jvan08

Hello,
New to lexus and new vehicles in general(retired an 05 accord and 03 ranger) always have done my own maintenance.
I want to change the transfer case fluid.
Under the car, I see that the transfer case is attached to the transmission, but can't seem to find the fill/drain plugs. Does the transfer case use the transmission fluid?
And is there a differential or any fluid to change in the rear? Doesn't look like there is anything in the rear to change.
Sorry for the newbie questions

Clutchless

Welcome to CL. How many miles are on it? See this link to Toyota Nation and the Highlander forum how to as it is a mechanical twin. Also below is a link on changing the transmission fluid too. https://www.toyotanation.com/threads.../#post-2959747
and
https://www.toyotanation.com/threads...ations.264043/
and
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-interval.html

and https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...d-threads.html

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jvan08

Firstly, thank you for replying and helping.

Just bought it at 112k miles, had the tranny fluid completely flushed, and there are currently 119k miles on it.
The car-fax we got had mentioned that it had all of the big milestone maintenance done at a dealership, just doesn't state anything super specific on what was done on those 30k/50k/etc maintenance trips. So just to be safe I like to replace all fluids in the vehicle, so I have the piece of mind.

I watched that differential fluid change (and all the other ones on youtube). I have found the transmission/transfer case, just can't seem to find the drain and fill plugs that are for that rather than the transmission. In that video he's loosening up a bolt thats facing down, I searched and searched and wasn't able to find anything in-between the transmission pan and oil pan.

I will try to climb back underneath it, in the next couple of days and take some pictures and look again.

Also, with it being the AWD is it just a transfer case in the front and nothing to worry about in the back?

Clutchless

Differential in the back, and the transfer case toward the front. You are looking in the wrong place for the transfer case. The Transfer case is at the end of the driveshaft behind the engine/transmission.

Clutchless

You can look up the dealer service history, which is more detailed than CarFax by following these instructions:

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You can go to the Lexus drivers site linked below, join for free and enter the VIN of any Lexus you are considering to buy used and then it lets you see the dealer service history and the car build sheet that shows its options. The site is a bit cranky and does not always work, so you may have to try a couple of times. https://www.lexus.com/My-Lexus/account/create-account

​​​​​​To see the service history at Lexus Drivers do the following:
On the page that lists the car whose VIN you entered there will be a line that states
Vehicle Health Report
Learn More - click this box
Then on the next page it will state
My Service
On the right side it will state Service History
View History - click this box to see the service history
Then it will slowly take you to a page you need to scroll down to see the service history
Each entry will be a line, click on the + at the side to see more about each entry