Plugs on Front Differential, Where is Fill?

psraff · 03-13-2008, 06:45 PM

Am I blind or just stupid?????

Changing fluids today. I'm pretty sure I found the drain plug. It's a hex, on the side of the housing towards the bottom straight below the oil filter and about 4 inches back.... But I can't find the fill anywhere???? The pics in the Chilton manual is for somthing different (it shows the drain plug under the housing and horizonal, where mine is side but lower down and vertical.

If it matters, I'm a '99 SR5 3.4, Auto Trans.

I can't change either differentials.. (Front, can't find the plug, Back I can't get the fill plug off (have help on the way with 6 point sockets where I only have 12).

At least I got he ATF and the Transfer Case changed.....

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Victor · 03-13-2008, 07:03 PM

Drains are on the bottom. Fills are about halfway up the pumpkin. They can be tight!

d0ubledown · 03-13-2008, 07:21 PM

fills in the front, behind the skid plate. a long flex funnel is your friend when filling it up...

psraff · 03-13-2008, 07:53 PM

Yeah, I've read they're tight. I'll need to pick up a ten or 12 mil allen wrench for them... (I'll buy both to just be sure)

It's getting late and chilly out so tomorrow I'll post pics. I can't see a hex headed bolt anywhere half way up this thing. Only one I see is the one I called the drain before (mounted virtical towards the bottom of the housing (like the drain on the transfer case)). I took the back skid plate off, to I need to take the front one off also to see the fill?

Also, I got the fill plug out of the rear with the help of my brother in law. Got that changed. Only thing left is the front. (Engine Oil is still great so I'll change that next month)

In case you don't know or care, I'm changing everything because I just bought this several months ago so I'm doing this to make sure everything is clean.

OH, BTW MY TIRES AND WHEELS SHOULD BE HERE NEXT WEEK!!!!!

d0ubledown · 03-13-2008, 08:04 PM

yes, you'll need to take off the front skid to get to the fill. make sure you use the proper hex key to turn it..you dont want to be stripping that thing. blast it with some pb liquid wrench tonight to give it a bit of a head start

psraff · 03-13-2008, 08:24 PM

Alright... tomorrow the front skid plate will come off, I'll buy the long "whip" type funnel, wrentches and lube everything with some Kroil. If I have to soak them over night, I will.

BTW, you guys every hear of this stuff???
http://www.kanolabs.com/

All the oil \ gas companies around here uses this. And it works. If you can get your hands on some, do it. I see cans of this laying around all over the refinery when I'm working our there. Tesoro, Conoco Phillips, Marathon, Cheveron... They all use it.

96redtoy · 03-13-2008, 08:56 PM

make sure you get the fill plug off before you drain it because if you drain all the oil out and then go to try to take the fill plug out and its rusted shut or what ever you will be up the creek with out a pattle

just letting you know and hope this helps

psraff · 03-13-2008, 09:29 PM

Oh yeah. I learned that the hard way long time ago with changing my oil! LOL I always test the fill plug before I attempt the drain on anything. Good advise for those "young wipper snappers" though!

edzo · 03-14-2008, 06:29 AM

kroil is better than pb blaster some will say, but you can't just run down to the gas n sip and get kroil, .....pb blaster is sold everywhere

they both work well but large truck shops have distributors who supply them, much like red bull supplies cycling and ski shops with little fridges and cans

gilby4runner · 03-14-2008, 06:35 AM

http://www.yotatech.com/f2/dip-stick-120514/

sorry... i just had to do it

mkgarrison5 · 03-14-2008, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilby4runner

http://www.yotatech.com/f2/dip-stick-120514/

sorry... i just had to do it

so what happens when my rear diffy dip stick is showing that i am low on atf??

Ohio4R · 03-14-2008, 07:42 AM

Try using a breaker bar to get the rear diff. plugs out.

psraff · 03-14-2008, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio4R

Try using a breaker bar to get the rear diff. plugs out.

That's what I ended up doing. The thing was, I didn't want to do it by myself. With those heads so shallow one slip and I would have rounded off the head of the fill plug. So I had him keep the socket (6 point, not 12) in place and level while I pushed down on the breaker bar. That did it. I'm still going to head down and buy a new plug for it. The edged on mine were rounded just a little bit. Better swap it out before it rounds any more and then I have to do things the hard way....

Wow... Rear Diff with a dip stick... That's a new one (refering to that other thread you posted) I read part of that before I posted this thread, but never the very first post of it.... All I can say is WOW....

Elton · 03-14-2008, 07:58 AM

good luck with the front drain plug mine was on soo tight it just rounded the the allen bolt now it wont come off

mkgarrison5 · 03-14-2008, 08:15 AM

i never had an issue with mine in the front nor the back.. i just hope i put them back on tight enough..

psraff · 03-14-2008, 05:51 PM

Got it done today. It was real easy after I dropped the front skid plate. I still had to look hard for the fill plug because of a nice coating of oil\dirt build up (9 years of oil filter changes I'm betting). But I didn't have to soak them at all.

It is a 10mm by the way. At least for the '99 it's a 10mm and not the 12mm.

I had to put a socket on the end of the allen wrentch and a 6inch extension but that was more to not bust my knuckles. All in all, this whole thing was real easy. Everything was very clean to my liking (Front and rear diffs were much darker then I perfer but there were no metal in the magnets on the drain plugs).

Thanks everyone!

Oh, one question though... When I drained my front diff, how come my ATF fluid on my dip stick didn't drop any? Aren't they all connected????

( I couldn't pass up one last jab at that other thread.... Please forgive me... LOL)

Ohio4R · 03-14-2008, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psraff

Oh, one question though... When I drained my front diff, how come my ATF fluid on my dip stick didn't drop any? Aren't they all connected????

( I couldn't pass up one last jab at that other thread.... Please forgive me... LOL)

No they arent connected, the ATF dip stick goes straight to the bottom of the transmission.

psraff · 03-15-2008, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio4R

No they arent connected, the ATF dip stick goes straight to the bottom of the transmission.

I was only joking... Read the thread that Gilby posted.

Quattro15 · 03-16-2008, 04:58 PM

psaraff....you did find the fill plug though right??

I got to mine, it's facing the front of the vehicle. It was covered in mucky-muck though, kinda hard to see.

psraff · 03-16-2008, 06:46 PM

Yep, I found it. Mine was the same as yours it sounds like. I had a little tweeker screwdriver scraping the muck off and that was they only way I found mine. Fluids are all done!! Well, oil is next month. Mine is still real clean. I put Royal Purple in everything. I wanted 75\110, but all they had was 75\90. Next one up was 85\140 and I sure wasn't going that high! Maybe it's the plasebo effect, but I think I can tell everything is smoother. I really enjoy driving this thing! LOL... It got up to 35* today and I was out there washing it. Gave it it's first hand washing of the year today. Took a couple of the badging off of the back (small "Toyota" and the dealership logo in the lower right of the rear hatch). I still need to clean up the goo left behind, but it already looks better. I was just looking it over and seeing what's next to do... I have tires and wheels comeing, a guy pricing up T&M to build a rear bumper for me because mine is really rusty. I would love to take the running boards off but I'm a single dad with two girls (ages 8&9). They still use them to get in and out. So that's still up in the air. So next I'll dechrome the grill and the wheel trim. Those are cheap and easy to do.

Quattro15 · 03-17-2008, 09:06 PM

Sounds good...I did put 75/140 in my diffs. I put synthetic in though, so it's a little thinner than the actual weight anyway.

I also feel like mine is running "smoother"!!!

Ultraman V · 03-18-2008, 10:54 AM

Good stories (dipstick, hahaha) Here's my quick front diff story. After I bought my truck this past summer, I did as you and changed all the gear fluids. Starting from the back and working my way forward. Well, I got to the front diff and started to remove the filler plug. It was quite grungy and I couldn't tell that it was a hex bolt. I 'assumed' it was like the other plug bolts and a 17/19 whatever mm standard bolt that the previous owner had rounded off. I saw the drain was a hex but thought it was just a replacement so I dremmeled a slot into the fill plug to use a large screwdriver to break it loose. Felt like a complete idiot when I got it out and cleaned it off........

03-13-2008, 07:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
Victor Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 1,711	Drains are on the bottom. Fills are about halfway up the pumpkin. They can be tight! __________________ "Turtle" - Green 94 4Runner Looks like one and about as fast JDM altimeter/clinometer, 2002 Sport wheels, 265/75r16 MT/R, , OME stabilizer, BJ Spacers, Cruiser Coils, removed sway bars, rattle can paint for all that peeling clearcoat! Lockright front and rear.

03-13-2008, 07:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
d0ubledown Contributing Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: vansterdam BC. Posts: 1,432	fills in the front, behind the skid plate. a long flex funnel is your friend when filling it up... __________________ sonny ------- 1998 4Runner LTD. Fabtech CO fronts, OME/Pro Comp rears, SS rear links, Revtek diff drop, oem elocker, ARB RD90, 4.88's, 315/75/16 MT/R's on FZJ-80's, Trail Gear sliders, ARB Prado Bar, 1.5" 4Crawler BL, Tundra Brakes, wabfab disco's, IPF's...satoshi'd deckplated & ISR'd. SOLD!!! new ride: 1997 FZJ80. ome/arb/bfg/etc. when clinton lied..nobody died

03-13-2008, 07:53 PM	#4 (permalink)
psraff Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 346	Yeah, I've read they're tight. I'll need to pick up a ten or 12 mil allen wrench for them... (I'll buy both to just be sure) It's getting late and chilly out so tomorrow I'll post pics. I can't see a hex headed bolt anywhere half way up this thing. Only one I see is the one I called the drain before (mounted virtical towards the bottom of the housing (like the drain on the transfer case)). I took the back skid plate off, to I need to take the front one off also to see the fill? Also, I got the fill plug out of the rear with the help of my brother in law. Got that changed. Only thing left is the front. (Engine Oil is still great so I'll change that next month) In case you don't know or care, I'm changing everything because I just bought this several months ago so I'm doing this to make sure everything is clean. OH, BTW MY TIRES AND WHEELS SHOULD BE HERE NEXT WEEK!!!!! __________________ *Shannon Rafferty* '99 Runner SR5 Kenai, Alaska Done: E-Locker mod \| Scion Stereo \| K&N FIPK \| Nitto Terra Grappler 265/75R16 \| Pro Comp Xtreme Alloy Series 7089 \| Huculined bumpers \| Tint \| Flex-a-lite Fans \| ScanGaugeII \| LightForce 170s \| Smoked LED Tail Lights \| VHT Nightshade \| Tranny Cooler To Be Done: Lift kit \| Front and Rear Bumpers \| Sliders Profile & Pics of my '99 4Runner CarDomain Profile: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3304961

03-13-2008, 08:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
d0ubledown Contributing Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: vansterdam BC. Posts: 1,432	yes, you'll need to take off the front skid to get to the fill. make sure you use the proper hex key to turn it..you dont want to be stripping that thing. blast it with some pb liquid wrench tonight to give it a bit of a head start __________________ sonny ------- 1998 4Runner LTD. Fabtech CO fronts, OME/Pro Comp rears, SS rear links, Revtek diff drop, oem elocker, ARB RD90, 4.88's, 315/75/16 MT/R's on FZJ-80's, Trail Gear sliders, ARB Prado Bar, 1.5" 4Crawler BL, Tundra Brakes, wabfab disco's, IPF's...satoshi'd deckplated & ISR'd. SOLD!!! new ride: 1997 FZJ80. ome/arb/bfg/etc. when clinton lied..nobody died

03-13-2008, 08:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
psraff Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 346	Alright... tomorrow the front skid plate will come off, I'll buy the long "whip" type funnel, wrentches and lube everything with some Kroil. If I have to soak them over night, I will. BTW, you guys every hear of this stuff??? http://www.kanolabs.com/ All the oil \ gas companies around here uses this. And it works. If you can get your hands on some, do it. I see cans of this laying around all over the refinery when I'm working our there. Tesoro, Conoco Phillips, Marathon, Cheveron... They all use it. __________________ *Shannon Rafferty* '99 Runner SR5 Kenai, Alaska Done: E-Locker mod \| Scion Stereo \| K&N FIPK \| Nitto Terra Grappler 265/75R16 \| Pro Comp Xtreme Alloy Series 7089 \| Huculined bumpers \| Tint \| Flex-a-lite Fans \| ScanGaugeII \| LightForce 170s \| Smoked LED Tail Lights \| VHT Nightshade \| Tranny Cooler To Be Done: Lift kit \| Front and Rear Bumpers \| Sliders Profile & Pics of my '99 4Runner CarDomain Profile: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3304961

03-13-2008, 09:29 PM	#8 (permalink)
psraff Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 346	Oh yeah. I learned that the hard way long time ago with changing my oil! LOL I always test the fill plug before I attempt the drain on anything. Good advise for those "young wipper snappers" though! __________________ *Shannon Rafferty* '99 Runner SR5 Kenai, Alaska Done: E-Locker mod \| Scion Stereo \| K&N FIPK \| Nitto Terra Grappler 265/75R16 \| Pro Comp Xtreme Alloy Series 7089 \| Huculined bumpers \| Tint \| Flex-a-lite Fans \| ScanGaugeII \| LightForce 170s \| Smoked LED Tail Lights \| VHT Nightshade \| Tranny Cooler To Be Done: Lift kit \| Front and Rear Bumpers \| Sliders Profile & Pics of my '99 4Runner CarDomain Profile: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3304961

03-14-2008, 06:29 AM	#9 (permalink)
edzo Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 155	kroil is better than pb blaster some will say, but you can't just run down to the gas n sip and get kroil, .....pb blaster is sold everywhere they both work well but large truck shops have distributors who supply them, much like red bull supplies cycling and ski shops with little fridges and cans

03-14-2008, 07:42 AM	#12 (permalink)
Ohio4R Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 213	Try using a breaker bar to get the rear diff. plugs out. __________________ 2000 4Runner 4x4 Sr5 173K, 2x Procomp lights, 3" Toytec lift, Diff. drop, Gunmetal painted rims, 285/75/16 Dunlop Radial Mud Rovers, audio system, TomTom GPS, Summit Racing Muffler, Rear Cargo Storage/Sleeping Deck.

03-14-2008, 07:58 AM	#14 (permalink)
Elton Contributing Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Siletz,Oregon Posts: 10,671	good luck with the front drain plug mine was on soo tight it just rounded the the allen bolt now it wont come off __________________ My Truck 98 4runner SR5 3.4L 5spd 4x4 E-Locker Mods Mom 07 Tundra d-cab limited 5.7L 4x4 auto sister 92 pickup SR5 X-cab 3.0L 5spd 4x4 Papa 89 Pickup SR5 X-cab 4x4 3.0L 5spd/98 4runner SR5 4x4 auto 3.4L R.I.P 91 4runner SR5 4x4 3.0L 5spd Totaled 5/13/06 My Wreck

03-14-2008, 08:15 AM	#15 (permalink)
mkgarrison5 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: NC Posts: 1,516	i never had an issue with mine in the front nor the back.. i just hope i put them back on tight enough.. __________________ 02 Tacoma 4-Dr 4x4 V6 117k miles

03-14-2008, 05:51 PM	#16 (permalink)
psraff Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 346	Got it done today. It was real easy after I dropped the front skid plate. I still had to look hard for the fill plug because of a nice coating of oil\dirt build up (9 years of oil filter changes I'm betting). But I didn't have to soak them at all. It is a 10mm by the way. At least for the '99 it's a 10mm and not the 12mm. I had to put a socket on the end of the allen wrentch and a 6inch extension but that was more to not bust my knuckles. All in all, this whole thing was real easy. Everything was very clean to my liking (Front and rear diffs were much darker then I perfer but there were no metal in the magnets on the drain plugs). Thanks everyone! Oh, one question though... When I drained my front diff, how come my ATF fluid on my dip stick didn't drop any? Aren't they all connected???? ( I couldn't pass up one last jab at that other thread.... Please forgive me... LOL) __________________ *Shannon Rafferty* '99 Runner SR5 Kenai, Alaska Done: E-Locker mod \| Scion Stereo \| K&N FIPK \| Nitto Terra Grappler 265/75R16 \| Pro Comp Xtreme Alloy Series 7089 \| Huculined bumpers \| Tint \| Flex-a-lite Fans \| ScanGaugeII \| LightForce 170s \| Smoked LED Tail Lights \| VHT Nightshade \| Tranny Cooler To Be Done: Lift kit \| Front and Rear Bumpers \| Sliders Profile & Pics of my '99 4Runner CarDomain Profile: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3304961

03-16-2008, 04:58 PM	#19 (permalink)
Quattro15 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 346	psaraff....you did find the fill plug though right?? I got to mine, it's facing the front of the vehicle. It was covered in mucky-muck though, kinda hard to see.

03-16-2008, 06:46 PM	#20 (permalink)
psraff Contributing Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 346	Yep, I found it. Mine was the same as yours it sounds like. I had a little tweeker screwdriver scraping the muck off and that was they only way I found mine. Fluids are all done!! Well, oil is next month. Mine is still real clean. I put Royal Purple in everything. I wanted 75\110, but all they had was 75\90. Next one up was 85\140 and I sure wasn't going that high! Maybe it's the plasebo effect, but I think I can tell everything is smoother. I really enjoy driving this thing! LOL... It got up to 35* today and I was out there washing it. Gave it it's first hand washing of the year today. Took a couple of the badging off of the back (small "Toyota" and the dealership logo in the lower right of the rear hatch). I still need to clean up the goo left behind, but it already looks better. I was just looking it over and seeing what's next to do... I have tires and wheels comeing, a guy pricing up T&M to build a rear bumper for me because mine is really rusty. I would love to take the running boards off but I'm a single dad with two girls (ages 8&9). They still use them to get in and out. So that's still up in the air. So next I'll dechrome the grill and the wheel trim. Those are cheap and easy to do. Attached Thumbnails __________________ *Shannon Rafferty* '99 Runner SR5 Kenai, Alaska Done: E-Locker mod \| Scion Stereo \| K&N FIPK \| Nitto Terra Grappler 265/75R16 \| Pro Comp Xtreme Alloy Series 7089 \| Huculined bumpers \| Tint \| Flex-a-lite Fans \| ScanGaugeII \| LightForce 170s \| Smoked LED Tail Lights \| VHT Nightshade \| Tranny Cooler To Be Done: Lift kit \| Front and Rear Bumpers \| Sliders Profile & Pics of my '99 4Runner CarDomain Profile: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3304961

03-17-2008, 09:06 PM	#21 (permalink)
Quattro15 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 346	Sounds good...I did put 75/140 in my diffs. I put synthetic in though, so it's a little thinner than the actual weight anyway. I also feel like mine is running "smoother"!!!

03-18-2008, 10:54 AM	#22 (permalink)
Ultraman V Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 63	Good stories (dipstick, hahaha) Here's my quick front diff story. After I bought my truck this past summer, I did as you and changed all the gear fluids. Starting from the back and working my way forward. Well, I got to the front diff and started to remove the filler plug. It was quite grungy and I couldn't tell that it was a hex bolt. I 'assumed' it was like the other plug bolts and a 17/19 whatever mm standard bolt that the previous owner had rounded off. I saw the drain was a hex but thought it was just a replacement so I dremmeled a slot into the fill plug to use a large screwdriver to break it loose. Felt like a complete idiot when I got it out and cleaned it off........ __________________ Lance N. Vancouver, WA 1996 Taco 3.4 - 3"Revtek, 33's 190,000+

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