How-To: 6-Speed Manual Transmission Oil Change

My fill plug won’t come off, so I had to go thru the shifter. haha. I measured how much came out, and put the same amount in. Works

 

I just pour the 2 quarts and call it a day lol

 

Let me guess, your dealer did the last transmission fluid change. I know they over-torque the heck out of my engine oil drain plug. I needed a breaker bar to get the plug off the last time after the dealer changed my engine oil, and that's why they will never change my engine oil again. They've never changed my transmission or differential oil, and they never will...I've done every one of those changes.

 

I put in a URD short shifter today and decided to change my fluid at the same time. Went to fill through the shifter and it wouldn’t go into the transmission at first, started googling and eventually gave up and started to pump it in. Apparently after I cracked the fill bolt it started going in, because when I went in the cab for the second quart it had drained down. Who knew it was that tight of a seal on the shift shaft. Super easy way to fill, dump until it starts coming out the side

 

Went to do this yesterday and couldn’t get the fill plug off. It started rounding pretty quickly so I backed off and will likely take it to a shop. Ordered a new fill plug from the stealership as well.

 

Must be one heck of a big 6th

 

I'm about to do a drain and fill on my 6 speed and almost ordered the Red-line MT-90 but found this GL-4 synthetic for half the price and decided to be the first Guiana Pig.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultra1Plus-SAE-75W-90-Synthetic-Gear-Oil-API-GL-4-1-Quart/649287057.
I also have a syringe of the Tribotex MT additive on the way because it was Cyber Monday and why not!

 

Have you ever used that additive before? I'm always a bit leary about additives like this. Their website says that it

"protects and reverses wear in your drivetrain with nanoparticles,"

The 'reverses wears is what gets me

Just curious because I've never heard about tribotex

 

Skip the Walmart stuff and just use Red-line.

 

If you are referencing post #175 and 176 i was more curious about that additive they put in. Never heard of it. I got my Red-line ready to go already. Wasn't planning on using the additive either. On their website they actual say it'll help repair gears and such... sounds like a crazy money making thing

 

This is not always the case, in fact there are some similar manual transmissions (the RA62 and RA63 for instance), where Toyota says to ONLY use GL-5, do not use GL-4 or it will damage the transmission.

If Toyota says use GL-4 or GL-5, and you'd more comfortable using GL-4 because that's what the later spec vehicles use, you're good to go, but the blanket statement that GL-5 should never be used in transmissions isn't true.

Jeff

 

The RA62 & 63 are Lexus transmissions. What does that have to do with a thread about the 6-speed Tacoma transmission? My statements in this thread reference the Tacoma 6 speed, that's it.

 

Maybe I shouldn't have included your post in mine, but when you said "yup that's definitely the case. Use GL4", was I wrong to assume that was in response to "I was always under the impression GL5 with its additives can really mess up your gearbox synchro rings," which wasn't specific to the Tacoma's transmission, it seemed to be a statement about the use of GL-5 in synchronized transmissions in general. To improve the relevance, I can make my comments more specific to this thread I suppose.

GL-5 is acceptable for use in the RA60 and RA60F used in the Tacoma, at least for 2005-2013 model years and will not damage the synchro rings because that is what it is designed for. In fact, the very similar transmissions that Toyota used in the IS200d, IS220d, IS250, and Mark X, all of which are Aisin AY6-type transmissions, require GL-5. In fact they use the exact same synchros that the Tacoma transmission uses for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th gear.

If Toyota used the same synchros in the RA60, RA61, RA62, and RA63, and the RA62 and RA63 both require the use of GL-5, the same sychros would not be damaged by GL-5 when used in the Tacoma.

Jeff

 

Just changed my transmission fluid with MT-90. Noticeably smoother shifting. Looks like my 2008 had been maintained (I'm the second owner), because the old oil wasn't terrible -- but it was golden. Small amount of black metallic dust on magnet. The process was really easy, since the 24 MM plugs are so easy to get lose. Replaced main drain plug washer.

 

GL-5 was specifically formulated for use in hypoid gear systems like in differentials. One characteristic of GL-5 is that it is super slick. This prevents wear as the hypoid gears mesh. It might seem that super slick is always better, but most manual transmissions require a certain amount of drag to operate correctly. It could be that some transmissions are designed to use GL-5. I don't claim to know. I do know that putting GL-5 in a Tacoma 6-speed is the quickest way to F it up. I have personally tried 6 or 7 different oils, and MT-90 is the clear winner in my truck. I'm at 176,000 miles now, and I first started using it in 2010 at 38,000 miles.

 

Care to explain?

Jeff

 

All the Gl-5s that I tried immediately resulted in rough shifting and hang ups between gears. You had to shift very slowly and deliberately. My guess is that it took the synchros longer to actually synchronize the gears because they were slipping. When I first discovered this issue, there was not a lot of info about it, and Toyota added to the confusion by suggesting that GL-5 was fine. I ended up filling and dumping many different top brands until I came upon a reference to GL-4 and specifically MT-90. I was one of the early voices trying to get this information out regarding the 6 speed.

 

I use torco gl5 in my Xrunner

 

Found a great resource for learning the difference between gl-4 vs. gl-5.

https://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf

 

lots of good info here. if Im doing redline MT90 for the transmission, what should i use for the transfer case? can i use the same?