Differential fluid change

According to you, dealerships *allegedly* are not following the spec. I’ll pause here to say that unless you’ve personally watched a dealership change transfer case fluid you have no clue. Having said that, if a dealership does not use the specified fluid, what does that prove? Only that the dealership is not using the specified fluid. So what? Please, don’t bother to answer, it’s a rhetorical question. There is no so what. If we modeled all of our maintenance off what dealerships do we’d all have lots of wheels coming off on the highway, leaking oil pans and oil filters, and who knows what else.

What would be a far, far more useful discussion is why Toyota calls for this very specific fluid in the transfer case and what are the real and actual dangers of using 75W90 instead, if any. Instead of a bunch of smartassery. Or dumbassery.

 

The price is still good for til 12am tonight

 

I guess you didn’t watch the video of the Maater Toyota Technician. I’ll take his word and experience over yours. All day, every day. He only has 260,000 subscribers. Way more than than you have posts.

 

I had issues with shifting in very cold weather with 75W90 in my T-case. In one case I almost got stranded on a beach stuck in 2WD. Switched back to LF and no further problems.

 

I’ve watched the video.

My point went sailing over your head.

I personally use 75W90 Mobil 1 in my transfer case, same fluid I use in my diffs. So clearly I’d love to hear technical justification for my choice, which is based on the advice of tons of members here.

Here’s the point, because you were bickering with another member, and being kind of a jerk to them, who was trying to make a similar point. But you couldn’t understand it in that case either. The spec is the spec. Your justification for not following the spec is “the dealerships do it”. Well, that doesn’t necessarily make it a quality idea, and as said before I don’t believe you know what dealerships nationwide are doing with transfer case fluid. And whatever they’re doing, it doesn’t change the spec.

Personally I think the Toyota engineers trump a single YouTube master tech all day any day. He offered absolutely no technical reason why 75W90 is ok. So lots of people are wasting 15 minutes to hear a tech say, it’s ok.

Nowhere, I repeat nowhere, did I say it’s better to use the spec fluid. Again, my point is that there is a specified fluid, and if a dealership uses something else, it doesn’t alter what Toyota engineering has specified.

You also seemed to miss my question, I’d like to know why the Toyota fluid is specified. The video shed no light on that.

You like to pick fights with internet strangers. Hell, you misinterpret posts just so that you can be contrarian. You have a strong need to be “right”. Please stop. It bogs down straightforward threads.

 

I think the better question is, what one leaks out slower.
If you’ve ever done an axle seal, you’ll understand.

Pick one, pour it in, and move on.

 

This was one messy thread. jeez

 

I’ll throw this in here for what it’s worth….and it may not be worth anything.

When I upgraded my rear diff from 4.88 to 5.29 I told the shop to go ahead and swap out the transfer case fluid.

The first time I did the fluid was when I did my lift and tossed the needle bearing. I used the Toyota spec 75w.

Now I’m not gonna name the shop that did the rear end, but they are well-known and highly respected. People drive 6 to 8 hours to have work done here. I actually drove 11 hours from Utah to have this work done there.The shop owner called and said that they had no problem swapping out the fluid in the transfer case, however they asked me to pick up the Toyota spec 75 w.

When I dropped off the fluid I asked the shop owner if there was any harm in using anything other than the Toyota special sauce, and he said “it’s what they spec and it has a different additive package than anything else out there, and I would not recommend going with anything else”.

While I wrench on all my vehicles, I am not a specialist with differentials or transmissions or transfer cases. When one of the premier tranny/rear end and transfer case shops in the western United States tells me to stick with the Toyota spec fluid. I’ll go with that. Simple as that.

 

Toyota went to that fluid because they where able to slightly improve roll resistance over the 75-90w. They want you to buy it from them because it’s expensive and companies enjoy making money.

 

I'm with skiploder. I prefer to go with what the vehicle's engineers recommend over Youtubers and forum experts...

 

I put Supertech full synthetic

$29 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 in the t-case. Supertech conventional 80w-90 in the difs. No problems so far.

 

As if that's a bad thing.
I do find the choice of words, "improve roll resistance", interesting. If you lifted that term from the article I think you did, allow me to quote what else it said.

The Toyota 75W transfer case fluid also offers better lubrication and flow to key areas of the transfer case when the transfer case is not given time to warm up. It also supplies better cold climate lubrication. These improved lubrication qualities offer improved transfer case longevity.

Some still choose to use

$29 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 gear oil even though the Toyota 75W transfer case fluid is specified. We feel this is illogical. The newer Toyota 75W transfer case fluid specification contains a more involved additive formulation, uses higher quality additives and advanced fully synthetic base oils when compared to the popular entry-level 75W-90 gear oils. The high-quality level of the Toyota 75W transfer case fluid formulation achieves the benefits of instantaneous quick lubricating flow, as well as, keeping excellent shear stability in high load heavy heat driving conditions.

 

Of course I lifted it from reading and research. I read a lot of things and also work in the auto repair industry but I’m no expert on anything. Use whatever you like and whatever you think is best for your vehicle but if you think any engineer from any company is going to say anything other then there products are the best you can get then your extremely naïve. Is the Toyota fluid good stuff? Absolutely. Do people that use less expensive fluid in the diff’s transfer case and manual transmission still get hundreds of thousands of problem free miles? Afraid so. Use whatever brand you like. Use the correct viscosity for the application and keep it clean and your fine.

 

Does anyone know about the presence of yellow metal(copper, bronze, brass) in the transfer case?

 

Before I changed my diffs and T case. I figured I would just buy from the dealership. Parts department didn't carry the spec fluid. They said they put bulk Valvoline 75-90 in everything. Told me to bring a couple empty jugs and they would fill them up.

I didn't like that so I went with Ravenol 75w for the Tcase since it meets spec and Redline for the diffs.

No issues with 4x4 at all this winter. Some damn cold days too.

 

I've got a buddy that has a large independent repair shop that see's just about every brand at some time, or another. He's done some gen3 fluid changes, even the transfer case. He claims only to use the toyota LF transfer case fluid. Its made to operate with this transfer case in a wide range of temps. Anything else its a crap shoot that it could require the job changing it to be done over.

 

I have been looking around for information on lubricant for the transfer case. I found information that GL-5 is bad for the synchronizers. I also found a post stating that the transfer case is not splash lubricated. It has a pump with a very fine screen filter that does not work efficiently for heavy lubricants and causes the gears to be oil starved. I found a drawing showing parts for the synchros but I haven't found any information for the pump yet.

ETA: I broke down and started watching a vid for overhauling the t-case and he states that it has the cutest little oil pump. No mention of the screen yet.

I also saw the triple cone synchros for shifting from 2-Hi to 4-Hi on the fly. They were bright yellow and had multiple friction surfaces.

I've seen enough to satisfy my curiosity and have no doubts about avoiding heavy GL-5 lubricants in the transfer case.

 

Here's the breakdown for it.

https://parts.toyota.com/a/Toyota_2...12_6732525/TRANSFER-OIL-PUMP/674470-3617.html

Just looks like a classic gear pump

 

Thanks. If there is a screen it's probably in the pickup that is part of the separator assy. There is a little magnet in the bottom of the case as well to trap metal from the lube.

ETA: Yes, there is a screen on the pickup for the oil pump.

 

I didn't realize the Transfer Case had synchros. Definitely a reason to *not* use GL-5 oil.