Absurd charge for Oil Change!!

[the magnetguy]

Just for curiosity sake , I phoned the Lexus dealer here in Calgary last week asking them what they charge for just an oil change on my 1996 LX450? I usually do all my own changes but just thought maybe let them do it this time. They quoted me $109.00!!!!!!(Cdn. dollars) For that I'll definately do my own changes!
They said however, that they also grease the driveshaft - Big Deal!! - I'll buy a grease gun and do that myself as well - my question is - what kind of grease should I get and how many grease nipples are on the shaft?? thanks for any advice!! - Tim

 

[IdahoDoug]

Any MP moly grease will do just fine. There are 6 fittings on the drive shaft, and you can also remove the square plug on the forward upper steering knuckles and put a dozen squirts in each. Unless the birf outer balls are dry, in which case I'd put a half tube in each. It helps if the gun you chose has a small rubber hose at the tip for ease of getting to thes while laying on your back.

Be sure not to over grease the fitting on each shaft that lubes the splines. The second the shaft even BEGINS to elongate when you pump, stop. The CV joints you just keep pumping until you see fresh grease coming out, then wipe off the excess (will be a lot).

Get a FSM if you plan to do more maintenance - it will pay off and make you happier and more relaxed. Good call on not having the dealer do your oil change. For that much, you could get synthetic oil, a Toyota filter, buy yourself a grease gun, and still have enough left over to go to dinner.

DougM

 

[the magnetguy]

Hi Doug - Thanks alot for your very helpfull advice!! - much appreciated!
Will be out tomorrow to pick up a grease gun and get at it. Got any pics of your rig ?? - I'd love to see it! - Tim

 

[medtro]

Any MP moly grease will do just fine.

IIRC, I don't think moly grease is needed for 80 series drive shafts.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Med,

Without getting off the couch where I'm watching the Tour and surfing, I think you're correct. But I use a hand pump gun and have been using non moly in my shafts, which means I can't top up the birfs without screwing around with the cartridges. So, I bought a second gun last month and this must be why.

Magnet - I'm a "stock" kind of guy with just minor mods to suit my particular use. The 80 is capable of any wheeling I could possibly want to do in stock form, yet retains excellent and safe road manners. So, pictures would be pretty boring but thanks for your interest.

I may be enjoying some Canadian hospitality next weekend as I'm thinking of loading the road bike in the car and hanging around Nelson, BC for a couple days.

DougM

 

[semlin]

magnet

as doug says, one of the zircs on each of the driveshafts is for the yoke that connects the two parts of the driveshafts, front and back. if you have not done it yet I recommend dropping half your front and rear driveshafts and separating the yokes. clean the yoke and shaft with brakeleen and lube the splines on the shaft by hand. from previous lubes there will likely already be a lot of grease in your yoke and it could be causing a problem already preventing your driveshaft from compressing and putting a load on your t-case and diff. as doug says the old grease has nowhere to go. i am not sure I would bother putting any grease in the reservoir because I can't see how it gets onto the splines.

I recently helped a friend do this on his 80 and we could not get the rear drive shaft off the output shaft to compress at all (so we could pop it off the output plate studs to remove it) until we removed that zirc. the moment we removed the zirc and compressed the drive shaft a ton of grease squirted out the open zirc hole from the pressure the driveshaft was under. there was basically no play at all in the shaft before we did that.