Fluid Service - Recommendations (GL5??)

[Perfectmax]

I'm currently at a 110k miles on my 2008 and am going to do all of my fluids - front/rear diff, transfer case and tranny. I wanted to ask you guys what you'd recommend for fluids. I just don't have the time right now to do it all myself and am going to have it done by a 20 year Toyota Certified Tech, now working independently in his own shop - good guy. I'm using Mobile 1 synthetic oil, but curious what to use for all of the other fluids. Do you guys have any recommendations?

Also, this looks to be about a $500 service. Am I totally getting screwed or...?

Thanks guys!

 

[linuxgod]

I used Amsoil for diffs, transmission, and transfer case. Toyota fluids would be fine too. I used pennzoil dot3 brake fluid to do that flush just because it was readily available and is better than 3 year old used fluid.

So long as it meets the specs you’re fine.

 

[Chocolate]

I used Mobil 1 75W-90.

 

[Chocolate]

Not sure if you've seen this, and this is motor oil and not gear oil, but I prefer Mobil 1 or Amsoil. Not a good showing for Royal Purple if you live in an area that sees cold temperatures. The OEM Toyota 75W-85 is a Mobil 1 formulation.

 

[Yossarian]

I'm currently at a 110k miles on my 2008 and am going to do all of my fluids - front/rear diff, transfer case and tranny. I wanted to ask you guys what you'd recommend for fluids. I just don't have the time right now to do it all myself and am going to have it done by a 20 year Toyota Certified Tech, now working independently in his own shop - good guy. I'm using Mobile 1 synthetic oil, but curious what to use for all of the other fluids. Do you guys have any recommendations?

Also, this looks to be about a $500 service. Am I totally getting screwed or...?

Thanks guys!

My 09 is just shy of 70k, and I had it in for warranty work recently. I had the dealer go ahead and change out F & R diff., and T-case, approx. $180. So $320 for the tranny in your case? It's a lot cheaper to do it yourself and not all that difficult, at least for the diffs and T-case.

I've used a device like this for over 30 years, not kidding, makes getting the gear oil into the diff easy and quick.

Wayne® Drill Pump (Wdp21s) - Speciality Pumps & Accessories - Ace Hardware

Of course this doesn't help with the tranny, there are other threads on that. HTH.

 

[TonyP]

I'm going with Redline or Amsoil in everything aside from motor oil next go-around. Redline pricey but everything I've put it in has been improved by the oil (mostly trannys and diffs). My open-diff E28 sounded like a straight cut geared rally car. Redline seemed to quiet it up a considerable amount.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

To talk about cost.

I just replaced engine/filter, trans, transfer, and both diffs on another Toyota 4x4 with Amsoil products for $320. So if you are having those higher cost fluids used in those components and paying someone $180 to do it, that’s very reasonable for a shops hourly rates.

 

[FinallyGotOne!]

FWIW I bought a case of AMSOil Severe Gear from their website for less than it was offered anywhere else.

 

[NLScooby]

To talk about cost.

I just replaced engine/filter, trans, transfer, and both diffs on another Toyota 4x4 with Amsoil products for $320. So if you are having those higher cost fluids used in those components and paying someone $180 to do it, that’s very reasonable for a shops hourly rates.

I agree with Rob. I did the same thing...replaced my transmission, front and rear diff and transfer case fluids with Amsoil and was in it for at least that much. I got a decent deal on Toyota Synthetic oil at the dealer so I went with that for the engine. After filters and crush washers, etc...if you are replacing everything for $500 - that sounds like a reasonable number...

 

[Malleus]

Both Amsoil and Mobil1 are good fluids, but you can't mix them with conventional oils. "Full synthetics" are not, as the ad literature implies, but never states, truly synthetic. The oil starts with distilled crude oil, just like conventional oils, but is recombined in the distillation process, to create longer, more stable polymer chains. This is why it costs so much more than conventional oils. The post distillation process is expensive, especially on the (relatively) small scale which produces these oils. The differences in molecular structure mean that, when mixed, the full synthetic oils will cause the conventional oils to break down prematurely.

This is not an opinion, it's a caution statement from Amsoil. I had the opportunity to discuss this at length with one of the Amsoil chemical engineers back in the early 90's, when they were just getting started. The company I worked for made heavy railroad maintenance equipment and the railroads were always looking for lifetime, no maintenance design options for their equipment. We were evaluating Amsoil for OEM use in our equipment at the time.

Just be aware that if you make the change to full synthetic oil, you can't later go back to using conventional oils, unless you want to take the time to really clean out the gearboxes.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

Well, Mobil 1 is actually crude based. It’s not a true group IV base oil like Amsoil is. Mobil 1 is just a heavily refined crude that because of a legal battle years ago can be called synthetic. I don’t think Mobile 1 is inferior, it’s one of the best, and I’m an Amsoil fan boy.

Also, I have always had test cars to play with over the years. You can switch from synthetic to crude without any issues. Just need to do an early change after the first switch over.