I have a 1997 4Runner with 138,000 miles on it I'm going to make the switch to full synthetics on 5spd tranny, transfercase, and both diffs.

Can I just drain and refill with synthetics myself? Or do I need to take it to the dealer and have them use thier T-tech machine to flush out the tranny. etc?

They want about $800-1000 to do this!!

Any help would be much appreciated.

(the write-up in the tech-section only detailes the auto-tranny flush procedures, which they do recoment using the T-tech machine)

thanks

 

I just switched to all synthetics on my runner.Did it myself with no problems . Do it yourself and save yourself the money .

 

What???
I have had my auto tranny flushed twice at the dealer, and I bring in my own Amsoil ATF, around 16 qt, and they only charge me I think $120 or less to do this.
Might even only be around $80 labor to do this, I do not have time to dig though my old receipts right now.

Your dealer is ripping you off.

 

I know they said it would be about $180 for each system they had to flush.
tranny, front diff, rear diff, transfercase after taxes about $800.

But I am going to do it myself.

 

Holy Crap, $800? Geez what kinda dealership practice are they running? Plus you can't really flush any of those systems that you mentioned, except the tranny. They are simple "spills & fills" as my teacher likes to call them.

On Corey's comment, sometimes Corey they fill the canisters on the exchange machines already with normal ATF fluid and you can't bring in your own to fill the tranny with (this save time for the mechanic who is usually on flat-rate and trying to get as many jobs as he can for the day). Just something to be aware of and you might wanna question the dealership next time you go in

One more thing, I wish I could find a link somewhere, but on horsepowertv, they used a test 2000 Camaro SS and first put it on a dyno machine, came in at 302 hp. Then they drained all the fluids (auto tranny, rear dif, coolant, engine oil) and replaced with Royal Purple fluids (although for coolant they just replaced with normal coolant and added the royal purple additive). Put it back up on the dyno machine and i think it registered 311 or 312 hp, just by replacing fluids, that's about 8 hp gain. That to me is impressive and I'm sold on using synthethics more often. Ahah!!! Found the link Click on the horsepowertv icon
on the website that is.

 

Mohamed-
I too saw that episode of H.P T.V. a few months back.
I think by changing my fluids to full synthetics, new fuel fulter, fully cleaned and flow-tested injectors, creaned fuel rails, clean throttle body and intake, SeaFoamed engine, and new plugs= I get a noticable power gain

Can I file a formal complaint with this dealership to Toyota directly?

I think this dealership is in the practice of overcharging huge amounts.
I called to get some prices on parts, and they wanted $40 for a shift lever seat and $12 for a diff breather! Both of these prices are WAY over MSRP.
Not to mention being very rude to me on the phone.
This summer they also tried to tell me I needed an entire new steering rack which would have cost me about $1400 with labor for them to install, but it turned out all I needed was new bushings (about $30 from daystar)

 

I don't know what laws are like in CO, but you can file a complaint with your local Farmington Better Business Bureau

I don't know what the law is like for price gouging, but it has to be a certain amount, actually $12 sounds about right for a differential breather from the dealer. (try dealer compliance on this site for information)Remember Toyota charges 300% over the parts actual cost (not dealership cost). That's why alot of us try to find the company that makes the particular part and buy from them directly. What I can suggest is call up another dealer and ask them for the price, and see if they are the same MSRP. Also, find a part's guy and make friends with him. I have two main contacts one for Honda and Toyota and they give me like 20-25% off parts. Eventually I need to find one for GM parts. Also www.brandsport.com has some actual Toyota OEM parts for like 70% off. (it's where i got my truck's skid plate and add-on alarm, each significantly higher at the dealership).

Again try the local BBB.

That's seems also a bit much, I figure... what... $700 at most for the rack assembly, time pays 3-4 hours ($89 x 4 = $356), alignment ($69.99), p/s fluid ($20) = somewhere in the $1200 range (including tax)...this is assuming worst case scenario, and it should be less. Uh if you don't mind me asking, what bushings needed to be replaced, I can't really think of any on a steering rack; if you had the old gearbox + recirc ball setup, then yah i can think of many.

I'll tell you this, replacing a steering rack is quite tenansious and if you don't have a lift, it's quite difficult. I only did a replacment job once, ever in my life on a Ford windstar, and I dropped the crossmember a little bit to gain access to the rack lines for one and to help take it out. Granted it was three of us working on it, but it only took us about 3 hrs max (including refilling the system/bleeding, and an alignment).

 

At each point that the steering rack mounts to the frame there are bushings.
My stock rubber bushings were shot which caused my truck to not track straight and I could hear it "clunking" back and forth when I drove over bumps. After the new Daystar poly bushings installed, my steering actually felt a little tighter.

My original point was that the Dealer misdiagnosed a problem with my truck that would have cost me an unnecessary $1400, when I solved the problem for about $100 with a new alignment.

 

If you have a manual tranny ( I assume you do, remember the new autos are 5 speed as well) you dont need to flush anything. You can just drain the fluids and replace them with the correct ones.

 

Oh no, I totally understand your point, I was just kinda computing somethings for reference. I kinda figured the only other bushings within a steering rack are the mounts too. I'll tell you this, it's the mechanic that works on the vehicle that concludes you need a new rack, some of them are bright, some well you just wonder how they got out of school in the first place. Sometimes mechanics do learn certain tricks and such while on the job, the problem is when it's a recurrance for the same mechanic, then they just tell you to pack your tools and be gone. I would tell the dealership about this to help the mechanic at least learn from this for future customers.

I have unfortunately some of these type of people in my class and I have to watch them so they ˟˟˟˟˟ anything up on a project car I may have while I go get some tools or something. I literally tell them to back the f8ck off, yah I'm mean but it's for a point, my record is 100% satisfaction for correct repairs done right the first time, and I intend to keep it that way!