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ATF in your T Case?

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Old Mar 29, 2011 | 07:15 PM
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ATF in your T Case?

I was wanting to swap out fluid in my transfer case. I had a co worker look it up in napa All Data and he said it calls for Mercon V i think what it was. ATF. Now another co worker is saying I shouldn't have done that if it is gear driven. I'm not even sure now.

Its 87 4runner, 22re, 5 speed

any info?
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Old Mar 29, 2011 | 07:29 PM
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Not sure what your truck takes, I put gear oil in my 98 tacoma. That's what it called for. My wife had a 2005 Nissan Xterra, it had tranny fluid it's transfer case. I was getting ready to change all the fluids and she traded it in on a new 4runner..... YES! finally got her converted !
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Old Mar 29, 2011 | 08:26 PM
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Originally Posted by skoti89
I was wanting to swap out fluid in my transfer case. I had a co worker look it up in napa All Data and he said it calls for Mercon V i think what it was. ATF. Now another co worker is saying I shouldn't have done that if it is gear driven. I'm not even sure now.

Its 87 4runner, 22re, 5 speed

any info?
do not use ATF , did you use ATF ?... here is some info ....... http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_TechInfo.shtml#Fluids

Last edited by rattlers; Mar 29, 2011 at 09:52 PM.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 08:58 AM
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The hydraulically actuated auto transfer case (A340H) takes ATF, but not the gear driven transfer cases used with the 5-speeds. There is another transfer case too but I'm not sure what it takes. Your friend needs to look at the correct tranny before recommending an oil.

Last edited by mt_goat; Mar 30, 2011 at 09:00 AM.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 09:04 AM
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It takes gear oil. GL-4 is the correct stuff, GL-5 is too slippery. I would reccommend the Redline MT-90 variety
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 09:12 AM
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I'm with mt_goat. He looked up A340 auto trans not a manual trans. Almost positive all manual trans toyota t-cases take 80-90 GL-4.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 09:29 AM
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Do not put ATF in that case. It'll take a bunch of work to clean that thing out if you do.

All above info is correct. You need 75-90 or 80-90 gear oil.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 09:59 AM
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i think he already did...your co worker looked up for automatic trans, not manual trans...

tell your co worker he owes you money and has to clean you t-case now.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 10:26 AM
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At some point while draining the t-case a light should have gone off...ATF and gear oil are like night and day.

I would not even know where to begin on how to clean a T-case. I guess flushing it out a coulple of times with cheap gear oil.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 10:31 AM
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Tearing a transfercase apart is easy peezy...
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 12:28 PM
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He shouldnt need to take apart his xfer case, merely drain it.
Pull the fill plug, drain plug, and pinion flanges and let her drain apart..

Probably going to have to flush it out with cheap oil.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 01:30 PM
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Its going to take several flushes, if he does it that way. The ATF will interact with the oil and possibly break it down quickly, meaning less lubrication and damage.

Best way to clean it is to tear it down, get it all the way cleaned out and dried, then reassemble and put it all back in.

I had water in a tcase once. Took 3 flushes to get it all out. That was fill. Run it around for a week very lightly (couple miles here, couple miles there) then drain, refill, and repeat. Finally on the last flush the oil was viscous and not foamy. That stuff hides everywhere.

Why did you go off a co-worker's theory? It tells you right in the owners manual what it takes, and if you don't have that, any dealership could have looked it up for you.

Last edited by AxleIke; Mar 30, 2011 at 01:31 PM.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 01:42 PM
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after reading this again, I hope he didn't do like most and change all the fluids at the same time..... Like transfer case/diffs..... I just hope there isn't more to this story .....
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by snobdds
It takes gear oil. GL-4 is the correct stuff, GL-5 is too slippery. I would reccommend the Redline MT-90 variety
Actually, the t-case can take most any grade of gear oil (GL-4 or GL-5) as it is not synchromesh. Some folks prefer to run GL-4 in case the tranny/t-case seal leaks and you get fluid mixing between the two. I've run a variety of oils in mine, I think now I have just plan old 75W90 Redline gear oil (GL-5) now.
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Old Mar 30, 2011 | 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by AxleIke
...The ATF will interact with the oil and possibly break it down quickly, meaning less lubrication and damage.
..
I don't think it will be a big concern, remember that guy that used to work for ORS that wheeled with us at the CO4RJ years ago. Frankensen or something like that. He had one of the original Marlin adapters to put a gear driven t-case behind the 3.4 auto tranny. Well to make a long story short, those couplers leaked a lot of ATF into the t-case and he was regularly driving with a t-case half full of ATF.

BTW Marlin redesigned those couplers and they don't leak ATF into the t-case anymore.
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Old Mar 31, 2011 | 05:17 PM
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From: Burghill Ohio
Well that's good to hear.... maybe skoti89 didn't smoke his transfer case
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Old Mar 31, 2011 | 05:50 PM
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From: Carson City
To those that are wondering I did put the atf in there.

I went wheeling over the weekend and pushed it kinda hard when I got stuck in the mud. Hard enough to fry the clutch. Im hoping I didn't do anything to the transfer case....
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Old Apr 1, 2011 | 06:35 PM
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I need some help on this topic. And I don't think there is a clear answer in the posts above.

I have a 92 pickup, 3.0L 5 Speed manual (R150F/VF1A) and Haynes manual says that all V6 1990 and later use Dexron II ATF in the transfer case. I drained the case tonight and it has gear oil in it. I am reluctant to put in ATF after there has been gear oil in there.

Anyone got a clear answer?

Last edited by Jake3744; Apr 1, 2011 at 08:02 PM.
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Old Apr 2, 2011 | 11:48 AM
  #19  
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I would say gear oil since yours is a 5 speed. Also that is what you took out. Your best bet would be to call the dealership parts dept. and find out which one you need. Mt goat posted in the 4th post of this page about this question. There were a couple different trans. case. Some took ATF some took Gear Oil
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Old Apr 2, 2011 | 03:22 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Jake3744
I need some help on this topic. And I don't think there is a clear answer in the posts above.

I have a 92 pickup, 3.0L 5 Speed manual (R150F/VF1A) and Haynes manual says that all V6 1990 and later use Dexron II ATF in the transfer case. I drained the case tonight and it has gear oil in it. I am reluctant to put in ATF after there has been gear oil in there.

Anyone got a clear answer?
I wouldn't trust anything in a Haynes manual, look in the FSM: http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...fsm/index.html

Under lubrication here: http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...21lubrican.pdf

Last edited by mt_goat; Apr 2, 2011 at 03:26 PM.
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