164,000 should I flush rear diff fluid and tran fluid?

2005 PreRunner 4 cyl manual trans. Never been changed, should these be changed now at this mileage? I have always heard that if you don't and you get passed a lot of miles then it is best not to do it at all?

Back in January I had the Output Shaft Seal replaced and on my maintenance invoice it says that while doing that job it reads "performed trans and diff service" so I don't know if that means they flushed the trans and diff?

 

I think both of those are every 60,000, either that or every 30,000. Either way you're long overdue, do it now. Your diff oil is probably going to come out stinking and looking black!

 

On my invoice...they said "Trans and diff serviced" does that mean they flushed it and added new fluid?

 

there is a difference between a drain and refill, and a flush.

 

Even if they did do it, you should do it again. Having gone that long without service you are going to want to change that oil a couple of times to get all of the bad stuff out.

 

Is this something I can do myself?

 

drain and refill...do not flush

 

I believe it gets done every 30000 miles. I did my front/rear diff and transfer case and it was super easy. But like others said you might want a buddy to help out.

 

Short answer here is yes, do it. The dealer's idea of "servicing" something is usually checking it and topping off the oil if it is low. This is an easy DIY job, like others have said should be done more often than not. I do my manual trans. and diffs about every 35-40k

 

I just did this gear oil swap on my 2008 2.7 4 cyl PreRunner.
This is a super easy job with the $7.00 re-filler pump from Amazon (see below)

Here are my recommendations:
First: Get a high strength magnet and stick it to the drain plug and drive around for a week or two. Don't have a super strong neodymium magnet? you can salvage one if you have some old computer junk laying around...see the end of this write up)

That magnet collected a bunch of free floating steel from my original factory gear oil (70K miles) while it was still circulating. The bottom line is this helped get more worn metal bits out of the trans than just draining the oil. Had I thought of this earlier I would have done this the day I bought the truck!

Second: Warm the transmission gear oil up by driving around for 10 minutes before you plan to change it then park it on level ground. On a PreRunner you don't need a jack, but you should block the tires/place in gear/ use E brake to prevent the truck from rolling while you are under it.
Pull your magnetic off....
Unscrew the fill plug to let air in when draining, (driver's side & up high)
Unscrew the drain plug (passenger side low plug) to smoothly drain the oil into a pan.
Use a pan that can hold 3 quarts of oil so you don't make a mess, the trans capacity is 2.3 quarts. The drain plug has a depression kinda like a cup shape on the inside. This is where you find mostly fine metal flakes in the metal/oil mush that the magnet pulled from the trans (I had a few bits the size of the head of a pin). My truck is strictly used on road, no abuse, so the three bigger bits were a surprise to me (I only had the magnet on for 1 week)

Third: I let it drain for ~ 15 minutes. Clean, install and tighten the drain plug up then put the magnet back on.
Use the $7.00 bottle pump that attaches to the threaded top of the new gear oil bottle to fill the gear oil through the fill hole.
Pump 2.3 qrts of fluid or enough that it just starts to drip out when it reaches the fill hole height. You will have to change from one bottle to the next to complete the job, have a rag handy to catch the mess between bottles. Tighten up the fill plug. Mission accomplished.

This is what I used for my trans oil and I highly recommend these:

Qty 1 Plews 55001 Lubrimatic Fluid Quart Pump, Fits Standard Quart Bottles
This makes refilling a breeze! Amazon Price: $6.18

$8 Lubrimatic 55-001 4CC Fluid Pump for Quart Size Bottles

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQW5LK/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item

QTY 3 Royal Purple 01300 Max Gear 75W-90 High Performance Synthetic Automotive Gear Oil - Sold in 1 Quart Bottles Amazon Prime price is $14.94 , but can probably be found locally with similar price.

$22 Royal Purple 01300 Max Gear 75W-90 High Performance Synthetic Automotive Gear Oil , 1 Quart (32 Ounces)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007QGT34/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item

I researched which manual gear oil is the best replacement for this gearbox for a few days and this was my choice. It is recommended for use with brass synchros (which are used in this 5 speed gear box).
Warning: Transmission oil that is not compatible with brass synchros will cause them to wear them out prematurely in your transmission. If you use a different gear oil make sure it is designed to work with brass synchros.

There is another unexpected benefit from using the Royal Purple gear oil..... It eliminated the intermittent transmission noise that all of us 2.7 5 speed Gen 2 Taco drivers have heard.

Especially when in neutral with the AC running at a traffic light . Often thought to be a throw out bearing noise, it actually was coming from the gearbox and this fluid change 100% eliminated it from my truck.


-Need a high strength neodymium magnet? If you have a few old internal computer hard drives laying around that you don't need or are crashed, all you need to do is open it up, disassemble the guts and remove the magnets from them. The older and bigger the hard drive is the bigger the magnet is. You might need to use a small torx head bit to unscrew the case cover, look for hidden screw heads under the label stickers. Unscrew hub that holds the platters (if they are silver, be careful they are made of glass that can shatter, do not pry on the spinning platters!
You will find the magnets are typically glued into the drive case.

GG
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How do you flush a manual transmission ?
How do you flush a differential ?