Changing Differential & Transfer Case Fluids - Pics Included
- Thread starter snowbizx
- Start date
JB.
New member
Reverse? Looks to me like the drain is low and the fill is high. What did I miss?
Agreed! This is a good general rule of thumb to follow when changing any fluid in your vehicle (including oil). The fill plug should come off first before the drain plug!
JB.
New member
manhunter
New member
FYI: I did my rear diff and TC fluids this last weekend, for the first time in my life - piece of cake. Plan on doing the front diff sometime this week, you have to remove your skid plate though to get to it, so it takes a little more time, and it uses a 10mm hex key instead of the 24mm socket.
manhunter
New member
Spray them real good with PB Blaster the day before and that should loosen them up. The one you have to be real careful on is the front diff. It is a hex key bolt and easy to strip out - ask me how I know. I had to take it to my local mechanic to chisel it out. Just make sure you do the fill plugs first, that way you don't drain it first and then find out you can't fill it due to not being able to get the fill plug out.
ALLEGRO
New member
I notice that too, but I seem to need to add air to the spare a couple times per year, so as I lower the spare, I spin it to avoid this........just a suggestion.
I finally got around to changing my fluids over the weekend. I bought my runner in Jan 2010, it had just shy of 70K miles on it at the time. I'm at 72K+ now(don't drive it a lot, and I live really close to where I work), and did not have any records of the fluids ever being changed. Went with Mobil 1 75W-90 for all. I checked the fill plug on all 3 before attempting the drain plug.
The rear was super easy, especially if you remove the spare. The oil was a bit dirty, but not bad, I'm guessing the previous owner had changed it at some point, just don't know when. I, regrettably, did not have a pump, and although the rear went very well, the transfer case was a bit of a mess.
The oil was pretty clean from the transfer case, but again, no service record of it being changed, and I am replacing with full synthetic. I used a hose on the tapered end of the gear oil bottle, but could not really get it high enough above the fill hole. I had it wedged up next the the drive shaft as far as I could get it. So, after trying to squeeze the oil out of the bottle through the hose, a good bit leaked out, and made a bit of a mess, but it wasn't bad.
I was not able to remove the drain plug on the front diff. I got my dad to help, and we messed with it for almost 2 hours as it was starting to strip out. The drain plug was a bit rusted and I'm not sure we will be able to remove it. I read somewhere in the thread to use PB Blaster on it the night before. I will probably try that this coming weekend, or whenever I have the chance, along with greasing the zerk fittings. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
In the meantime, I will probably purchase a pump to do the front diff, and to have in the future.
Overall, I am new to all of this and any sort of DIY maintenance at all, and this was pretty easy, especially with the help of the forum. Thanks to all who have posted.
The rear was super easy, especially if you remove the spare. The oil was a bit dirty, but not bad, I'm guessing the previous owner had changed it at some point, just don't know when. I, regrettably, did not have a pump, and although the rear went very well, the transfer case was a bit of a mess.
The oil was pretty clean from the transfer case, but again, no service record of it being changed, and I am replacing with full synthetic. I used a hose on the tapered end of the gear oil bottle, but could not really get it high enough above the fill hole. I had it wedged up next the the drive shaft as far as I could get it. So, after trying to squeeze the oil out of the bottle through the hose, a good bit leaked out, and made a bit of a mess, but it wasn't bad.
I was not able to remove the drain plug on the front diff. I got my dad to help, and we messed with it for almost 2 hours as it was starting to strip out. The drain plug was a bit rusted and I'm not sure we will be able to remove it. I read somewhere in the thread to use PB Blaster on it the night before. I will probably try that this coming weekend, or whenever I have the chance, along with greasing the zerk fittings. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
In the meantime, I will probably purchase a pump to do the front diff, and to have in the future.
Overall, I am new to all of this and any sort of DIY maintenance at all, and this was pretty easy, especially with the help of the forum. Thanks to all who have posted.
these are the part numbers I got from the exploded dealership diagrams for a 2005-2008 4runner...
Transfer case fill gasket 90430-18008
Transfer case drain gasket 90430-18008
Front differential fill gasket 12157-10010
Front differential drain gasket 90430-24003
Rear differenyial fill gasket 12157-10010
Rear differential drain gasket 12157-10010
Transfer case fill gasket 90430-18008
Transfer case drain gasket 90430-18008
Front differential fill gasket 12157-10010
Front differential drain gasket 90430-24003
Rear differenyial fill gasket 12157-10010
Rear differential drain gasket 12157-10010
late to the party but thought I would add a few more part numbers
transfer case drain plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Fill Plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Breather Plug 90930-03172
Rear Differential drain plug 90341-18057
Rear Differential Fill Plug 90341-18006
Rear Differential Breather Plug 90930-03031
Front Differential Drain Plug 90341-24014
Front Differential Fill Plug 90341-18032
Front Differential Breather Plug 90930-03136
Oil Pan Drain Plug 90341-12012
Oil Pan Drain Plug Gasket 90430-12031
transfer case drain plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Fill Plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Breather Plug 90930-03172
Rear Differential drain plug 90341-18057
Rear Differential Fill Plug 90341-18006
Rear Differential Breather Plug 90930-03031
Front Differential Drain Plug 90341-24014
Front Differential Fill Plug 90341-18032
Front Differential Breather Plug 90930-03136
Oil Pan Drain Plug 90341-12012
Oil Pan Drain Plug Gasket 90430-12031
Did mine today as well. Mobil 1 75-90 all around. Front was very clean but was an odd blue-ish color of oil. Transfer case looked like more typical oil and was very clean. The back however was black. It didn't seem like an unusual amount of metal on the drain plug magnet but the oil sure was black. I have 48K on it and this is the first time I've done it after buying it used with 24K on it. Either way glad I did it and it is a bit smoother.
It was very easy but got a bit messy in the end. I guess I was getting lazy on the last one and kept letting the fill hose slip out. Oh, and nobody mentioned that the front will come shooting out like a water hose at first. :happens: Funny, you'd think I'd have figured that out before pulling it all the way out. hehe
It was very easy but got a bit messy in the end. I guess I was getting lazy on the last one and kept letting the fill hose slip out. Oh, and nobody mentioned that the front will come shooting out like a water hose at first. :happens: Funny, you'd think I'd have figured that out before pulling it all the way out. hehe
4boer2
New member
I got mine online, cheaper then the local dealer.
I did a quick search on Autozone / Napa using a few part numbers, no results. I would assume if you had the Toyota part number they could come up with a like part.
Thanks for the awesome write up + pics. I just changed my fluids this afternoon and it went pretty well... other than spilling gear oil on my driveway. 
I used Mobil One 75w-90 and a hand pump (tedious!), and raised the truck up on 4x4 wood blocks to give a bit more clearance. The truck's got 63k miles on it, and the rear fluid was kinda darkish, transfer case was tannish, and the front was almost new looking. Both magnets had some sludge on them.
I used Mobil One 75w-90 and a hand pump (tedious!), and raised the truck up on 4x4 wood blocks to give a bit more clearance. The truck's got 63k miles on it, and the rear fluid was kinda darkish, transfer case was tannish, and the front was almost new looking. Both magnets had some sludge on them.
07-19-2010, 09:13 PM #32 (permalink)
aika1
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 14 these are the part numbers I got from the exploded dealership diagrams for a 2005-2008 4runner...
Transfer case fill gasket 90430-18008
Transfer case drain gasket 90430-18008
Front differential fill gasket 12157-10010
Front differential drain gasket 90430-24003
Rear differenyial fill gasket 12157-10010
Rear differential drain gasket 12157-10010
08-11-2010, 10:58 PM #33 (permalink)
d_clark
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Michigan
Posts: 61 late to the party but thought I would add a few more part numbers
transfer case drain plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Fill Plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Breather Plug 90930-03172
Rear Differential drain plug 90341-18057
Rear Differential Fill Plug 90341-18006
Rear Differential Breather Plug 90930-03031
Front Differential Drain Plug 90341-24014
Front Differential Fill Plug 90341-18032
Front Differential Breather Plug 90930-03136
Oil Pan Drain Plug 90341-12012
Oil Pan Drain Plug Gasket 90430-12031
Why dont these part numbers match are they for
different years or what ?
:rockthrow::rockthrow:
aika1
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 14 these are the part numbers I got from the exploded dealership diagrams for a 2005-2008 4runner...
Transfer case fill gasket 90430-18008
Transfer case drain gasket 90430-18008
Front differential fill gasket 12157-10010
Front differential drain gasket 90430-24003
Rear differenyial fill gasket 12157-10010
Rear differential drain gasket 12157-10010
08-11-2010, 10:58 PM #33 (permalink)
d_clark
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Michigan
Posts: 61 late to the party but thought I would add a few more part numbers
transfer case drain plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Fill Plug 90341-18006
Transfer Case Breather Plug 90930-03172
Rear Differential drain plug 90341-18057
Rear Differential Fill Plug 90341-18006
Rear Differential Breather Plug 90930-03031
Front Differential Drain Plug 90341-24014
Front Differential Fill Plug 90341-18032
Front Differential Breather Plug 90930-03136
Oil Pan Drain Plug 90341-12012
Oil Pan Drain Plug Gasket 90430-12031
Why dont these part numbers match are they for
different years or what ?
:rockthrow::rockthrow:
CJ3Flyr
Super Moderator
A semi-educated guess is that the older part numbers were superseded by the newer ones. If you walk in and order by part # I suspect they'll hand you the new ones.
:cheers:
810moto
New member
why mobil?
why does everyone seem to use the mobil 1? is there a benefit from mobil or just a prefered brand? i am looking into doing the rear dif in the next week or there abouts. I just rolled 90,000 the other day and have had the rear changed once about halfway thru the 90k. I have the 2004 V6 2WD.
Also I have added the page from the shop manual just for the heck of it.
Any of you pro's want to chime in on the mobil would be great.
thanks again guys!
why does everyone seem to use the mobil 1? is there a benefit from mobil or just a prefered brand? i am looking into doing the rear dif in the next week or there abouts. I just rolled 90,000 the other day and have had the rear changed once about halfway thru the 90k. I have the 2004 V6 2WD.
Also I have added the page from the shop manual just for the heck of it.
Any of you pro's want to chime in on the mobil would be great.
thanks again guys!
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