mystery of corolla differential runs dry

Jack · 2005-09-02T01:28:25+00:00

My father's 97 corolla with the 3 speed transmission recently develop awhine. Drove it to my usual mechanic where he suggested to try changeboth the oil in the tranny and the differential to see if it helps.(this transaxle has a seperate differential drain plug). The tranny wasdrained first and the fluid looked and smelled okay. Then he open upthe drain plug of the differential - I could not believe my eyes thatonly a few drops drained out, it was almost dry !My question to the group is : how can the differential run dry withoutmy father noticing any leak ? I am very sure there is no stain on myfather's drive way, where he park his car 99% of the time. Where wouldhave the oil gone ? I was thinking of the drive axle oil seal but mymechanic said it looked okay.Last time the car had the transmission and differential oil change wasabout one year ago at the same shop. I am thinking if my mechanicforgot to fill the differential during the last change, how could theunit went one year a few thousand miles without blowing up ? Actuallyaccording to my dad the whine only developed in the last few days.Any suggestion about what could have caused the leak ?

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Charles Pisano 20 years ago

Re: mystery of corolla differential runs dry Group: alt.autos.toyota Date: Wed, Sep 7, 2005, 6:15am (EDT+4) From: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Steve H) Just yesterday I was flushing the bosses transmission (97 camery) and saw the second plug. Pulled it to drain the entire transmission and noticed the fluid wasn't as dark as the rest. Looked it up and discovered the final drive section.. Now what if I assumed that it was part of the transmission and thought that it was filled through the fill tube? ............"

-- Stephen W. Hansen ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician ASE Undercar Specialist

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I can answer that question. I assumed it was a transaxle, but I had help with that assumption. I changed my trans fluid 2500 miles ago and drained the diff. as well on my '01 Camry. But I didn't fill the diff.

When I saw this thread, I knew I had problems and one of them would be admitting I did it...8>0

Whenever I do an oil change or a trans fluid change, I do what most people do and check the specifications page of the owners manual. They list the engines first with the crankcase capacities with the 4 cyl. listed first but only by the build code not the cyl #'s So, you automatically can tell the 4 cyl. is the one with the smaller amount of oil in the CC.

Then they list the transmissions and I assumed they would be in the same order. But they were inverted. So, the 6cyl. engines 'TRANSAXLE' was listed first and I didn't bother to look beyond that. Why would they flip the order???

To f*ck me up , that's why. So, bottom line I drove 2500 miles with no diff. fluid. I did notice my MPG creeping down on every fill. I have

86k on the car. I'd still be willing to bet I get 250k out of the differential.

But they are coming to repo my old ASE certs. tomorrow...8>(

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Matt Whiting 20 years ago

Maybe, maybe not. If you ran it that far and it had enough friction to measurably reduce your gase mileage, then you almost certainly got it hot enough to heat damage the gears or bearings. Good luck!

Matt

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st-bum 20 years ago

Does a 95 Corolla with overdrive have a separate transaxle oil thing than the transmission fluid?

I had them change the fluid and they said it was all one big thing, so it wasn't really possible to change the axle fluid or whatever it is.

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Comboverfish 20 years ago

You have an A245E transaxle, which does infact fill completely from the dipstick. Depending on the year and application, that trans may have a differential drain plug, but it still fills from the dipstick.

Toyota MDT in MO

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James C. Reeves 20 years ago

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Charles Pisano 20 years ago

Re: mystery of corolla differential runs dry Group: alt.autos.toyota Date: Fri, Sep 9, 2005, 8:59pm (EDT+4) From: snipped-for-privacy@epix.net (Matt Whiting) Maybe, maybe not. If you ran it that far and it had enough friction to measurably reduce your gase mileage, then you almost certainly got it hot enough to heat damage the gears or bearings. Good luck! Matt

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My last tankful was about 402 miles with all city driving. I usually got

415 - 420. But it did get hot. The little remaining oil that was in there was a nice fried carmel color. And the drain plug hissed as I unscrewed it.

I know it may be wishful thinking but I guess only time will tell..

But this is just the learning curve of switching brands I guess. I think Toyota could do more to educate new owners on this. Even the Haynes manual I have nonchalants it with NO BOLD PRINT and only a one line mentioning it in passing. WTF???

I had to end up taking it to a quick lube place as I didn't have a lift and could not get under it enough ( with it on jack stands) to get the leverage to get the fill access off, It was on there good. I had to tell them where it was and what and how much to put in it. So I have to wonder how many they send out the door wrong.

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st-bum 20 years ago

Thank you very much.

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mystery of corolla differential runs dry

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