3rd Gen Differential and Manual Transmission (6MT) Fluid Change

Hmm. I'll definitely investigate.

Squeeze packs are next for me

 

$173 Mityvac MV6400 Fluid Dispensing System for Filling or Topping Fluids, 1.2 Gallon Reservoir, Manual Pump, Pressure Gauge and Relief Valve, Auto-shutoff Valves, 5' Hose with Flow Control Valve

https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-MV64...35&sprefix=mityvac+fluid+mv6400,aps,68&sr=8-1

And beer for while its pumping.

 

Hahaha!

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with it for the MT. The little hand pump is a piece of cake. But for the diffs, hell yeah! Makes easy work of it. This guy is gonna flow slower, but works great for the price:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-1-Gal-Pump-Sprayer-1501HDXA/307766754

Just take off the wand. There's a pressure relief valve that you can twist to release.

 

I wish I had followed your advice and gotten the sprayer. I picked up the Slippery Pete pump. While it did the job, I definitely started getting tired after pumping my 8th bottle of fluid...

 

Cheers! The hand pumps do get the job done, but it takes a good long while.

 

Going to do this this week. I have 35k miles on it never been changed a little scared how bad its going to be. I had Toyota service the truck for the first 25k so didn't think about it. They definitely didn't change the diffs or trans fluids. Will update with how bad the fluids look fingers crossed.

 

Early is good, but 35k is just fine. Some folks never touch this stuff, but I think it is good to do.

 

Did this change this week on the transmission and rear end. The truck has 11,500ish miles. The trans oil was a dark maple syrup color. The rear end oil was much darker than expected. Bunch of normal glitter massed up on the magnetic drain plug. But nothing big.

Used Amsoil items from the first post. The trans shifts are smoother now. Now I don't feel so guilty towing the mower 70 miles each week.

 

If changing the rear, you should do the front also. With the ADD, the spiders are always spinning and there is only 1.6qt in there.

 

I ran out of time to do so. Trying to make time this weekend. Plus it gives me an excuse to go to the garage...with the dogs...where the beer is...

 

Smart man! It sounds like you got it down cold.

 

Wheeled and towed with mine hard for 56,000 miles, submerged it twice..... Front diff had the black break in material in it, fluid was nice and flowing, transmission and rear diff were damn clean.

 

Will be married 25 years this August. Learned a long time ago, don't argue, and go to the garage. She only comes out there when she needs a screwdriver, or her car to leave. And she knows that it if happens in the garage, there is no time limit on how long it can take to do something.

But she is amazed that her oil changes are much faster than mine tend to be.

Never hold back a woman when she needs to go to the store.

God I love her!

 

I guess I was expecting the rear to look a little more clear. But you could not see through it at all. It was a dark grey color. Should of taken a pic.

 

Seen that in a few trucks. Doesn't seem to be a problem though.

Recommend the $20 diff breather mod, if you haven't done it already

 

We're on 25yrs also. Just shoot me. Hahaha!

She (we?) did recently learn that cheap dealer maint plans and quality work do not mix. Once and done there.

I've seen posts of it coming out differently. Sometimes black and sometimes pretty close to new looking. No idea why.

 

What exactly does this do?

 

Tldr: keeps your diff seals happy

So all of your sealed internals such as transmission and differentials etc have what's called a breather on them. On every single truck on the planet those breathers are routed to a manifold up on your firewall near the steering rack, and what it allows them to do is if it gets suddenly extremely cold around your diff for example if you go through a water crossing, the air inside will expand and contract. The breather valve allows this air to expand and contract without putting undue pressure on the gasket and seals of the transmission and differentials. On every single truck on the planet, the rear diff, which is the one that is most commonly submerged such as when loading a boat on a ramp etc, the breather is directly on the housing which means, you can actually submerge the breather and prevent it from working properly and damage your seals. This might allow your gift to leak oil or for water and other contaminants to get inside and make it break faster.

The diff breather mod essentially routes a hose from that opening to somewhere up higher in your truck. On a Tacoma that is most commonly either one of the small equipment bays in the bed, the fuel filter neck, or the rear tail light housing. And usually puts it two-way valve which allows the diff to breathe when it's emerges and encounters a rapid temperature change. This keeps your seals happy and you don't have to worry as much about changing fluids and replacing gaskets and seals. The mod on my truck is currently run up through my driver side tail light, it was $20 from low range off-road and has been a fantastic addition to the vehicle. It's a very easy mod to do and can be done in your driveway with hand tools in 5 minutes. Or 15 minutes with a beer. Or 25 minutes with a friend and a beer.

 

Well congrats on making it further than most of your friends did probably! That is definitely the case with us...

Wife is driving a 21 Miata RF club...with a manual of course! She loves it. Told her when we bought it that it wouldn't be going to the stealership for anything. It is getting ready to turn 1 and she has almost 18k miles on it. Highly impressed! Her last car was a Mini Cooper Coupe S, also a manual. I hated that car from the get go. I made her take it the stealership for everything...after the first oil change I did myself. Had to go buy a 27mm socket to get the plastic oil filter canstister off. Imagine trying to find that in back water Ohio on a Sunday afternoon. It sat until Tuesday...

And I think that the color of the oil comes down to how clean it is inside when put together. Heard cases where people found large shavings on the plug...like large. That just comes down the part supplier not cleaning the product they are delivering to the assembly line. And sure as shit Toyota is not going to take the time to clean all out themselves, on their dime and time.

 

@CygnusX191

Will look into this further. I do not off road. And don't ever plan on getting a boat. But could be beneficial when I least expect it.