wing0

So I guess that's a no to my question.
This coolant drain doesn't seem to be all that easy now. It's probably gonna be the longest out of all the fluids i'm tyring to change.

Lexmex

It seems like with our RX300s, there is the somewhat easy way and then here is the hard way.

In a few months, when I do my coolant again, will try to show that way with the hoses (though it does get messy, but easy to clean with water).

wing0

I went to Home Depot to grab some tubes for draining coolant.
Is it the outside radius or inside radius of the tube that should be 5/16"?

HarrierAWD

Never heard of it. You mean the red Toyota and green Prestone can gell up when mixed together? This I gotta see.

Lexmex

Try the search terms, red green jello coolant, in yahoo search or google and it should say something about that. Wild stuff.

Tammy

5/16 inside diameter tubing. There are two block drain valves, one for each bank. There is the one radiator drain. Finger tighten only

Use a 10mm socket, 1/4 in drive, to open and close off the block drains. You'll need to remove the right front wheel, then the rear drain is accessable.

Press the release away from you, then lift the DRL fuse box from it's holder and place it down, next to the battery. Now you have access to the front drain, next to the oil filter (to the right, as observed).

wing0

Update on the progress...

Engine oil has been changed(still need to check level when I move it off the ramp)
I think the engineer who designed the position of the oil filter must had the worst day of his life when he did this.
I had to use my hand to loosen and tighten the oil filter(hand tight, i hope that's ok.)

The tranny drain bolt was easy, but I CAN'T get to the front diff bolt because my rachet is 1/2" then I have to convert it to a 3/8" before putting on the 10mm hex allen on. That is just too long to fit and keep bumping into the exhaust pipe.
Even if I can get it off with my smaller 3/8" rachet, I can't torque it back to spec since the torque wrench is 1/2". I got the plug out and drained it. I can only tighten it by feel with my 3/8" drive rachet. It's pretty tight and feels about the same as the other drain plug. I'm leaving the car on the ramp so I can do coolant/tire rotation tomorrow. I hope I don't see a puddle of oil tomorrow...

BTW, how do ppl get rid of oil stains in their garage? Any special chemical I can use? Got a few spots already due to oil filter and careless mistakes. Thanks.

Lexmex

Don't worry too much about the front differential. As I uncovered, the ATF fluid you pour in via the tranny dipstick will circulate into the front differential.

When I get a lot of oil that is tough to remove, I use thinner, but that's just me and my uncle.

wing0

How bout handtightened oil filter?

I found the rear engine drain plug for coolant. It's around where the right wheel is.
I'm gonna flush the system with water, but since I'm not sure if there will be any tap water that doesn't come out. I'm gonna flush it with distilled water, would that be better?
Isn't it hard to keep a 50/50 mix if I do the flush and not knowing how much is still sitting in there.

Lexmex

Well, that oil filter is indeed in a quirky spot and that is why I use a K&N with the nut on top.

Next time I do the oil filter, maybe I can show how to reach it from the top (the RX has to be cold).

Too flush, you can use distilled water, don't worry about it.

I thrown kerosene to flush out the garbage with the motor oil after doing a change, but you wouldn't want to keep kerosene in your motor oil 24/7.

You can also premix the 50/50 in a separate jug.

81corolla

That should be fine.

Salim had a good recommendation - use some sandpaper to grip the filter if your hand is too slick. Anyway, I just changed mine for the first time and hand tightened it as tight as I could. No leaks.

BTW, I did talk to the dealer about the oil change. It turns out, the dealer has an adapter that they attach to the end of their air hoses. It punctures the oil filter and blows out all the oil (and filtered particles?) into the engine. Hence when the mechanic takes the old filter off it's bone dry and no mess. What a hack - probably an engineer's afterthought on how to "fix" the problem created by designing the filter where it is. :-)

wing0

OK oil change is done and just got coolant flushed today with my friend's help.
Going to observe the coolant level for the next couple of days and add if needed.

The last quesiton I have is the tranny dipstick level.
I can't read it since everytime i put it back, all the fluid goes all over the stick so i can't have a good reading and don't know how much more to add.

I did the front diff and the tranny. I poured in 4 bottles(1L) of ATF, i'm guess that's not enough for sure. but I don't want to overfill too.

In the book it says Tran uses 3.9L and Diff uses 0.9L(that's the front right?) so I'd need to pour in 4.8L, but I also understand not all fluid comes out when doing drain. So wha'ts a good way to do this?

Tammy

Good your coolant exchange was a success.... along with the oil change .

I used about 4.3 quarts refill on my fluid changes. Mine is AWD. I removed both plugs.

Auto on a level surface.

Step through the shifter from park to low and back to park, pausing a second at each detent..

With the engine running in park, pull the stick, wipe it completely dry. Replace the stick while holding the spring retainer. Seat; then pull the stick and grab the tip with your rag to collect the drips. Hold the stick at the same angle as it was removed from the stick tube. While keeping the stick it the same position, look for the first dry spot from the bottom end. Check on both sides of the stick. The bottom of the dry spot is the fluid level point. It should be between the cold and hot marks.

I check mine both hot and cold. Cold usually indicates between the marks, but when hot it is just below the hot full mark, about even with the bottom of the "V" cutaway. This is about the point to shoot for.

wing0

After a drive to pick up my mom from work(lol...sorry mom...)

I checked the dipstick again......
there's a faint hint of oil up into the hot mark region, but not as thick as the rest of the stick. So I added a bit more.....Now i'm at around 4.3-4L of ATF in there.
I was reading Lexmex's post regarding his change and he said he normally adds 4.5 bottles of ATF without draining diff and 5 L for draining diff. I'm just gonna drive it for a day and see where it is, I do not want to overfill...

As for the coolant, the reservoir tank is always going below the L line while running hot so I added more coolant, always a bit above the L line each time and let it fall. I'll keep a premix bottle of coolant in the car and see how it goes.

Sorry, one more request for the people that can help. I need a picture of the relay/fuse box that's near the ATF dipstick....like the one that's actually hooked on to the front radiator thing.

Like this one:

http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/Pi...id/pouring.jpg

I need to see the clip better because my fuse box falls off now for some reason and it was just dangling by its wire. I'm suspecting the clip on the top broke and can't hold it anymore.

HarrierAWD

You could do the final flush with distilled water.

Actually it's easy to keep a 50/50 mix. After the flush, just add a bottle of Toyota coolant. Then add distilled water until half way to the reservior. That'll give you 50/50. FWIW, this is why most coolants are sold in 200% concentration, not 50/50.

Keep an eye on the coolant level, then top off with 50/50 mix.