Engine Oil, Transmission Fluid, Rear Diff Fluid, Recommendations?

[mtbtim]

[MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION]... where did you choose to locate the magnefine filter? I like this approach.

I put it in my trans cooler return line before it goes to my external trans cooler. The return line is the one attaches to the trans cooler nipple on the driver side of the radiator. There's plenty of room there to install it. I zip tied the filter to the radiator fan shroud.

The filter in the video is a plastic version of the filter. They have since upgraded them to metal filters which are more durable. Not seen in the video is I ended up putting a section of foam pad between the filter and the fan shroud to offer some shock absorption so the filter doesn't get rattled to death.

Go to playtime 38:53 in the video below and you'll see exactly where I installed it.

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[mtbtim]

I generally take reports here with a grain of salt. It's generally the same crowd that claims X muffler is "just right" but in reality there's a massive drone at 70mph. Generally subjective, and not based on OEM specs. It's essentially saying that WS is also safe to use. People are already scared of using straight up Type-IV. I wouldn't call my transmission abused, 230k and has towing history. It has a good service history and fluid always came out red. The issue came about when I switched to Maxlife. Under 50%+ throttle the 2-3 shift became hard. Switching to Type-IV (essentially a dexron in thickness, with improved additive), got rid of this issue. Also read reports of slipping caused by the fluid viscosity from others (@LittleCaesar ?)

They've changed the formula of Maxlife over the years as well to meet other fluid specs like Dexron 6 and Mercon LV. Viscosity index is 156 for Maxlife vs 183 for OEM Toyota Dexron(the holy grail, OEM factory fill. source: Mobil - OEM fluid maker). The Valvoline fluids have a lower viscosity index in general. BUT - perhaps additive package is more of the issue than viscosity. And perhaps the A340F is tough enough to not care as much. But long term that thicker fluid may come in handy in dealing with higher heat and increased tolerances of an older trans that comes with age and/or older build specs. Plus the issue of planetary gear failures on 01-02 transmissions may warrant the benefits of thicker fluid. So yeah, Maxlife probably works for now but we'll see long term. I had good luck with older Maxlife formulations back in 2008 or so.

My personal recommendations other than OEM are Castrol IMV if you're on a budget or Redline D4 is you want to shell out the cash. My transmission shifts like a damn dream with Redline D4, even in the cold where it is normal to be a little firm.

I was basing it more off the Amazon reviews which are highly positive and lots of these reviews are from people with older model transmissions like ours that had Dextron 3 as the original spec fluid. I guess I'll see how it goes since I'm only running 1/3 synthetic right now.

You've definitely got me thinking about this though, especially since the formula now has a lower viscosity. The Redline D4 gets excellent reviews, but like you said, it's pretty pricey.

 

[brillo_76]

I think you're causing yourself a lot of unnecessary work by dropping the pan. When i dropped the pan on my 2000, there was minimal accumulation of metal debris on the magnets. And, the filter was probably 97% unclogged. I'm never dropping my pan again unless i have to to replace a shift solenoid.

I'm also running an in-line magnetic filter to enhance the fluid filtration. As you know, the trans filter is just a fine mesh metal screen. With the additional in-line filter and renewing that filter at a regular interval ( I renew mine every 10k), the trans filter will never get clogged and it will also limit the amount of debris collected on the magnets. Those magnets could effectively collect debris for the life of the trans without being overloaded. It's only when the trans has a catastrophic failure that the magnets could get overloaded with debris, but then it's a non-issue, because the trans has to be replaced anyway.

Here's the In-Line Filters I use in both of my 3rd Gens:

*Magnefine 3/8" Magnetic In-line Transmission Filter
Amazon.com: Magnefine 3/8" Magnetic Inline Transmission/Power Steering Filter: Automotive

You could be right but at exchange intervals at every 100K its 200k before my pan will get dropped again and I use feel pro gasket on it..

I will add the magnefine 3/8 to all my rigs though..