2007 gear oil changes with a few mishaps

I took my 2007 Access Cab 2.7L manual 4x4 (212K miles) to a local guy and got a quote of $450 to change the oil in two diff's, transmission and transfer case. That's about 75% labor and 25% materials... so, I got the juices I needed and saved a few pieces of cardboard, then waited for a morning here in Central Florida that was less than 1000 degrees and 200% humidity, that took a while.
I put the front tires on ramps and the back on jackstands to level out the driveway slope and went to it.
Mishaps:
1. My biggest breaker bar, combined with my 63 year old body, could not break loose a single one of the 8 plugs. I resorted to an impact driver, checked the direction it was going a hundred times and cracked the plugs free. I know the eyes are rolling on that, but I'm an honest about it at least. I did remember to take off the fill plugs before looking at the drain plugs.
2. I forgot to open the vent on the drain pan, so the gear oil from the rear diff overflowed the pan a little, till I popped that open... remember the cardboard, glad I had that! No driveway stains!
3. I hate to use the little fluid pump I have, it's been years and I remember how much it sucked the last time. So, I took a closed quart bottle of gear oil and held it up to the fill hole on the transmission to see how much I could squeeze in. Not much. But as I pulled the quart away, I saw that I dropped the little red plastic cap from the bottle into the transmission. Fortunately, that cap was sitting at the drain plug when I went searching for it.
But completed the job in 2.5 hours, the majority of that time was talking my bones into laying on the driveway or getting up from the driveway. Amazed again that a 13 year old truck looks better underneath than on top (Florida sun...).

 

Nice job

I have also forgotten to remove the plug in the drain pan.
Except I didn’t have any card board and it was engine oil.
It ALL drained out before I noticed. Actually I noticed it once it all started running out from under the truck. That was not a good day. Fortunately, we have a blacktop driveway. So it wasn’t too bad.
Just looked wet for a couple month in that spot.

BTW, Cheap cat litter from the dollar store works great for oil dry.

 

Feels good doing it yourself, plus knowing exactly the quality of fluids I'm putting in is a good peace of mind

 

Good job! Those rusted fill & drain plugs breaking loose was a great feeling I bet! I changed the same items on my 2012 2.7L 4x4 MT two years ago @ 80,000 miles. Thankfully no plugs were rusted and I torqued each one to specs for next round @ 120,000 mile service. What brand & weights of fluids did you choose on using?

 

I bet it was the best moment of your life finding that red cap by the drain. Go buy a lottery ticket.

Doing basic work is worth the time investment. For a 2-3 hour investment you saved/made $350-400. Not a terrible roi. Plus the guys most shops or deslerships assign to that basic work is rarely the “A” team. The guys doing fluid changes and brake jobs are usually the ones who are just learning or not trusted to do big jobs.

 

In this area (Central IA) the following quotes for Diff and Xfer case drain & fill service.

Diff (front or rear) =$85/each
Xfer Case = $150

So, $320 for all. Valvoline Syn 75w90 with LSD (6 qt), about $60. Saving roughly $260.

Yeah. DIY does save $$$, but it still lowers the coffers by $60.

 

I used a Valvoline 80W90 gear oil for the diff's. although I live in Florida, I wanted the temp range to cover trips up to the North. Nobody in the area had a synthetic, so I went with dinosaur stuff. Lucas 75W90 synthetic went into the manual transmission and the transfer case. Used new crush rings (washers) for all the plugs because they were so hard to get off. I feared overtightening after I had a shop do the fluids the last time.

 

I've had good luck with the Lucas products for differentials, transfer case and manual tranny in my truck.
Nice job.

 

I changed the oil in all my gearboxes last night. If I could do it again I would have:

- Added penetrating fluid to the plugs a while before working on it.
- Driven it as bit beforehand to warm the oil and make it drain easier.
- Bought new crush rings.
- Purchased a quart or two extra of each oil type used. I have read on this site that its not just me who finds that the gearboxes take more gear oil than Toyota states.

I used a 10mm hex socket and a 24mm shallow 12 point socket for most plugs. I could have used a 27mm socket for the manual transmission...the fill hole is a sensor up top...I just used a crescent wrench and it all worked fine.

Best.