This is more of a cathartic post than a tutorial, as you might have figured by the title. Written for all the people who said, "I can do this!" and actually were able to do it, although it was not the experience they expected. It's light hearted and hopefully slightly humorous. All's well that ends well, as they say...
I've had my 2002 SR5 Sport for just over a year now, formerly owned by member nwebb01. Since then I have done basic oil changes, wipers, etc, but now it is time to do some "real" maintenance on the old gal to prepare her for a short-term stint in the Sierras, starting in August
I am not naturally mechanically oriented, but with the costs related to maintaining vehicles, a large family and the plethora of helpful YT vids and posts by Timmy/Sean, the Toyota Maintenance guy ("Hello friend..."
) and other 4Runner owners, any educated and moderately confident person has to spit on his hands, grab a toolbox and get dirty at some point!
There are any number of tutorials on how to change the rear diff fluids, some text-based, others with photos and of course videos. I've read, watched and reread and rewatched them all. To me, the rear diff service seemed to be the most direct, "easiest" of the maintenance items most people would not consider doing themselves. I've also got a GX470, so I decided to take up the challenge by starting on the 4Runner. GAME ON!!!
I decided on 80W-90, just because that is enumerated as acceptable by the owners and service manuals, and the fact I have no knowledge of what in the hell the 80W and the 90 truly mean in a mechanical sense. I mean, I watched a couple of videos and read some posts about it, but I'm not towing anything and don't live where it gets to be 115F (Indiana) or -40F. The local parts stores all had Valvoline for $7.25 a quart, but I ran into a sale at Menards who had it for $5.44. Bought three for $16 and change, with tax. #winning
I know my vehicle will likely fall apart for not using Amsoil or Redline, but hey, nothing lasts forever...
Next was the joy of finding the crush washers. Or are they gaskets? And what part number? And has that part number been superseded??? Yazus Kohana! I just don't want the mafa to leak, is what I'm thinking as I browsed all the posts and Toyota parts sites. I decided I'd rather pay $1.50 per at the dealer since I drive by it every couple of days anyway, rather than try to buy 200 on ebay or Amazon from who knows what source. Bless you if you're emotionally strong enough to do that, I'm not.
In most all of the videos I watched, the instructor had a gear oil pump or, in the case of the Amsoil or some of the Valvoline guys, a baggie to deploy the gear oil out of. "That's dumb, why don't they just turn the bottle upside down and pour it in?" I always thought. That, Toyota and Lexus friends, is called foreshadowing...
It was 75F today, I had my oil (x3), my PB Blaster to pre-soak the drain/fill plugs, paper towels, a large sheet of cardboard, rubber gloves, work gloves, 24mm socket and a 15/16ths box wrench, plastic pan to capture the drainage and a nice rubber mat to lay on. Had my oldest boy there just in case I needed anything else.
Rule #1 of How not to change your rear diff oil...
"Make sure you spray your drain/fill bolts with penetrating oil a couple of days and times before you start this job..." I'm not sure who said it, but being a know-it-all I thought, "That's dumb...PB always works after a few minutes."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! so laughed the automotive repair Gods at my arrogance! Over the course of an hour, I hosed down both plugs with what felt like half a can of PB Blaster. Had a short impact socket on the fill plug and it. would. not. budge. "Fudge..." I thought, but I didn't say "fudge"...
"Son, hand me that 15/16ths wrench..." I commanded from under the rig. Being a good oldest son, he clicked his heels and handed it over. BZZZZ!!! Nyet, said the metric gods...having been trying to bust it loose and battling to keep the 24mm socket on it with the damn e-brake cable dangerously close, I decided to hump over to AutoZone for a 24mm wrench. Guess who was out of 24mm wrenches today? If you said "Autozone, naturally..." you win a prize. Drove another five minutes to Menards and grabbed one for $8. Got back home, and dove under the rig. Despite the wrench having a slight angle on the closed side, I could not get a good grip on the bolt. The abso-frigging-lutely last thing I wanted was to strip that bolt, so I hit her with more PB Blaster and went inside for a soda. After another 45 minutes of soaking I told the wife, "If this damn bolt doesn't come loose, we're just going to buy him a car when he gets to Cali!"
Happily, I went back out, put the 24mm socket back on her and was able to break it loose. I think she (Maggy, yes, I named my truck after former UK PM Margaret Thatcher, so sue me...named her that because the first song I heard on the radio on the way home after purchase was "Iron Man" and it does have a cast iron engine block, I think. Thatcher was called the "Iron Lady" if you didn't know.) Of course, the drain plug came off with minimal effort. Anyway...
Rule #2 of How not to change your rear diff oil...
"Son, that was the hard part. Now we just need to pour the fluid in!"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! so laughed the automotive repair Gods (again) at my arrogance!
I cut the little tip off the bottle, removed the paper seal on top of it (keep this in mind for later in the story...) and angled that mother in there. And two drops came out. I mean, it was like trying to pee after seven days in the Mojave! :nono:
I forgot how thick even the viscous oil was compare to pouring out olive oil or water from a container. I felt like I would be under my rig for months, all the while, Carly Simon's "Anticipation" song would be playing at 11! I decided it needed to burp (plus I was squeezing it with sissy office hands, not manly whoever hands...) so got a really small screwdriver and poked a couple of holes near the bottom of the bottle, around the labeling. That helped a little, but it was still taking all day to get that ONE QUART into the diff.
Sometimes, one thinks one is smarter than the thousands who have poured diff fluid before him. I am that jackass. I wear the badge proudly.
"OK son, roll another bottle of the oil under here, I have an idea..." That wasn't quite "Hold my beer, watch this..." but for gear oil, it was essentially the equivalent.
"What I need is more air flow..." I was thinking. So how does one get more air in? BIGGER HOLES!!! It seemed so reasonable. I came out from under the rig, cut the tip off the bottle as before, flipped it upside down and tapped in a large hole using a rubber mallet and a giant screw driver. "Now she'll flow!" I exclaimed. And boy, did she ever...
I put the bottle into the hole and squeezed. Not a damn drop came out. WHY??? Well, what I failed to do was to remove the damn paper seal under the cap of the bottle, so despite having cut the tip, nothing flowed. At least nothing flowed until I accidentally squeezed the bottle harder and shot gear oil all over the place. Through the screwdriver hole in the bottom, that is. Of course, I had taken the rubber glove off at that point and my arm looked like a honey badger who had just raided the local hive. :bounce:
"Call your sister!" was all I could come up with. She was out on a big box store run by chance and I knew she was my only hope. "Send her a photo of the oil bottle, then tell her to find another one." Once she called and confirmed she had one, we spent five minutes explaining what a "gear oil pump" was and had her find one. $6 for the pump (https://www.meijer.com/shopping/product/pennzoil-marine-quart-lower-unit-fill-pump/7734113421.html) and $7 for the Valvoline 80W-90.
It took her 30 minutes to get home because she needed to stop for some fresh tomatoes for an Independence Day dish she wanted to prepared. Oy vey...
For as much as I mocked the mini pump, I would have paid $50 to have that, looking back on it. Despite having to press the damn little thing 30 times to drain each quart, it was infinitely faster than what I had done before. AND it didn't cost me a lost pint o' gear oil on the cardboard box that I had to clean up.
Once the juice was in, and it was barely trickling out per all the videos' and manuals' instruction, I locked down the fill bolt to 49 NEWTON METERS - that is 36 foot-pounds for ya'll in the US of A - to match the torque of the drain bolt. And fyi, I did use crush washer/gasket Toyota Part #12157-10010 1215710010 - Gasket; plug - Genuine Toyota Part as pointed out in the Timmy 30K service video.
Content with my effort, and embarrassed by my initial mechanical hubris, I took Maggy on a seven or eight mile test drive, windows down, as the sun began to set. I would have taken the dog, but the girls had already taken her to the park for a pre-fireworks latrine session. The new pup is not a fan of the fireworks, sadly!
Anyway, I had to get this off my chest and hopefully it brightened the day of anyone who has "been there and done that" while working on their rig.
Not sure if I will do the front diff and transfer case or front brakes next, but regardless, I will keep good mental notes and hopefully provide a similar update then.
Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to pick up that wrench...you can do it!
I've had my 2002 SR5 Sport for just over a year now, formerly owned by member nwebb01. Since then I have done basic oil changes, wipers, etc, but now it is time to do some "real" maintenance on the old gal to prepare her for a short-term stint in the Sierras, starting in August
I am not naturally mechanically oriented, but with the costs related to maintaining vehicles, a large family and the plethora of helpful YT vids and posts by Timmy/Sean, the Toyota Maintenance guy ("Hello friend..."
) and other 4Runner owners, any educated and moderately confident person has to spit on his hands, grab a toolbox and get dirty at some point! There are any number of tutorials on how to change the rear diff fluids, some text-based, others with photos and of course videos. I've read, watched and reread and rewatched them all. To me, the rear diff service seemed to be the most direct, "easiest" of the maintenance items most people would not consider doing themselves. I've also got a GX470, so I decided to take up the challenge by starting on the 4Runner. GAME ON!!!
I decided on 80W-90, just because that is enumerated as acceptable by the owners and service manuals, and the fact I have no knowledge of what in the hell the 80W and the 90 truly mean in a mechanical sense. I mean, I watched a couple of videos and read some posts about it, but I'm not towing anything and don't live where it gets to be 115F (Indiana) or -40F. The local parts stores all had Valvoline for $7.25 a quart, but I ran into a sale at Menards who had it for $5.44. Bought three for $16 and change, with tax. #winning
I know my vehicle will likely fall apart for not using Amsoil or Redline, but hey, nothing lasts forever...
Next was the joy of finding the crush washers. Or are they gaskets? And what part number? And has that part number been superseded??? Yazus Kohana! I just don't want the mafa to leak, is what I'm thinking as I browsed all the posts and Toyota parts sites. I decided I'd rather pay $1.50 per at the dealer since I drive by it every couple of days anyway, rather than try to buy 200 on ebay or Amazon from who knows what source. Bless you if you're emotionally strong enough to do that, I'm not.
In most all of the videos I watched, the instructor had a gear oil pump or, in the case of the Amsoil or some of the Valvoline guys, a baggie to deploy the gear oil out of. "That's dumb, why don't they just turn the bottle upside down and pour it in?" I always thought. That, Toyota and Lexus friends, is called foreshadowing...
It was 75F today, I had my oil (x3), my PB Blaster to pre-soak the drain/fill plugs, paper towels, a large sheet of cardboard, rubber gloves, work gloves, 24mm socket and a 15/16ths box wrench, plastic pan to capture the drainage and a nice rubber mat to lay on. Had my oldest boy there just in case I needed anything else.
Rule #1 of How not to change your rear diff oil...
"Make sure you spray your drain/fill bolts with penetrating oil a couple of days and times before you start this job..." I'm not sure who said it, but being a know-it-all I thought, "That's dumb...PB always works after a few minutes."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! so laughed the automotive repair Gods at my arrogance! Over the course of an hour, I hosed down both plugs with what felt like half a can of PB Blaster. Had a short impact socket on the fill plug and it. would. not. budge. "Fudge..." I thought, but I didn't say "fudge"...
"Son, hand me that 15/16ths wrench..." I commanded from under the rig. Being a good oldest son, he clicked his heels and handed it over. BZZZZ!!! Nyet, said the metric gods...having been trying to bust it loose and battling to keep the 24mm socket on it with the damn e-brake cable dangerously close, I decided to hump over to AutoZone for a 24mm wrench. Guess who was out of 24mm wrenches today? If you said "Autozone, naturally..." you win a prize. Drove another five minutes to Menards and grabbed one for $8. Got back home, and dove under the rig. Despite the wrench having a slight angle on the closed side, I could not get a good grip on the bolt. The abso-frigging-lutely last thing I wanted was to strip that bolt, so I hit her with more PB Blaster and went inside for a soda. After another 45 minutes of soaking I told the wife, "If this damn bolt doesn't come loose, we're just going to buy him a car when he gets to Cali!"
Happily, I went back out, put the 24mm socket back on her and was able to break it loose. I think she (Maggy, yes, I named my truck after former UK PM Margaret Thatcher, so sue me...named her that because the first song I heard on the radio on the way home after purchase was "Iron Man" and it does have a cast iron engine block, I think. Thatcher was called the "Iron Lady" if you didn't know.) Of course, the drain plug came off with minimal effort. Anyway...
Rule #2 of How not to change your rear diff oil...
"Son, that was the hard part. Now we just need to pour the fluid in!"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! so laughed the automotive repair Gods (again) at my arrogance!
I cut the little tip off the bottle, removed the paper seal on top of it (keep this in mind for later in the story...) and angled that mother in there. And two drops came out. I mean, it was like trying to pee after seven days in the Mojave! :nono:
I forgot how thick even the viscous oil was compare to pouring out olive oil or water from a container. I felt like I would be under my rig for months, all the while, Carly Simon's "Anticipation" song would be playing at 11! I decided it needed to burp (plus I was squeezing it with sissy office hands, not manly whoever hands...) so got a really small screwdriver and poked a couple of holes near the bottom of the bottle, around the labeling. That helped a little, but it was still taking all day to get that ONE QUART into the diff.
Sometimes, one thinks one is smarter than the thousands who have poured diff fluid before him. I am that jackass. I wear the badge proudly.
"OK son, roll another bottle of the oil under here, I have an idea..." That wasn't quite "Hold my beer, watch this..." but for gear oil, it was essentially the equivalent.
"What I need is more air flow..." I was thinking. So how does one get more air in? BIGGER HOLES!!! It seemed so reasonable. I came out from under the rig, cut the tip off the bottle as before, flipped it upside down and tapped in a large hole using a rubber mallet and a giant screw driver. "Now she'll flow!" I exclaimed. And boy, did she ever...
I put the bottle into the hole and squeezed. Not a damn drop came out. WHY??? Well, what I failed to do was to remove the damn paper seal under the cap of the bottle, so despite having cut the tip, nothing flowed. At least nothing flowed until I accidentally squeezed the bottle harder and shot gear oil all over the place. Through the screwdriver hole in the bottom, that is. Of course, I had taken the rubber glove off at that point and my arm looked like a honey badger who had just raided the local hive. :bounce:
"Call your sister!" was all I could come up with. She was out on a big box store run by chance and I knew she was my only hope. "Send her a photo of the oil bottle, then tell her to find another one." Once she called and confirmed she had one, we spent five minutes explaining what a "gear oil pump" was and had her find one. $6 for the pump (https://www.meijer.com/shopping/product/pennzoil-marine-quart-lower-unit-fill-pump/7734113421.html) and $7 for the Valvoline 80W-90.
It took her 30 minutes to get home because she needed to stop for some fresh tomatoes for an Independence Day dish she wanted to prepared. Oy vey...
For as much as I mocked the mini pump, I would have paid $50 to have that, looking back on it. Despite having to press the damn little thing 30 times to drain each quart, it was infinitely faster than what I had done before. AND it didn't cost me a lost pint o' gear oil on the cardboard box that I had to clean up.
Once the juice was in, and it was barely trickling out per all the videos' and manuals' instruction, I locked down the fill bolt to 49 NEWTON METERS - that is 36 foot-pounds for ya'll in the US of A - to match the torque of the drain bolt. And fyi, I did use crush washer/gasket Toyota Part #12157-10010 1215710010 - Gasket; plug - Genuine Toyota Part as pointed out in the Timmy 30K service video.
Content with my effort, and embarrassed by my initial mechanical hubris, I took Maggy on a seven or eight mile test drive, windows down, as the sun began to set. I would have taken the dog, but the girls had already taken her to the park for a pre-fireworks latrine session. The new pup is not a fan of the fireworks, sadly!
Anyway, I had to get this off my chest and hopefully it brightened the day of anyone who has "been there and done that" while working on their rig.
Not sure if I will do the front diff and transfer case or front brakes next, but regardless, I will keep good mental notes and hopefully provide a similar update then.
Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to pick up that wrench...you can do it!
