3rd Gen DIY maintenance quick reference

Well my 2017 Tacoma is past 230k mi and I've kept up on all my maintenance. Today I did my gear oil in the transfer case and rear end . They both had 38k mi of use . I've could have pushed it further , but I like to do it regardless once a year . The rear end looked not bad at all . The transfer case had a gold color when draining. When I checked the magnet on the rear end it has minimal metal glitter . So for my choice I've been using the Valvoline

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

75w-90 full synthetic. Pretty impressed for a not so expensive gear oil. Heads up Napa is having a sale on this gear oil till the end of the month $11.99 for the plastic bag containers. Wanted to share

 

PSA for anyone who is looking to drop the transmission pan to do a fluid and filter change: Don't.

If you must however, I would strongly advise the following:

• Soak the bolts in penetrating oil a few times a week for a month or so before hand, (I would recommend Kroil or something similar, no PB blaster)
• be very careful removing the bolts, (use a 1/4" or 3/8" drive ratchet to break them loose)
• have a hammer, center punch, file, and plenty of good quality sharp drills ready, (3/32", 1/8", #5, etc...)
• have some better quality than stock bolts to replace the sketchy or broken ones (Factory size is an M6x1x25mm with a small shoulder and split washer. I used a 20mm long flange head bolt to replace the one I had to drill out.
• a dab of anti-seize on the threads and a coating of fluid film or something similar after everything is re-assembled

Going forward I will be doing only drain and fills but since that is pretty easier, doing a drain and fill once or twice a year while overkill, is easy and will keep everything running great for as long as I will ever need.

Edit: Forgot to add torque specs:
the bolts that hold the filter in place are torqued to 7 ft-lbs
the transmission pan bolts get torqued to 65 in-lbs no sequence was provided, just "an alternating/opposing pattern" so i started with finger tight, then added 1/2-1 turn to each bolt then the opposing bolt until the torque value was achieved.

 

hello
to simplify oil purchases is it ok to just stop at 6 qts on a diy oil change ? will the .2 less be a factor?

 

It would likely be fine, but I don't know one way or the other..

Seems foolish to save maybe $10 on a quart of oil over the course of 5 oil changes and take the risk of finding out the hard way that it does have a negative effect on a truck you paid $40,000 or more to drive.

buy 7 quarts for your first oil change and 6 for the next 4.

 

It'll be fine... no doom will come of it

 

Lol. It has no negative effect at all. Dumping in 6 quarts is still above the dipstick level.

Source: me dumping in only 6 quarts for the last 11 oil changes.

 

6 quarts puts me exactly level. When will my truck blow up?

 

^^^this. And all the previous…

 

Well I gave into peer pressure and only used 6 quarts for my oil change. As I was remounting the skid plate, I noticed some oil on the tie rod boots, so now I will need a new steering rack in the not too distant future. I attribute this directly to the expert advice i received for free here on the internet.

I am sorry to say but you are all likely on borrowed time.

For anyone who can't read between the lines this is sarcasm and i am not brave enough to FAFO so I measured out the extra 5.4 ounces of oil.

Is it necessary? Absolutely not. Will I ever change my idiotic ways? Also no. I still need a new steering rack which sucks though. and since nobody makes a good bolt in upgrade I'm thinking a new unit from NAPA with the lifetime warranty would be a good bet. After all, I got 5 radiators for my last vehicle for the price of one.

 

Meh. its fine... worked on too much stuff to buy into it. Is your name Mike? you sound like a guy I work with

 

my name is cleverly hidden in my username, I am Chris.

 

Here too.

 

Thanks!!

 

Everything you need to know about "how to" change it is in the link below.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-diy-maintenance-quick-reference.406712/

 

Just wondering. How often do you change your fuel filter. In the past on all my other vehicles, I usually go about 35,000 - 40,000 miles. I don’t know what is actually recommended though via the manufacturer.

 

3rd gens don’t have a filter that is meant to be serviceable.

 

Really ? I did not know that. Hmmmm ….. well that’s one less thing to screw with.

 

Yep, its in the fuel tank. No worries.

 

Whoa thanks for sharing all of this

 

Agreed super helpful