22 4R - Changed Out Rear Diff Fluid @ 2300 Miles

Morning all

Sharing my experience - drained the fluid at 2300 miles. The drain plug magnet was full of goop and the oil was dark and had a metallic sheen to it.

Not worrying, I understand it's normal, but wanted to share what I found. Just like I change my engine oil at 500-1000 miles after break-in, I believe it to be good practice to change out the Diff oils after break-in.

Take care

 

Changed mine at around 15k miles and found similar. Gray fluid, and gray sludge in the magnet.

 

No idea why you would want to change it at 2300 miles. But OK.

 

I'm all for changing fluids at least as often as specified. I've done it on all my vehicles and will do so on the 4runner. But I'm just wondering if anyone has ever heard of a 4runner rear diff failure. You've got to imagine there are grocery getters out there with a couple hundred thousand miles on them that have never had the rear diff fluid changed...

 

Might as well change coolant too while you at it.

 

maybe if it water gets inside from deep water crossing? just a guess. i don't know where the breather is located.

 

Some folks have reported diff failures here in the past, but they didnt seem oil related from what I recall.

I changed my oil at 15k because I had taken it through deepish water a while back and once I heard about the possibility of the diff breather sucking air, and I started to hear a very subtle diff whine at 60-70mph under light throttle, I got all paranoid and changed it to be sure.

Still have that whisper of a diff whine though.

 

I never changed mine in any vehicle....ever. Never experienced any issues with my front or rear diffs in my many jeeps, pickup, explorer, or now in my 4 runner. seems like you can go at least 100k without ever even considering that?

 

i dont know about that as a practice. Id at least try to follow manufacturer’s severe or normal schedules, whichever may apply.

 

I’m planning on doing mine this spring along with the engine oil/filter. Estimated mileage will be around 23k. I’m on a 5k engine oil interval but I usually time out 6 months) before reaching interval.

 

Related question: can you reset the maintanance needed warning midway through its cycle? My first oil change was at 1k miles ( ) and imperfect timing on oil changes since then has made it all out of wack.

 

Exactly. 100k fluids front to back. Repeat. Regular oil changes otherwise (10k mile intervals)

 

Yes, it’s in the owners manual somewhere.

 

i have two newer toyotas and still need to reference the damn manual everytime to remember how to reset the timer lol

 

I worked at Toyota for years and we did it every 90k, but we didn't sell unnecessary things. I run Mobil 1 in everything. No oil leaks at 200k and never a worry. I change oil every 10k. Even if synthetic is contaminated it doesn't loose lubrication characteristics.

 

Did my rear diff first at 25k, gray fluid as well. Did my Tacoma at 10k, fluid was still golden.

 

It really depends on where you drive and what you do as to how often you check or change. Stuff happens when you go off road. You might extend your vent higher to prevent contamination

 

It’s a catch 22

You can do this, and prevent contamination, but you now have introduced more complexity into the system and created and “unapproved” modification type situation.

No perfect answer here. But maybe no wrong one either. Just need to know what you are willing to risk and how much you want to spend.

 

Yeah I think you have the best idea for what you have done and if you think you need to check it and when. If you're water crossing or deep mud you know what you need to do.