Changing Differential and Transfer Oil on 5th Generation

because your gear oil is black the teeth are going to be worn ,,.. black oil has no lubricant ..
did you see any chips in the oil ?
I used 75-90wt syn mobil gear oil ... I check it every oil change oil looks new .. I changed the gear oil rear diff at 5,000 miles looked dark and had particles in it so I changed it .. 40K miles and oil looks like new.

 

First differential oil Change in 257k miles (4th gen 4Runner rear differential ) - YouTube

My 2007 4runner has 316,414 miles and I haven't changed the rear diff oil yet!.. - ED

gear oil can last a very long time.

 

Don't worry if your diff oil is black. It's the additives Toyota adds to the diff oil.

The color means nothing in this particular situation............ unless it's something other than black.

 

when I do my gear oil changes I drain it out .. look at the old oil and see if there is any metal in it and the correct color brown .. then I screw in the drain plug by hand .. then I pump a couple of times to add some oil in it .. then I put in a clear glass container to drain out the new oil .. I do not like any particles in the gear box..like a flush deal..
when I do my boat lower drive unit I drain out the old oil .. then I put in some new gear oil to see if the particles are removed .. then if it looks good I do the complete fill ...
another thing is old runners should replace the vent on the gear box... vent can be rusted and blocked.. when the pressure in the gear box will increase because of the old vent valve then the wheel bearing seals will leak ...
some other trucks have the diff venting not on the gear box but a hose to a cleaner safer area .. many modify this to a safe spot because off road drivers in a water area ..

 

Doesn't the manual call for 1.5-1.6 qt. and the rear 2.8-2.9? I recently had a mechanic do a break-in change for the front and rear diff for my 5th gen and they used a total of 4 liters. I'm concerned that they used too little for one or both differentials.

 

I've always just added fluid until it starts dribbling out the fill hole.

 

the front diff 1.6 qts the rear diff 2.7 qts the port hole top dripping it .... the Mobil bottle did the cap cutter and did the oil bottle ....

 

the transfer case oil Toyota LF 75W 1 Litter 08885-81080 Nashua NH 73 bucks ..
the electrical motor and the case is the transfer case ...specs ...50K miles ...
the 75-90wt did not do the Mobil gear oil of the transfer case ..

transmission 80K - 100K miles of the fluid take the pan off cleaned the pan ... the transmission 109-116 F did the port hole filled it ...engine running it ..

 

The procedure is just fill until it spills out of the fill hole, relatively idiot-proof. Remember you drive a Toyota truck that could be maintained by illiterate cavemen in Afghanistan.

 

LOL!

 

I use Mobil 1 in everything. 75w90 is perfectly fine. I change mine every 100k but it's good for 500k. Toyota diff oil is synthetic to I believe. I guess if you're rich and bored you can change everything every as factory recommends, but I use transmission cooler and power steering cooler and I do everything around 100k and transmission and coolant 60-90k and I go hundreds of thousands of miles. If I was a Pikes Peak mailman I might do extreme factory recommended maintenance, but I know better now. My differential oil looked brand new and it might have been changed before I buy it once. That's what makes it a 4runner. It will last 300k doing virtually nothing. My plugs had about a 0.77 gap and I was getting 22mpg and no issues. I am buying a gas station a little at a time and I can't afford to do that much maintenance. If you aren't in water or seals leaking then you shouldn't worry. I change my oil and filters every 10k miles to with Mobil 1 and Toyota filter. My old truck 300k, no oil use and I drove it without a cooling fan 50 miles and no problems. 4runner has a factory oil cooler is one reason they last and it extends life of your oil tremendously. Synthetic oil really doesn't cook or go bad like regular oil. It gets darker longer it cleans but that motor is so beautiful and golden colored like Mobil with no sludge. Then they hold 7 quarts of oil which extends it more.

 

Is maintained by Afghani illiterates. They are changing my oil tomorrow. Doah!

 

Yeah it is if it makes you feel better, but I will at same red light. I just know what works best for me and I know it won't make any difference on lifespan or reliability. I'm not draining $140 of Mobil 1 from drivetrain that often. It's synthetic. It still lubricates contaminated with water and separates after it sits. Everyone should do what they are comfortable with. That's what I always liked about a 4runner, you don't have to do all that stuff and it will still last.

 

Well I read all the time about people creating problems over maintenance. I just changed transmission fluid at 192k and I don't think it was ever changed. I solved torque converter shutter issue and it still works. I changed fluid on 2001 to soon and transmission went out. I have transmission and power steering cooler and gear ready for electric fan. That's why I bought used and paid half but got same vehicle as everyone else. I'm keeping it to see how many miles I can get and I'm not paying $50k to drive anything. I just want to get there and back and it will whether 100 miles or 300k.

 

Anyone know the official oil weights for each? And OEM part numbers of the fluids?

is the front diff really needed s often as the rest? Doesn’t that one with significantly less?

 

Front and rear diffs are 75w85 GL-5. I used Redline.

Diffs are pretty easy to change. I would just do both at the same time.

 

I’m just learning about all the drama on these fluids. At least Toyota offers them at all, that’s a good thing. Very expensive and apparently not stocked. Oh well, I’ll wait but my end goal is to keep it simple and use the Toyota stuff.

 

Oil fight!

 

If it’s not 50/50 Nutella and Mineral Oil I don’t want it!