Changing differential fluid - A step by step "HOW TO"

Awesome, thanks man

 

Can you read?

 

This is good, right? My first time for me on DYI diff fluid change. Don't think I need the additive mentioned in tutorial....or do I?

 

That will be fine and no additive needed in your 2013.

 

Thank you! Happy Tuesday to you my fellow Taco owner!

 

no i can't...can you please help me out?

 

Alright dammit, I gotta break in here. Isn’t a Rubicon a Jeep? And how was this written up in 2009 and his “Rubicon” is a 2013?
Am I in some sorta time continuum full speed ahead damn the torpedoes warp?
If so, I’m calling it. Y’all owe me some bucks for this ride!!!
I’ll have my publicist call in “I quit” for me, and my team of accountants will start raking in the dough for me. Asta laveesta Midwest, my dumb and possibly a leetle buzzed ass is going to Hawaii.

 

Man, that’s what I’m going to do. I bought some oil for my front dif because I’m going to do the ECGS bushing this weekend. I called the dealer and they couldn’t tell me if I was supposed to use synthetic or non-synthetic.
He said it was supposed to be LT SAE (? My manual says nothing about SAE) 75-85 GL 5.
I didn’t even throw the limited slip stuff at him, but the stuff I bought at auto zone is for limited slip difs.

Gonna chase some more vodka with a Bud or 5, and try not to lose any dif oil when I pull my axle.

 

They don’t let me out much.

 

Changed my rear diff. fluid today, fairly straight-forward, breaker bar loosened fill and drain bolts with ease.
My only beef- the fill hole is gosh-darned too small. I thought I might be able to refill by just using the long neck Red Line containers or with a funnel. But no, neither would fit through the fill hole. Luckily I checked before draining the diff. I had to run out and purchase a small liquid hand pump.





Before you drain the diff. make sure whatever you plan to use to refill fits through the opening!!

 

I'm gonna give this a shot again next weekend. Usually I have the dealer do it. I have a 09 PreRunner with no LSD sticker on it but the dealer always adds it. Am I safe to assume that I don't need to add it? I don't want to screw up my diff but I don't want to add shit if I don't need it

 

Thanks for a great write-up! I did this just now. Pumping with a handpump was the hardest part, wedged as I was underneath the rear tire and with the hand pump moving so little volume at a time (use the same one for my 6 hp outboard, which needs less than a quart).

What worked best for me was the blowtorch/ice trick (torch the bolt and surrounding area of the housing, shut off torch and spray liquid wrench or similar, then apply ice to the head of the bolt) to unstick the differential fill/drain bolts. One other observation was that, working on the differential from the rear of the truck, the rotation for the drain bolt was the reverse of what I thought it would be: I watched this video to figure out which way to rotate the bolt (after I unstuck it in the wrong direction).

 

Also - I'm kind of bringing an old 1998 pre-runner back from more than a few years and tens of thousands of miles of differed maintenance. How close do you think I am to needing a new differential based on all the sludge on the magnetic bolt? It's not just bad oil - all of the sludge between the magnet and the bolt interior wall was metal, and all the sludge I wiped off had that metallic glimmer to it.

 

I dont understand. Lefty-loosey is the same no matter where you are located...

 

It's probably just me then, as I'm very bad at spatial relationships. But, positioned to the rear of the rear driver's side tire, with the bar in-line with the axle towards the rear driver's side tire, lefty-loosey would seem to me to necessitate pulling the bar towards me, counter-clockwise. However, the rotation to remove the bolt was actually towards the front of the car, clockwise.

 

I’m just giving you a hard time. God knows how many times I’ve had to be reminded which way a bolt tightens or loosens. Glad you got it out man.

 

Ha, thanks! I'm just glad I stopped turning when I did - definitely don't need a sheared bolt messing up my day. On a creeper underneath a truck is a terrible time to be trying to figure out which way to turn.

The only fluid I haven't switched out yet is the brake fluid, so the truck is certainly doing better now than under its previous owners. Onto the next one!

 

Is it stated anywhere in the maintenance manual when you should change other than “special operating conditions”?

 

For my 98 truck/SUV owner's manual - it's always just inspect it, unless under special operating conditions in which case change it every 15,000 miles. I'm not sure what the manual wants you to do if you inspect it and find it wanting... That same manual also said the same thing about the ATF though, so I'm not sure how much it should be trusted.

 

hey everyone, what diff oil do i need for a 2012 trd baja series...with rear diff lock ....v6...