Observations while changing all of the gear oil

I've got a 2021 Off Road (manual) with about 16,500 miles on it. Today I changed the gear oil in the transmission, both differentials, and the transfer case; early, I know, but maybe not…

• Transmission: definitely had a very light amount of tiny sparkles in it.
• Rear differential: a fair amount of sludge on the magnetic drain plug.
• Front differential: same as the rear – a fair amount of sludge.
• Transfer case: perfect

So, yeah, at first I felt like "this is early, but I've got nothing to do today," then I ended the day thinking "maybe I/we should change these things earlier?"

 

I got an auto trans but I change my diffs and t-case every 15k or 1.5 years. Oil is cheap. New drivetrain components not so much

 

All normal. Let's avoid making this dramatic.

 

Lol, that peace of mind is priceless!

 

I’ve changed my front and rear differential oils three times now on the Tacoma and every time the magnetic drain plug has some shavings on it.

Subsequently, I’ve changed the oil in the differentials on my 4Runner twice and it’s not modded. Same outcome.

Normal, don’t worry.

 

Toyota diffs basically never fail, metal fillings is normal.

The only diff on a tacoma I've seen fail in recent years was due to it being stuck in the snow and the owner kept the one tire going until the pinion let go.

Stick to the schedule but if changing it gives you peace of mind, then keep on truckin.

 

There was another post, probably 2 years ago, of a picture posted by a husband asking if Toyota would cover the rebuild of the rear differential with several silver dollar sized holes ... think the dinner scene in "Alien". He stated his wife had "gently used forward and reverse alternately in short sequences to maneuver in a parking lot". He was informed that TW knows the smell of that story.

 

These trucks were built to last forever, for people in 3rd world Countries, who do not do early oil changes.

Marc, you must have gotten a Lemon. Sell it quick!

 

Planning to change my manual trans fluid again this week~55k. This was what came out of my trans with the OEM fluid at either 25 or 30k (can't remember off the top of my head, too lazy to go check my log book in the truck right now).

Lots of brass/bronze chunks, also some aluminum swarf. 2nd pic is the magnet on a stick I swirled alowly through the fluid before draining off most of the pan and taking stock of the metal left over. Luckily not a lot of steel. Will be doing this again when I change fluid. This time I'm going with motorcraft

$33 xtm5qs ford genuine fluid XT-M5-QS full synthetic manual transmission fluid - 1 quart, black

xtm5qs fluid, as its compatible and has good reports of being smooth in the manual.

I think I changed it at 25k, early, because it was starting to feel notchy upshifting from 2nd to 3rd.

 

i'm approaching 60K miles and just changed mine for the second time. if i recall, the recommended interval is 30K miles, and 15K if you tow. i pull a small trailer occasionally a short distance (less than 50 miles round trip) that when loaded is in the 3-4K pound range.

the fluid has looked OK. i had a small amount of glitter the first time as expected and the magnets did their job. this second time the rear diff fluid appeared cleaner and less dark then expected, and the manual trans and front diff fluid were darker than expected. i thought that was unusual because i am not hard on my truck and do not 4 wheel other than forest service roads and occasionally snowy roads during the winter.

i think 30K mile change interval is about right, for me. it's easy to do and not expensive.

 

always do the first break in oil first imo. always gona get excessive metal while the gears wear in. i did mine at 10k miles. front and rear diffs were quite dirty. rear even had machining debris leftover from manufacturing that i wasnt super pleased to see. same as you the t case was spotless. manual trans had a little shimmer to it

 

I did the rear, front, and transfer case at 5,000 miles. Only the rear looked dirty. Coming up on 35,000 so it’s time to do again but add an auto transmission drain and fill. It’s satisfying to work on your own truck.