5k mile break in service...

Not to beat a dead horse or start an argument.
I have read the entire owners manual; so I know what that says.
I would like any of your opinion or thoughts.

Current plan-
Rotate tires, change oil (severe duty use), grease chassis & detail interior then a nice bath!

Considering- doing a fluid change for axles and diff. Have heard mixed thoughts about this...

Just installed CAI so no air filter. Guess I can check cabin filter.
Am I missing anything?
Trying to keep this a 20+ year vehicle! We love our T4R!
Thanks in advance! Appreciated as always.

 

Sounds pretty thorough. I'm almost at 20K and haven't done differentials or transfer case yet. I don't see how it could hurt anything, though.

I waited for the free 10K oil change, but would have done it at 5K if I had considered my use up to that point Extreme.

 

I wouldn’t bother with the diff services, but my last 3 new Toyota vehicles I did a drain and fill without filter on the oil and tire rotation @5k. Then let the vehicle go to the dealer intervals. My 2 cents.

 

I would hold off on front and transfer case fluid change till about 25-30k miles BUT I would definitely do the rear axle! I have done my 08 FJ transfer case, front and rear axle every 30k miles without any issue with them for 200k miles. Now on my 18 4runner I have done all three already and the front and transfer case oil was almost like new but the rear axle was needed to get changed! Just do the rear axle and you'll be surprise the color of the fluid.

 

I did the diffs at 20k. An the tcase at around 30k.
Will do all three again at 60k

 

the ujoints and axle spline slip yokes need grease. do it every oil change. but only 2 pumps. that will keep the axles quiet and no wear. rear diff has breakin so rear diff needs gear oil change if it looks dark on the oil change intervals.
25-30K is what many do on the transfer case and front diff's. tranny fluid changes 100K .. unless you tow heavy stuff. power steering fluid replace 80-100K.. if it gets dark replace it ...

check cabin filter often . I had rodent problem so I put a rat wire screen to keep them out .. I use a non Toyota air filter, carbon filter and works much better .. no dust now in my runner.

engine air filter check every oil change . also I use silicone blaster paint safe spray on my control arm bushings and the front end grease boots.

 

Doesn't the rear diff oil appear dark because of the additives in it?

 

gear oil has a amber look to it. worn over heated gets very dark gray color .. some had the gear oil black.. black says it was over heated and burned up..gray says metal wear ..
last year I checked my gear oil and it is still a amber color .. at 3K miles new it was blackish with specks of debris in it .. probably the box was not cleaned at factory.. just check the levels and condition .. I know many do not like crawling on the ground to do this type work LOL...

 

FYI, I'm now in the habit of checking the fluids prior to putting any major miles on it.

Reason being that my last 2 new Toyota's were delivered without enough oil in the rear differential, and I only found out the first time by pure curiosity checking it myself .

Read about the "Free" oil changes from Toyota done by the dealer, be cautious, you most likely will not get the 0-20 W synthetic oil, unless you are going have a real honest dealer, again my experience. Cutting corners seems to be the flavor in many stealerships, along with crazy wait times.

So for peace of mind, and having a good start for the next 20 yrs, consider doing it, a small price to pay, and great clean baseline to work from for maintenance records.

 

Isn't all 0-20 oil synthetic?

 

Yeah, you get synthetic 0-20 W if you pay and specify it, the cheap oil is the next filler nozzle over, sorry grabbed the wrong one .

Do you know the difference ??

 

So they will put in the wrong viscosity oil? Is that what you are saying?

You do realize if they put 0-20 oil in it is synthetic.

 

I don't get what your saying and for the most part probably would have to say I disagree. People lose way to much sleep over oil just my opinion.

 

Agree with your position, don't lose sleep over it.

I just wanted to share some of my misgivings with stealerships, who have been guilty of the above scenarios, not checking all fluids prior to delivery, and saving a buck (actually a lot of bucks) by substituting the type of oil.

But then again this is just probably a very isolated case, and should not be construed as factual overall dealership experience.

So it made me DIY or find a very reliable lube shop, and yes for the warranty repair I had to rely on the dealership, but what a nightmare that turned out to be.

LOOONGG story, but Toyota corporate was able to straighten it out and compensated me with a free 8rs, 125000 miles, $0 deductible policy.

So I did not have to worry about the mismanagement of the care received, and or potential issues arising from it down the road.

Gave that 1-1/2 yr old truck to my son, who is still motoring away without issues, at 90K miles.

Shows that the quality is most likely better than the, oh well you get the picture.

Done ranting, have a good day.

 

Drained my front and rear diffs at @ 4500 miles. The rear fluid was dark gray, while the front was amber/gray. Toyota must put some kind of break-in compound in there, because at 4500 miles, my engine oil wasn't even discolored and it gets much hotter in the engine than it does in the diffs.

I was consistently getting 19.1 mpg prior to draining the diffs. Since then it's been 20.4 mpg for the last couple thousand miles. The new fluid will more than pay for itself. Glad I did them early.

 

Hmmm dont know about that

 

LOL just LOL.

 

My engine oil at 500 miles was changed and had some metallic stuff in there. One metal shaving.

Glad I changed it then.

Almost at 20k now and will probably do both diffs with dino oil since I have a bunch sitting on the shelf. At the next change I will go full synthetic in the diffs.

 

when I did the rear diff at 3K Miles I also got 1-2 MPG higher .. was getting only 18MPG,,,now 20.4 MPG in warm weather.

 

Yup! Someone else on a different forum noted a slight increase in mpg when he did his as well.

Funny thing, I used 75W90 Motul Gear 300, which is technically thicker than Toyota's 75W85 and still saw a bump in fuel economy. I penciled it out, at +1 mpg the fluid pays for itself in 15k miles, and the Motul was not cheap (@ $75 to do both front and rear).