end of the vinyl tubing. When you first see the red fluid emerge in the vinyl, stop. You've filled your differential. There's trivial fluid pressure and thus little if any leakage. Crawl under the car to the differential. With your thumb below the vinyl, push up a little to dam the transmission fluid. Pull out the tubing, put in the plug, and you're done. You shouldn't lose more than three or four drops if you are careful.

-Gordon

Tried that... finally got the "combination" to work. Unfortunately, when under the car, I still was not able to get enough force on the combination wrenches to turn the nut (very awkward to try it under the car, with limited room!)

Tried using an extension/socket wrench, too, to see if I could work

*over* the frame support. No luck - there's somthing just above the frame support, so that the extensions target just above the diff fill nut.

Even tried tapping the wrench with a hammer... this just caused me to strip my nut slightly.

Neighbor suggested spraying with WD-40, then hammer again, but I'm a bit afraid to try this. (If the nut is loosened with WD-40, might it come loose more easily while driving???)

Ah well... perhaps this one *is* best left to the dealer to do.

WD40 will not effect the plug in a negative way,..it can only do good. Having said that, I dont think WD40 will assist getting the fill-plug out. IIRC, I had to use a short section of 1/2" drive from a tension-wrench kit inserted in the socket and a large shifter or combination spanner to turn it. It had to be "shocked" to undo,..then it came out easy.

Jason

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote: Tried that... finally got the "combination" to work. Unfortunately, when under the car, I still was not able to get enough force on the combination wrenches to turn the nut (very awkward to try it under the car, with limited room!) . . . Ah well... perhaps this one *is* best left to the dealer to do. ============================= There's a secret. You need to lift the car to get enough room to get at that fill plug. Once you do that, there's enough working room to remove it fairly simply. Since I'm always doing other work on the car when changing the differential fluid, and I also rotate the tires every 5,000 miles, when changing the oil, I lift both front and rear - makes access to the differential relatively easy. Here's how you lift the car. You need one or two hydraulic floor jacks and a stable floor. I have a garage with smooth concrete. With asphalt on a warm day, or a sloping surface, you could have a problem. Since the car weighs roughly 3,000 lbs., you need a 2 ton floor jack, plus some sturdy jack stands. Those 2 ton floor jacks are fairly inexpensive. I bought two long time back, one stopped working after a while, and I replaced it with a 3 ton, just for an extra margin of safety, but the 2 ton is smaller and fits under the rear of the car much better. First locate the structural cross members of the frame - large welded steel stampings that run sideways. In front the engine mounts are attached to them, in the rear the suspension locating arms are attached. These box frame members are strong enough to easily support the weight of the car. If you look carefully, you'll see a spherical "bump" front and rear, at the center, and this is where you place the hydraulic floor jack. Then lift the front of the car until the tires are off the ground. Place your jack stands on either side of the floor jack and slowly lower the floor jack until the force is evenly distributed between them. If you only have one floor jack, now you move to the rear. For the rear jack stands, place a 12" 2x4 piece of lumber on top to spread the load under the side jacking points where you have spot welds on the sheet metal, then lift from the center of the rear frame member, set the jack stands, and lower the jack to evenly distribute the load. You fill now find working under the car _much_ easier.