After reading all the raves about Amsoil I switched over my tranny and transfer case today. I used the Series 2000 75W-90. No problems encountered, pretty easy work. I hope this improves my cold weather shifting.
I was going to do the front and rear differentials as well, but I got too cold lying on the ground( It was in the mid 30's). I also didn't have replacement washers for the rear differential. According to the dealer they are different from the other washers used on the tranny, transfer case, and front diff.
Also, do you really need a hex wrench to remove the front diff drain and fill plugs?
According to Bob's write up on the 3rd gen. you need the hex wrenches. Does this also apply to 2nd generations?

Thanks for all the help and ideas,
Chris

 

I'm not sure if the 2nd gens uses hex for the diffs . Qustion for you though, did you flush the old oil out before putting the Amsoil in there? Thanks.

George

 

No I didn't flush the old stuff out. I have a 5-speed so its just a drain and refill. No flushing required for a manual, only autos.

 

Cool. Thanks.

George

 

The hex key is only needed for 3rd gen's. The front (and rear) in the 2nd gen are the big bolts, I forget what size though. You can use a crescent wrench. Be sure its metric otherwise it wont fit right

 

mossback,
Cool, thanks for clearing that up.
Do you if the gaskets on the rear diff are any different than the ones on the tranny, front diff, and transfer case?
Or if they can be reused? Or should I really replace them.

Thanks,
Chris

 

I have a 97 Tacoma and just drained and refilled with Amsoil. I did it exactly as a cold front pushed through. I had the chilled oil in the cab and it was a little harder to pump since it was in the low 30s when I did it. I should have waited for warmer weather.

Anyway, with the exception of the front diff, the transmission, transfer case, and rear diff all have a 24mm drain and fill plug that uses the same size and type washer gasket. They looked like big aluminum(?) washers on mine.

I replaced all the gaskets on the drains but not the fill plugs. Why, because the dealership I went to only had two in stock. So, I had to go to another one in my area to get enough. They only had two as well. Apparently the dealers do not replace gaskets when they change gear fluids. The first dealer had 2 "crush-types" and the other had the regular type. I put the crush washers on the tranny and transfer case plugs and the regular on the rear diff plug. Not that it probably matters.

I also had to order the washer for the front differential. Neither one had that in stock. My truck took a 12mm hex key for the drain and a 10mm hex for the fill. I had to go to Sears and pay $8.00 for a 12mm hex key since all I had was a 10mm.

I would bet the regular washers would be OK to use again, but I didn't want to take a chance. What's a couple of bucks anyway? A leak because of a washer would be a pain.

I think all the washers including the one for the front diff were all around $1.30 each.

 

When I did my previous Runner, I just re-used them because they looked good. With the one I'll change the gaskets when I change the fluids next week. It really depends if you're a gambling man.

You gotta ask yourself one thing. Do you feel lucky.

Well, do ya.



punk.

 

Is the best place to get amsoil products, directly from amsoil?

 

Not sure. Maybe someone knows.

I just went to their website and ordered from there after some futile merchant searches. Their shipping was pretty reasonable too.

http://www.amsoil.com/

 

Thanks

 

I dont know if you have these in AZ country, but up here GI Joes, The sports and auto store, has started carrying Amsoil. In fact just last weekend they had a dollar off/qt sale. Got SAE 5-30 for 4.89 a quart.

 

if the front diff is the same as the back it'll take a 15/16th inch box end wrench. I had to add a quart to my rear diff a couple months ago (didn't know it was leaking for a good while).

I have a bad feeling the front has origonal fluid but it seems it could be quite difficult to get to.

was also thinking about changing the transmission fluid but it's hard to get it back into the transmission... I glued a plastic tube on the cap for the gear oil haha, took forever to squeeze it in.

??when you change the manual transmission fluid it drains the transfer case too right? cause you can add it from the side and the back.. never understood why there's two places to add it unless there's two drain plugs??

 

The transfer case and transmission are separate units. Each has a drain and fill plug.

It is easier to use a pump to add gear oil. That way you won't have to rely on gravity.

This may help some:

http://www.4runners.org/articles/difftsf/

 

GI Joes? Never heard of it, but it sounds like my kind of place!

Do they have guns AND auto parts??? I doubt I would ever leave lol

 

thanks for the info, never seen one before those pics in the link... hmm wonder if wal-mart has it haha

 

Autozone has them. I couldn't find one in Wal-mart.

 

No, you don't need hex wrench to remove the front diff drain and fill plugs, but you need a hex wrench to remove the drain plug on transfer case only if you have an automatic tranny. But you have the 5-speed manual tranny so I'm not sure if the transfer case on 5 speed manual same as the one attached to automatic tranny. My .02 cents

Noel

 

4x4CPOSEADOG,

Thanks for the tip on the front diff. No the transfer case on the 5speed requires a 24mm bolt, the same as the tranny.

Hey man I see that you are from Va Beach, I'm down there surfing all the time. I moved to Richmond from Kill Devil Hills. It sucks being away from the water.


Thanks,
Chris

 

Bob is an authorized Amsoil dealer....