Cost of Redline Tranny Oil - Any More Affordable Options

[knuckle47]

They(Amsoil) also have that membership program. I think it’s 10%?? I buy Dexos diesel oil and several synthetics and hydraulic oils from them. You’ll need to be sure your saving would justify the membership fee.

Back in 1976 our house in Vt was -54F… had to run the FJ40 15-20 minutes just to get into gear. That is also a documented temperature for that January. Truck had factory filled axles and trans

 

[SteveH]

Here's a Mark Whatley tip from Alaska that served me well. On very cold mornings while you're letting the engine warm up for a couple minutes, set the parking brake, put the transfer case in Neutral, shift the truck into any gear, and let out the clutch.

This puts a pretty good drag on the engine (causing it to warm faster) and stirs up all the gear oils in the cases, causing them to warm. With an automatic transmission, you'll likely get some gear clash as you shift back to normal driving conditions.

 

[TLC4K2]

Highly recommend swapping the 24mm external hex plugs to 10mm internal hex plugs available from Valley Hybrids and others
View attachment 3858168

Thanks for this photo. I finally got the old fill plugs off and I almost had to destroy one of them in the process, so I'm definitely looking to replace them. I like the above replacements, but I have to say I'm having a heckuva time finding them. Valley Hybrids didn't let me scan for parts; they wanted me to fill out some form describing what I needed and they'd get back to me when they could. I searched both NapaOnline (my usual go-to for parts), Spectre offroad, O'Reilly's, Amazon, Ebay, and a few other suppliers I've never worked with. I'm finding 101 different screws, plugs and bolts that look close but not quite. Anyone have a specific link (for instance, to the above plugs) that they're SURE is the right one? I'm tempted to take the old ones down to Napa in person and have them show me the replacements right there in the store to make sure I get the right diameter, thread count/pitch, etc. At this point I don't even care what the top looks like. I just want something that fits. Thanks all!

 

[mdw83fj60]

Thanks for this photo. I finally got the old fill plugs off and I almost had to destroy one of them in the process, so I'm definitely looking to replace them. I like the above replacements, but I have to say I'm having a heckuva time finding them. Valley Hybrids didn't let me scan for parts; they wanted me to fill out some form describing what I needed and they'd get back to me when they could. I searched both NapaOnline (my usual go-to for parts), Spectre offroad, O'Reilly's, Amazon, Ebay, and a few other suppliers I've never worked with. I'm finding 101 different screws, plugs and bolts that look close but not quite. Anyone have a specific link (for instance, to the above plugs) that they're SURE is the right one? I'm tempted to take the old ones down to Napa in person and have them show me the replacements right there in the store to make sure I get the right diameter, thread count/pitch, etc. At this point I don't even care what the top looks like. I just want something that fits. Thanks all!

Here you go.

Magnetic Drain & Fill Plug With Gasket - Fits 1958+ Land Cruiser Applications (See Guide Below) (OP18021)

Magnetic Drain & Fill Plug With Gasket - Fits 1958+ Land Cruiser Applications (See Guide Below) (OP18021)

cruiserteq.com

 

[TLC4K2]

Here you go.

Magnetic Drain & Fill Plug With Gasket - Fits 1958+ Land Cruiser Applications (See Guide Below) (OP18021)

Magnetic Drain & Fill Plug With Gasket - Fits 1958+ Land Cruiser Applications (See Guide Below) (OP18021)

cruiserteq.com

Awesome, thank you! One small filler plug, one big step forward for my TLC.............

 

[dogfishlake]

If you take a grinder to your 27mm socket and remove the taper (bottom one in the photo), it will work great. That tiny bit makes a huge difference.

 

[TLC4K2]

Thank you for this nifty technique! I actually got the fill plugs off last weekend, but I'll keep this in mind for the next stubborn bolt. I'm sure there will be a few.......

 

[TLC4K2]

Finally got to a good place with this. What started as a stiff shifting problem in cold weather, had morphed into too much oil in the tranny, low oil in the transfer case, and I can't get the darn fill plugs off. Two months later, and I've resolved all three. I finally got those fill plugs off via several different methods, verified that the tranny oil was overfilled and the transfer case was underfilled. Took off the drain plugs, got rid of the old, refilled with new, replaced the drain plugs with the nice internal nex drain plugs shown earlier in this thread by @PBcuiser, and replaced the fill plugs with a marvelously built bypass hose from @shipmag. They went on like a charm. Tightened everything up per recommendations, and drove the truck around a bit. Everything is nice and tight, and she shifts a whole lot easier than she used to. For the very first time since we bought her over 4 years ago, I have a dry sheet of cardboard under her instead of a sheet showing lots of little drips. Yay! I've attached a few pics of the new hardware; a very big thanks to everyone for your recommendations. And a kudo's to @shipmag for such a gorgeous handmade bypass hose.