jwahaus

Not the engine oil but the differential and Auto Transmission oils?

I've got 33K miles on my Taco now and I'm thinking I'm past due to change my "other" oils.

The Steelership wanted $40 for each differential and $40 for the Auto-Tranny.

It looks easy enough to do myself. Is there an inexpensive device to use to get the oil into the differentials? Looks like a big syringe is needed.

Rick F.

It all depends... Do you tow? I tow boats and a camper and I typically have both changed at 30-40,000 mile intervals. Otherwise, I think the recommended frequency is every 60,000. Are you planning on changing to synthetic? I'm sure you'll get great advice in subsequent posts to this one.

Note that simply draining the transmission fluid doesn't replace the bulk of the fluid.

jwahaus

Yea, I tow a boat a few times a month when the weather is warm.

I was planning on just purchasing the stuff the dealership sells. Is there something better to use?

I didn't realize. That must be why the dealership charges $40 for a simple drain and refill but $130 for a transmission oil "flush".

How do you flush the oil or is this really even needed?

My99

With the auto tranny's, if you simply drain the oil, you get something like.. 70% of it out. That means that there's still 30% of the old stuff. I wouldn't worry about this. In fact often times when they use high pressure to blow/suck out the extra fluid it puts stress on tranny's that can force leaks. I'd say change it yourself.

Just for your poll, I'll say that I'd change the fluid in the tranny every 60-80k miles with light duty towing if anything and the rear-end about as often.

gtaSR5

I change my oils once a year... it's just a habit of mine.

Bob_98SR5

JW,

In your future posts, it is a good idea to let us know what year your vehicle is as well as if you have 2WD or 4WD.

Look in the Tech section in the "Maintenance and Repair" sub-section. I have a write up that will cover how to change your diff and transfer case fluids. Since I have a 5-speed, the tranny part won't help you.

As for the auto transmission, if you do put your vehicle under alot of "stress" (regular towing and/or heavy loads), it might be in your best interest to change over to synthetic transmission fluids and do the complete flush (around $100). The advantage is, of course, that the service life of synthetic tranny fluids is longer than regular tranny fluids as well as better protection.

Bob

Sass69

Would it be fair to say that if you are switching to Synthetic that you MUST do a complete flush due to the incompatibility of the Reg vs. Synthetic?

rimpainter.com

I might have to disagree. If you reverse those figures, it would be more accurate.

Not trying to be a jerk, just thought I would point it out.

Robinhood150

Not according to gadget: http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.htm

Draining the pan gets about 30% out, the flush machines do not use high pressure (well, at least the cooler line one. He doesn't say anything about the other one), and it should be flushed every 30k.

jwahaus

Thanks for the input guys. Some of you are posting without listing when you change your oils. (does that mean never? : ) )

From what I've read so far it seems like just draining the Transmission fluid and then toping it back off is almost pointless.
I guess I need to ante-up for the flush soon.

The differentials are another story. It seems pretty easy to do these myself. Just drain and fill right?

Transfer case??? Looks like I've overlooked something.

Bob_98SR5

jw,

check out my write up in the tech section.

i change my amsoil oil every 25k or at month 12. i change the filters every 6 months or 12k.

your oil service life will dictate your change schedule. when i used M1, i changed that out every 7 to 8k miles. that was an arbitrary service life i was comfortable with. i understand that you can take it to about 10k. but someone correct me if i'm wrong.

bob

Robinhood150

Yeah, basically . I've been neglecting mine pretty bad. I think I had the original tranny fluid in there for 160k miles. The diff fluid was done at 160k, although it might have been done at 60k. I just changed out the transfer case fluid this past Sunday and I'm at 180K, however, it too might have been done at 60k.

It still runs great.

Oh yeah, the diffs and transfer case are pretty easy. You do need a hand pump to fill them though (a couple bucks at the store). Make sure you open up the fill cap before you drain it.

MTL_4runner

I do a drain and fill on the tranny pan about every 20k so eventually I will have changed all the fluid.

As for the Diffs and transfer case, it is easy. Most diff fluid comes in a squeeze bottle so no need for the hand pump on my truck (2nd gens may be different ). You just undo the drain and fill plugs (fill plug first!), replace the drain plug, fill it until it pours out the opening and replace the fill plug.

Definately use Bob's writeup:
http://www.4runners.org/articles/difftsf/

jwahaus

Okay, I just changed all of my "other oils" this weekend. Both differentials, the transfer case, and the transmission fluid (drain and fill). Everything was surprisingly easy even though this was my first time doing this.

Replaced the diffs. and transfer case using Mobile1 75W-90 synthetic.
Just used run of the mill (Costal Premium) Transmission Fluid D-III

I can't beleive the dealership wanted $40 for each of these 4 things ($160).
All the fluids combined ran me $35 at AutoZone. And I doubt the dealership
would have used synthetic.

This was the first change at 33,500 miles. I've gathered from how dirty
the fluids were that this is a little too long of a service interval. The transfer
case was the only one that looked pretty clean.

Now I know that the Transmission fluid drain and fill only replaced about
20-30% of the transmission fluid. So I'm thinking I'll drive it for a week and
then do another drain and fill, and then repeat again the following week. (sort of a poor man's flush).

Is there an easy way to do a transmission fluid flush without purchasing
any equipment. The dealership wants $150 for the flush. I can drain and
fill 43 times for that amount of money.

boogyman

kragen and most other auto shops have small pumps that attach to gear oil bottles and you can just pump the fluid in really easily.. i think the pumps are ~$5 or so.

ElwayLite

My 2001 manual says 30K for the tranny and 15K for the rear diff, Im swapping to Amsoil but am going to stick with those intervals.

KING

I never changed any of my fluids with the exception of my engine oil since I bought the truck 17K ago.

The good thing is that the the owner prior to me took good care of it and maintained good service intervals.

tomstin

I think you have your ratios reversed. The A/T drain and fill is roughly 4 - 4.5 quarts, the entire A/T system is 16 or so. The torque converter holds most of the fluid. When I dropped the valve body I got another 2 + quarts. The A/T system hold a lot of fluid!

chuckd

does the 15 diff fluid change go for 2wd as well? I 've had my truck for I think 20k or so and haven't done it. Though I did get a tranny flush.

jwahaus

Yes, you will have only one differential to change though. 20K miles isn't
too bad. I waited 33K miles and this was a little too long based on how
the oil coming out looked.