I have a 2001 Camry LE that belonged to my father-in-law. He kept up on all the required maintenance while he owned it through a local mechanic. While he owned it, at 120K the transmission and differential fluids were drained/replaced. At 180K I was going to replace the fluids again, and looking up the specs it called for ATF in both the tranny and differential sides. But when I removed the fill plug on the differential it was full of gear oil, not ATF. Is this acceptable? The car drives fine with no shifting problems. I checked with a local Toyota dealer and their opinion was that this was incorrect, but to just leave is alone. "If it ain't broke…" Has anyone had this situation and is gear oil ok to use in the differential side? Even if I don't change it, I'd like to know what fluids are correct for this car.

2001 Camry Le
4 cylinder
Automatic Transmission

 

May not make a difference but ATF was used in the diff boxes of the auto.

Manual used gear lube.

 

It's had the gear oil in it for many years with no problems. If I do change it, maybe I should stick with the gear oil. Is there any danger of the gear oil and the ATM getting leaking into each other?

 

which automatic is fitted in that 2001? ..
standard automatic transmission uses dexron lll (red colour)

would be interested to see a picture of the oil that was added to your differential

i did not think CVTs were fitted to 2001 camrys

 

I'm not sure how to determine exactly which tranny/engine combo I have, other than it's a 4 speed auto and a 4 cylinder engine. I don't have a photo of the fluid but it was yellowish and slick, and pretty much just like the differential oil I have in my 1987 Nissan D21 pickup's rear differential.

To clarify, the oil is in the sealed differential side / the other side of the tranny does have red Dexron in it. I'm not sure where all the solenoids, etc. are, but I assumed that the friction plates and the like where'll in the Dexron side, while large metal gearing would be in the side with the gear oil.

 

thank you for the clarification

the solenoids ,friction discs ,all that matters is on the red oil side

not all models of Camry have their differential oil in a separate in your case...your does

I wanted to make sure the differential oil put in to your transmission /differential and dexron 3
wasnt mixed .....you cant mix the two oils

Suggestion
you keep using differential fluid that is currently in your differential

if you wanted to go back to the dexron 3 ....the differential would need to be taken
out and cleaned . inspected .......a .big job

#
my information suggests
1.7 Qts of dexron 3 should be used in a camrys separate differential



.

 

Yes, I agree. I am leaving the ATF in one side, and the gear oil in the other. Is there a recommended weight/type of gear oil that I should use? Something like 75W90? Or maybe 75W-140? Any brands better than others?

 

tough to recommend as toyota dont have an non ATF option

if in there already
Something like 75W90 synthetic .yellowish and slick, .. w140 more for Ls Diffs and 4X4s

brand =go with one you trust

 

75W-90.

GL-3, 4, or 5.

 

I finally had time to change the differential fluid today. It was VERY black and the plug magnet was covered with tiny metal particles. The old gear oil was a bit smelly, and definitely worn out. I replaced it with Mobil Synthetic 75W-90. On sale at Pep Boys for about $9 a quart. It took 1.5 quarts. Pretty easy job, and luckily I had a big hex wrench to fit the drain plug. I'm good for many more miles.

Thanks to everyone for their responses.