New owner service question

[radicalwillie]

Hello,
Just picked up an '06 Sport Edition with 37,000 miles. Original owner did his own oil changes at the required intervals but nothing else. I decided to have the 30k service done on it and was amazed at the relatively low service life of the components.... new spark plugs, flush and fill front and rear diff's, flush and fill transfer case. These are things I never would have expected to need at 30k. I went ahead and had them all done at a grand total of just over $400. In your opinion, are all of these services truly necessary at 30k???

Thanks!

 

[chaz]

plugs (toyota from factory) & rad. coolent (if its the toyota pink) are good for high mileage, so may not have been nesessary, IMO, the diff. & TC were a good idea. eiether way, since u bought it used, at least u know that they're all starting off good.

 

[radicalwillie]

.... since u bought it used, at least u know that they're all starting off good.

Thats what I was thinking, just wondering if I'll have it all done again at the 60k. I guess in the long run, $400 now is better than having to have the diff's or TC rebuilt down the road.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

IMHO the service items are a great idea. I am a big believer in changing the axle and t-case early on the 1st change as there's no filter. During initial break-in there's a lot of fine metal dust released into the oil. If left in there, especially as the oil ages, it becomes a real abrasive. I use synthetic and then I don't worry about for a long time, like 45-60k (or longer) depending on what I am doing. IMHO, the 30k interval, if it has synthetic in it, may be excessive after the 1st change unless you do lots of fjording. The anti-freeze should be fine for a long time.

An interesting, goofy thing Toyota did on the V6 is elect to use non-platinum/iridium spark plugs. The OE plugs are standard, old school, spark plugs. I replaced mine with Denso Iridiums and I won't worry about them for a long time.

If you tow, off-road or drive aggressively I would recommend using a 60k interval for the trans fluid instead of relying on the "lifetime" fluid to protect your transmission.

This website allows you to read all of the Toyota recommendations (not the dealers rip-off list). Toyota Parts and Service Make sure to scroll down and read the notes at the bottom too.

Welcome aboard!

 

[radicalwillie]

Good info... thanks Chris!

 

[Nuke]

I'm on my 3rd T4R (2nd gen, 3rd gen and current 4th gen) and have towed with all 3. The absolute earliest that I did fluid changes was 30k miles and plugs at 60k. And those were the earliest. The 2nd gen was sold at 205,000 miles in excellent condition to a friend that now has over 375k miles. The 3rd gen was sold at 152k miles in showroom condition for the sake of a great deal on the 4th gen.

You did those things early, IMO, but certainly won't hurt anything but your wallet.