Recent content by NeilC

Change the gasket if you haven't. Do not over tighten it

I have been doing the drain and fill method. I drain 3 to 3 and half then fill with 4 quarts. I button everything up and drive it for 10 minutes then pull the overflow plug while it is idling in my driveway.

Meant rpms at 70 in my first sentence

I haven't checked specifically about mph at 70 but it sounds about right. What was your rpms at 70 prior to the change?

The maxlife has worked great. Shifts perfectly. The process is inherently wasteful though. You waste fluid in the hoses pumping it in and when you overfill it to check the level. Originally I planned to do 4 drains over a couple of weekends. I planned to reuse the washer until the last...

From the research I did prior to doing changes, it is not oil check mode per se. It is really temp check mode. I simply overfill it by about half a quart, drive around 10-15 minutes and drain through the overflow plug until it starts to trickle out.

The "HD" spring compressor does not sound very heavy duty. The spring rates on our trucks are not that high compared to some other much heavier vehicles.

That was my point. Back when the 4.0 came out, there was talk that an aluminum block wouldn't hold up. Looks like it worked for Porsche. They started using aluminum blocks in the 70s I think and they are known for their durability.

My biggest concern with the v6 was the aluminum block which might be what makes the head gasket such a big deal. It is the way of the future though. I remember when people were nervous about an aluminum head on and iron block. Disimilar metals, blah, blah, blah. Now that is standard so why...

When I bought my wife's(now mine) v6 in 2006 I toyed with the v8 and the timing belt issue came up, along with the full-time vs part-time 4wd. I had a 2000 Landcruiser with the v8. The horsepower difference was minimal but the v8 was soooo smooth. In the end, it came down to, and I know this...

I might be exposing my red-deckedness, but I have never heard of torquing shock bolts. Much less to 18 ft/lbs. I can guarantee you mine are tighter than that.

Your change should be more straight forward. In the past with that type of transmission in my 2000 Landcruiser, I would do a drain and fill at every oil change. Filling through the dipstick makes the process so much easier. What fluid does yours require? Should be on the dipstick or in the...

To the OP, had your fluid ever been changed before? It looks better than what came out of mine. My first drain was brown, no red tint at all. It smelled fine but very brown. Yours looks more red definitely. And at a 130,000 miles, it makes me think that either something was very wrong with...

For a v6 5 speed, it looks the same as the pictures above. As stated above I only did drain and fills but the cooler lines look to be the same. The 5sp in our trucks are in several different vehicles. Our transmissions do not have dipsticks which was concerning but once you figure out the...

Excellent write up! I debated on doing what you did verses the drain and fills and decided on drain and fills but I was having no issues with shifting or anything. I just did my second drain and fill yesterday and the drain and fill changes more like 3.5 quarts when it is filled to the...