MDT Tech, thanks for advise on ATF, what about Transfer, and diffs ?

Kip

I'm new on this NG but saw your post as I sit here sneezing and wheezing through this $%#$# summer cold. On your transfer case and differential fluid change, you should do this yourself and save some money. All that is needed is patience, the right sized metric sockets and some hoses, a funnel or maybe a cheap hand pump, depending on the accessibility to the fill hole in the side of the transfer case, though I think you can snake a hose from the engine compartment to the fill hole without any problems. We have a Prerunner, a 4Runner and a Corolla-GTS (and a Prelude we shipped to our home in New Zealand) and we replace our own fluids-it's easy and a good way to get familiar to the neglected underside where all the important stuff is happening.

The fill sequence is:

1. do this on level ground. I also recommend blasting the underside a day or so before with high-pressure water to remove any dirt and road grime- a clean vehicle is a happy vehicle. It makes working under the truck so much nicer.
2. loosen the drains and collect the old fluid in a container for recycling. The old oil goes with the old engine oil at any collection facility, just don't contaminate it with any chlorinated solvents!
3. replace the gasket or aluminum gasket or whatever is there on the drain nut, tighten the drain nut.
4. filling gets tricky on reaching the fill holes on both the differential and transfer case. Look on the side of each unit for a large hex nut around

24 mm in size (it'll be the only large hex nut on the side) about mid-way up the side of each component-that's the fill hole. Te idea is to fill with fluids just till it starts to run out of the fill hole. Sometimes a hose with a funnel stuck in the end helps, sometimes a small plastic squirt bottle, sometimes a hand-pump-it all depends on the vehicle in question and clearance. Before starting do a practice run and gather any materials you need before hand. Caution: do this on level ground to avoid the wrong fill level.

1. wipe up any spills and while under there, look around and get to know the systems, inspect for fluid leaks, damage, and most of all, just have a good look around. Any rust? Sand and repaint! Clinging road goo? Clean it off!

Fluids We use synthetics ourselves on our vehicles, Mobil 1 for the engine oil (Costco has a great deal) and since we have a friend who sells Redline here in San Diego, we use Redline synthetics though I understand Mobil and Amsoil both sell similar products. Look at your owners manual and see what's specified, i.e., GL-4 or GL-5, 75W-90, straight 90 or whatever and get that. I can't speak about the other brands, but if they are pure synthetics, meaning they are polyol ester based, they are very good for extended drain intervals, high heat and shear regime over conventional fluids. The one issue is that some are too slippery and you have to match the right fluid to the truck's requirements to avoid clash and other issues.

Brakes If you're getting a pulsation, you should have someone check the brakes for warpage in the rotors or drums. I have a feeling that one of the drums is warped, not that I have any sound reason to say this other then a hunch. I'm assuming that no one has looked at the brakes or has sprayed anything on them?

Tools A little note on the large fill nuts: invest in six-pointed sockets and a long breaker bar and use steady pressure to make cracking those nuts loose for the first time much easier. In my humble experience, 12-point sockets can cause rounding of the shoulders of the drain and fill nuts. The size should be 24 mm, it is on ours.

Hope this helps

One handy tip is to make sure you can loosen and remove the fill plugs before removing the drain plug. Nothing like the feeling of not being able to get the fill plug out when you have a drain pan full of oil from the gear box.

I run Redline synthetic in my drivetrain, 75W90/GL5 in the t-case and Shockproof in the diffs, but there are other choices: