Recently went to get an oil change for my RX330 (2005) and a tire rotation at Tire Xpress. They told me I have an axle seal leak by the rear differential. He says it's a 9.5 hour job and will cost me around $1200, adding that it takes so long because the entire subframe needs to be removed.

​​​​​​I have googled and watched videos. I can't seem to find any information saying the subframe needs to be removed to replace the seal. Also I'm finding quotes that are significantly cheaper than what he said, as well as a time difference of several hours less than what he said.

Meanwhile they've given me a list of other things that "need repaired", saying my control arms are most important, and that they wouldn't be able to do the axle seal there because of how much time it would take. (It's basically a tire and lube shop. It's a franchise )

​​​​​​Maybe I'm being an optimist, but it sort of feels as if they brought up that issue with the axle seal, and I know it's true because I noticed it before they told me, then over quoted how much it would cost in order to make the repair of having my control arms replaced seem less significant at $700-800. Told my brother-in-law what they said and he said those kinds of shops are only out to make money. He added that the control arms on my car will probably last for several more years. (I'm going to have him look at it next weekend.)

How many of you have had to have the control arms replaced on your RX? I literally feel nothing as far as any symptoms or indicators that the control arms are bad. They have some surface rust but that's expected of a 2005 up north. (It's actually in great condition considering).

Another quick question, does the axle seal leaking cause any thud sound when going over bumps or dips in the road? If not then I know I actually do have a problem with something in one of the back tires, and the fact that they didn't find that bothers me...

I was really surprised for them to say that it was an issue with the front of the car, because it feels great up front! But I had noticed something going on in the rear.

Also let me just add that I didn't ask them to inspect my car. I went there for an oil change and a tire rotation. Then I was given a quote for $2,000 worth of work that "needs to be done".

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read this.

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BS!!! They’re liars, I would steer FAR away from that shop. I changed the rear diff seals on my 02 Highlander in the driveway which shares the same rear suspension, subframe and diff as your RX. It was over in a few hours and the most annoying part was having to drain & refill the diff oil as it stinks. No symptoms from the leak apart from the leak itself.

To make my life easier, I removed the rear strut and dropped the rear control arms from the knuckle-side (easier to do and doesn’t mess your alignment). I was changing the rear arms while I was in there. That’s a more involved job, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it if you don’t have rear clunks or bad knuckle bushings or seized rear toe bolts.

If the bolts are rusted, you will need to cut them all out on the frame-side with a reciprocating saw or grinding wheel, not a fun job. The rear arms badly go bad, but my main reason for doing them was to regain the ability to adjust my rear toe, plus I was redoing the entire suspension.

 

Thank you. I will steer clear of that place in the future.

I knew it sounded odd! I think the point was to scare me, and make me feel like their $800 (the front lower control arms) wasn't as expensive as the other one sounded. Also I just remembered he told me I was missing a part of my control arm... I don't know a lot about cars. But it's the control arm, attached to a bearing, covered by a rubber boot, attached to the wheel, am I right? What am I missing? If it were missing any of the parts would it function?? I am hoping to watch/help my brother-in-law change the seal, because I want to know more about cars. I'm jealous of your knowledge and abilities! Its a serious life skill and I bet it saves you thousands and hopefully makes you money as well!

Oh do you know if there's any thud/clunk sound with a bad axle seal?

 

My drive to learn about cars came from being scammed by an exhaust shop years ago, and that’s when I vowed to never let myself get taken advantage of again.

You won’t see any symptoms from the bad seal apart from the leak. I’ve seen cars with bad seals that would seep down to the drain plug, but would be full after a year of driving when I checked the fluid. If the leak isn’t bad enough to be dripping on the ground, you can leave it if you just make sure to visually inspect it once in a while.

It sounds like they’re doing a crap job at trying to scare you into changing them. If you were missing a control arm or any of the associated hardware that fastens it to the vehicle, you wouldn’t be driving it as it wouldn’t be physically possible, and you’d notice instantly that something was very off.

As for the rear control arms and trailing arm, they attach to the frame and then to the steering knuckle via bushings. If the bushings aren’t all torn up and are still intact, just leave ‘em. They go under very little stress on our cars and usually last the life of the car.

 

Pic of my 2008 AWD. Circled in blue are the two rear control arms, and circled in red is the rear trailing arm. Usually on our cars the trailing arm bushing in the knuckle itself is the only thing that seems to go bad. The solution in my case was to get 2008-2013 Highlander AWD rear knuckles as those were the only aftermarket solution I could find, and fit perfectly.




Where the arm fastens to the knuckle, which is where the bushings lie. You can press these out, but the labour involved usually makes it more economical to change the entire knuckle. The bushings on the frame side tend to hold out better over the years

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I really appreciate it. It makes me want to learn too. In the very least I want to be able to generally diagnose a problem, before I take it anywhere.

Now I feel much better than I did yesterday when I was told I'd have to dish out almost $2000 in order to pass inspection. (And I know never to go back there). I'll make sure what needs to be done is taken care of though, but no more than that. I'm gonna pass along your info to my brother-in-law when we look at the axle seal. Thanks again!

 

Glad I could provide some input on it. For the most part, these vehicles are pretty forgiving to work on. A Toyota Camry, Venza and Highlander are almost identical underneath if you get a little stuck and need any reference points.

Depending on how stuck the CV axle is, you might be able to get away with just disconnecting the axle on the car with the cv still attached to the knuckle. Although I wasn’t able to do that as mine was more stuck.

Another thing you two could try is just spray some brake cleaner all around the diff and pass inspection, then wait a little and see how much is leaking out to gauge how serious the leak is.

 

You may want to check the breather plug on top of the rear differential. I was told I needed my seals replaced as mine had minor weeping. As I was looking it over I checked the breather plug and it was completely corroded closed. I changed the plug and haven't had any issues since. I suppose pressure builds up and causes it to weep from seals, total guess but seems to have solved my issues as it hasn't had any further signs of weeping.