Full fluid change questions (oil, transfer case, manual trans etc.)

2000 Tacoma 3.4L V6, 4WD

I am about to embark on the journey that is a full fluid and oil changeover. Doing usual oil change but going to follow up with transfer case, rear and front differential, manual transmission, coolant, and power steering. I am going by the FSM for the gear fluid work and specs. I found a decent YouTube video of somebody doing this here: https://youtu.be/eDNYzMONxEk

It has been years since I have done any of this so looking for answers to a few questions from the regulars here:

1. I am unsure if the listing in the FSM for short or long wheel base is in reference to the standard or xtra cab? The oil quantity varies between them, though barely. I see 2.2qts for front differential, and for rear either 2.6 or 2.7qts (long base). Not enough difference to really get manually so doubt that will matter, however, safe is better. I saw a thread that stated the qts for the long wheel base was a typo. A lot of threads say to just fill each until it starts to just barely flow out of the fill point. That seems to be the standard practice but checking anyway.

2. Oil spec

$30 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 front diff, 80W-90 rear diff. I see many threads here where people just run 75W-90 in both, any difference just using same viscosity?

3. Transmission shows 2.3 qts at 75W-90, transfer case shows 1.1 qts at 75W-90. Again I see most threads just fill until it barely flows out. Has this ever caused any issues long term?

4. Power Steering. I see many threads where people do the turkey baster to empty it out then refill with fresh fluid, as in this thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/power-steering-flush.90216/
Anyone else do it this way or similar?

I plan on following all this soon with accessory belts, timing belt, and chassis work listed in the FSM for 100-120k miles. This is not like my 1970 Dart that could chew up ball bearings you throw in it, spit them out and ask you what your problem is anyway. I do not want to create any issues in a newer vehicle that is my daily driver and I love this truck. I passed my 100k mile work due to work schedule with no downtime and need to start knocking it out.

TL;DR Anybody have any do/don't advice when doing a full fluid change out? Input would be appreciated. I plan on doing it over this three day weekend. Thanks

 

Both diffs and the transfer case can use 75-90, I use Mobil1 or Lucas. Loosen the full plugs first to make sure they aren't seized. Fill until it dribbles out the fill hole, that is the exact amount that's supposed to be in there.

Most people prefer Redline mt-90 for the trans, same deal fill it till it comes out the fill hole.

PS fluid is supposed to be ATF, the seals are not designed for thinner PS fluid. You can crack the hard lines on the steering rack to flush all the fluid out, jack up the front end and steer lock to lock a few times to push the old stuff out. Use a flare nut wrench on the hard lines so they don't round off - 12mm.

In total you'll need about 6 quarts of gear oil, 3 quarts of Redline, and a quart of ATF. Sounds like you've got a good handle on the rest of it.

 

Hey Dude,

Check out these videos my buddy Sean and I made. I think they might help you out:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/a81i1Cayf_I


https://www.youtube.com/embed/GOb5yF2Xv8Y

 

Thanks for the reply. The FSM called for Dexron 3 ATF for the power steering pump, so that was what I got. Came up to quite a bundle at Napa. Thanks for the heads up on filling the fluids, that was what I figured seeing other threads but wanted to make sure I wouldn't be overfilling anything. They didn't have any Mobil 1, which was what I was going to get, so I got Valvoline.

 

Wow, thanks for the videos man, those are pretty thorough. I will check those out fully before I start in.

 

Check out Amsoil website. Fluid amounts as well as type. And options for amsoil products as well.

https://www.amsoil.com/lookup/auto-and-light-truck/?url2=2004+TOYOTA+TACOMA+8

 

Cool, thanks man.

 

If you're draining the transmission fluid, remove and replace the gasket and filter

Same for the engine oil pan gasket

 

OP has 5spd. No filter

 

gah

 

The advice to check out Amsoil is sound. It's "very" good stuff. I have it in everything. Engine, trans, diffs and transfer case. One of the reasons I use it is because it opens up the drain intervals quite a bit so I don't have to be changing fluids near as often. I went almost 8500 miles on my last oil and filter change and after having an analysis done Blackstone told me I had a "beautiful" sample with everything in spec even though no one runs a 3RZ as long as I am in their experience. I might be able to go 10,000 eventually with a filter change at 5000. Gear boxes? Amsoil can go over 100,000 miles as long as you don't ford rivers or get other contamination into the gear boxes. I changed my gear boxes a couple of years ago. I'll change them again next summer and see how the analysis turns out and then decide how long I can really go. I'll probably have around 60,000 on them by then. I'm using Amsoil 75-110 in my diffs, 75-90 in the transfer case and Amsoil's GL4 in the tranny.

 

Reminds me, there's an advance auto parts store that now sticks amsoil products. The only one

 

A lubricant fluid quart pump will be your best friend. Its nearly impossible to tilt the gear oil quart upside in most spots.
I've been using this one off Amazon for years.

$8 Lubrimatic 55-001 4CC Fluid Pump for Quart Size Bottles

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQW5LK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Yeah I bought that guy along with the gear oil. The last time I did any of this sort of work was helping somebody without one and I remember how much of a mess it was.

 

Anybody

I spotted that the torque specs for the rear differential were different than the FSM I have. Mine shows 39 ft.lbs but his shows 36 ft.lbs. I am leaning towards following his seeing as he has the physical book and mine is electronic, though our pages match up with that spec being the only difference. I may see if Toyota will confirm the spec for me since I have to get some parts from them.

 

There are mistakes in the FSM. I have found several. When following the FSM, you need to sometimes question the values printed especially when they don't make any sense what so ever. One of the worst ones I've seen was a mistake for the torque value for the nuts holding the 3rd member onto the rear axle. The FSM gave two different torque specs, one for the locker 3rd member (18 ft-lbf) and one for the non-locker 3rd member (54 ft-lbf). There was a huge difference between the two. If you blindly followed the higher torque value given and tried tightening the nuts to 54 ft-lbf, you would be stripping the nuts and breaking the studs on the axle housing. So, common sense is definitely required when using the FSM. If the torque value doesn't seem to jive, it's probably a mistake.

 

Yeah my thoughts exactly. If I cannot confirm with Toyota (though I should be able to) I will go by the lesser of the two specs and do 36 ft/lbs.

 

For all your drain and fill plugs- buy new crush washers from Toyota. You can get away with reusing them a couple times, but it’s so much easier to use new for a few bucks. I didn’t have one for my rear diff last year, and the dang thing started leaking immediately after I changed fluid. So I got to do it again after I got the washer

 

Yup. Waiting for Toyota to open to see if their parts department is open to buy them today.

 

Thanks to all for the help and input. Much appreciated guys.