Toyota Fluids vs. Aftermarket Brand Fluids

chayos00

chayos00

New member
So my truck is coming up to it's 60K mark here shortly. I want to do fluid flushes/drain & fills on all of my fluids. Coolant/antifreeze, power steering, brakes, transmission, and the standard oil change.

I know most of the things that Toyota prints is use the Toyota xxx or equivalent without really pointing out what is equivalent. So I need some assistance in finding out what the equivalent's are so I don't pay like $40 for a gallon of antifreeze etc... I have searched the net for like 5 hours today looking for information, but can't find anything conclusive.

Coolant - Toyota Super Long Life Coolant or equivalent - Anything equivalent yet?

Power Steering Fluid - Dexron 2 or 3 ATF (I happen to use Redline D4 ATF in my wife's TL's tranny and it points to being an equivalent so I will use this)

Tranny Fluid - Toyota ATF WS - Thanks message - (AMSOIL makes a Toyota WS equivalent fluid which I know many run including myself. AMSOIL - Synthetic Fuel Efficient Automatic Transmission Fluid)

Brake Fluid - DOT 3 - DOT 3 & 4 are equivalent's (I will use a brand that the local auto store has.)

Transfer Case & Diffs - I have Mobile 1 in all three.


I always use Mobile 1 for my oil on my vehicles, so no questions there.
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
Dont forget about the diffs and transfer, i just got some lucas oil from summitracing, cheapest price, get 3 gallon jugs and be done for if u have a 4x4.
 
riceandpho said:
Dont forget about the diffs and transfer, i just got some lucas oil from summitracing, cheapest price, get 3 gallon jugs and be done for if u have a 4x4.
Click to expand...

I guess I didn't think to mention that I swapped the differentials and transfer case to mobile 1 somewhere around 25-30k ago. I'll probably crack the filler bolts and check out the color of the fluid to see how they are doing. Good idea though!
 
message said:
AMSOIL makes a Toyota WS equivalent fluid which I know many run including myself.
AMSOIL - Synthetic Fuel Efficient Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATL)
Click to expand...

Thanks message (sorry but that's an unusual user name)! So I had heard of the amsoil being used, but never knew of anyone who actually used it. Glad to hear it works for you and others! Do you know if anyone has used it upwards of 15K miles? Just wondering about reliability... as I trusted others on an Acura site about my wife's TL that not even 5K later I had to have the dealer replace the tranny (didn't tell them I used Redline Racing's ATF (type F) tranny fluid). But after that I got away from the Type F and now using Redline's D4 and 15K miles later and still working.
 
I'm assuming those running AMSOIL on here are past the 15k mark since those that posted the change was some time ago.
Personally I'm just coming up of 5k since the change and 140k total miles.
What prompted me to change fluid was the previous owners did a fair amount of towing and I started to notice a shift delay going from reverse to drive.
After changing the ATF the delay was gone.
 
Last edited:
The middle of August I was coming up on my first 5,000 mile / 6 month maintenance, and figured I would stop by my local dealer and pick up a quart of diff oil and a quart of xfer case oil, just in case I needed to add a little. I naively asked the parts counter guy for a quart of "Toyota Genuine Differential gear oil LT or equivalent 75W-85 GL-5" and a quart of "Toyota Genuine Transfer gear oil LF or equivalent SAE 75W" as specified in the owner's manual. He said that these lubricants are not available from Toyota for customer purchase, and pointed to the stuff on the display shelves - Mag 1 or Max 1 or something 75W-90 synthetic - and said I should use that. When asked, he said he didn't know whether it would be considered as "equivalent" with respect to the Toyota warranty, nor did he have any idea about mixing this 75W-90 synthetic with the factory fills of 75W-85 and 75W, nor was he interested in trying to find out. Those pesky customers can be so damn annoying. Turns out the diffs and xfer case didn't need any oil added, but I wanted to get hold of some "official" Toyota oil on the theory that I might need to top things up prior to the first fluid change at 30K miles.

After speaking with the service manager, this is what he came up with:

Here is what was learned about the fluids…you can purchase them – though we are still unable to learn the size quantity at this time.

The LF oil available in the parts depots: price is $73.22 for 1 container of unspecified quantity.

The LT oil is also available: price is $ 33.27 for 1 container.

My guess would be they are sold by the liter.

Hope this helps. If you’d like this ordered, let me know.

It's ridiculous that Toyota specifies a particular product and then tells you that they won't sell it to you. Then they say they will sell it to you, but they don't know how much they're selling you. This is absurd. It's been over a month now, and the service manager is still trying to find out what brands of non-Toyota oil would qualify as "equivalent" as far as the warranty goes. I'm intending to cut over to a brand name synthetic as soon as possible, but don't want to compromise the warranty by using a lubricant that isn't officially blessed by Toyota. I told the service manager that I don't intend to mix brands and viscosities when adding oil, so I really need this information.

I know that lots of people on this forum are using Amsoil, Red Line, Mobile 1, Royal Purple, etc, but I really don't want to end up in a pissing contest with Toyota over warranty coverage if I have diff or xfer case issues. I plan to get an extended warranty since I'm planning to keep this vehicle for 10 or more years, so I need to also make sure the extended warranty isn't compromised by using inappropriate oil.
 
Last edited:
dsfra said:
The middle of August I was coming up on my first 5,000 mile / 6 month maintenance, and figured I would stop by my local dealer and pick up a quart of diff oil and a quart of xfer case oil, just in case I needed to add a little. I naively asked the parts counter guy for a quart of "Toyota Genuine Differential gear oil LT or equivalent 75W-85 GL-5" and a quart of "Toyota Genuine Transfer gear oil LF or equivalent SAE 75W" as specified in the owner's manual. He said that these lubricants are not available from Toyota for customer purchase, and pointed to the stuff on the display shelves - Mag 1 or Max 1 or something 75W-90 synthetic - and said I should use that. When asked, he said he didn't know whether it would be considered as "equivalent" with respect to the Toyota warranty, nor did he have any idea about mixing this 75W-90 synthetic with the factory fills of 75W-85 and 75W, nor was he interested in trying to find out. Those pesky customers can be so damn annoying. Turns out the diffs and xfer case didn't need any oil added, but I wanted to get hold of some "official" Toyota oil on the theory that I might need to top things up prior to the first fluid change at 30K miles.

After speaking with the service manager, this is what he came up with:

Here is what was learned about the fluids…you can purchase them – though we are still unable to learn the size quantity at this time.

The LF oil available in the parts depots: price is $73.22 for 1 container of unspecified quantity.

The LT oil is also available: price is $ 33.27 for 1 container.

My guess would be they are sold by the liter.

Hope this helps. If you’d like this ordered, let me know.

It's ridiculous that Toyota specifies a particular product and then tells you that they won't sell it to you. Then they say they will sell it to you, but they don't know how much they're selling you. This is absurd. It's been over a month now, and the service manager is still trying to find out what brands of non-Toyota oil would qualify as "equivalent" as far as the warranty goes. I'm intending to cut over to a brand name synthetic as soon as possible, but don't want to compromise the warranty by using a lubricant that isn't officially blessed by Toyota. I told the service manager that I don't intend to mix brands and viscosities when adding oil, so I really need this information.

I know that lots of people on this forum are using Amsoil, Red Line, Mobile 1, Royal Purple, etc, but I really don't want to end up in a pissing contest with Toyota over warranty coverage if I have diff or xfer case issues. I plan to get an extended warranty since I'm planning to keep this vehicle for 10 or more years, so I need to also make sure the extended warranty isn't compromised by using inappropriate oil.
Click to expand...

Truthfully, I highly doubt that Toyota would even spend the money to have the oil analyzed to find out if you were using the proper oil in your diff if you had any issues. I say this coming from having my wife's car's tranny changed by the dealer under warranty after I followed the lovely advice of others on the Acurazine website for using Redline Type F ATF in the car, since Acura's ATF is very heavily laced with friction modifiers. I have since switched to using Redline's D4 fluid which is a regular ATF with much less FM's than what the factory fluid uses. And 15K later it still runs like a champ versus not lasting after <5K of Type F.

I have been using the Mobile 1 diff fluid in my truck since somewhere around 20K. I'm getting close to 55-60K right now.
 
dsfra said:
The middle of August I was coming up on my first 5,000 mile / 6 month maintenance, and figured I would stop by my local dealer and pick up a quart of diff oil and a quart of xfer case oil, just in case I needed to add a little. I naively asked the parts counter guy for a quart of "Toyota Genuine Differential gear oil LT or equivalent 75W-85 GL-5" and a quart of "Toyota Genuine Transfer gear oil LF or equivalent SAE 75W" as specified in the owner's manual. He said that these lubricants are not available from Toyota for customer purchase, and pointed to the stuff on the display shelves - Mag 1 or Max 1 or something 75W-90 synthetic - and said I should use that. When asked, he said he didn't know whether it would be considered as "equivalent" with respect to the Toyota warranty, nor did he have any idea about mixing this 75W-90 synthetic with the factory fills of 75W-85 and 75W, nor was he interested in trying to find out. Those pesky customers can be so damn annoying. Turns out the diffs and xfer case didn't need any oil added, but I wanted to get hold of some "official" Toyota oil on the theory that I might need to top things up prior to the first fluid change at 30K miles.

After speaking with the service manager, this is what he came up with:

Here is what was learned about the fluids…you can purchase them – though we are still unable to learn the size quantity at this time.

The LF oil available in the parts depots: price is $73.22 for 1 container of unspecified quantity.

The LT oil is also available: price is $ 33.27 for 1 container.

My guess would be they are sold by the liter.

Hope this helps. If you’d like this ordered, let me know.

It's ridiculous that Toyota specifies a particular product and then tells you that they won't sell it to you. Then they say they will sell it to you, but they don't know how much they're selling you. This is absurd. It's been over a month now, and the service manager is still trying to find out what brands of non-Toyota oil would qualify as "equivalent" as far as the warranty goes. I'm intending to cut over to a brand name synthetic as soon as possible, but don't want to compromise the warranty by using a lubricant that isn't officially blessed by Toyota. I told the service manager that I don't intend to mix brands and viscosities when adding oil, so I really need this information.

I know that lots of people on this forum are using Amsoil, Red Line, Mobile 1, Royal Purple, etc, but I really don't want to end up in a pissing contest with Toyota over warranty coverage if I have diff or xfer case issues. I plan to get an extended warranty since I'm planning to keep this vehicle for 10 or more years, so I need to also make sure the extended warranty isn't compromised by using inappropriate oil.
Click to expand...


The only non-synthetic fluid i run is gasoline. Make the switch to AMSOIL and you will not look back. 100,000 fluid too! (most will not wait that long though maybe check at 50-80k and then change as needed)
 
Oh and I only use Toyota 'Red' cooliant as its long life and high quality... not sure if its synthetic or not. There are few reasons to pay more here other then how you feel about it and how often you gotta change it.
 
Got tired of playing games with the SM at the dealership regarding diff and xfer case oil, and finally gave up asking him what specific products would satisfy the "or equivalent" clause in the owner's manual - never could get a straight answer. He did state in writing (e-mail) that "Our parts department sells a MAG1 brand gear oil to our guests as an option other than Toyota. It would not void your warranty". And that was as far as he would go.

Asked him a simple Yes/No question: Would the use of Mobil 1 synthetic LS 75W-90 compromise the factory warranty? His useless answer: "The Mobile 1 product is a nice choice." I was asking him about Mobil 1 preserving the factory warranty, not whether he thinks it's nice or not. Asked him again. His second useless answer: "Our parts department sells a MAG1 brand gear oil to our guests as an option other than Toyota. I’ve attached a picture as an example. It would not void your warranty". Asked again. Third useless answer: "I don’t see why the Mobile 1 would not work in my opinion. I am not in a position to speak for Toyota." Then who the hell is?

At wits end, and having been screwing around trying to get an answer to this seemingly simple question since August, I called the Toyota 800-331-4331 number, and told the whole gruesome story to Jonathan, whereupon he handed the call off to Margarita, and I got to repeat the bulk of the story to her. The punchline ended up being: Any oil that is recommended by a tech at a Toyota dealer would be considered to be an "equivalent" lubricant by Toyota corporate, and would thereby not compromise the Toyota warranty. So if some pimply-faced high school dropout tech at some backwoods Toyota dealer says it's ok to use Ajax Oil, then that means that Toyota corporate would consider it to be an "equivalent". They gotta be kidding - but they weren't. It's official case number 1210172364. Asked her specifically about Mobil 1, and she talked to Roger, who stated that Mobil 1 would be ok. Margarita reiterated that as long as I used oil that was specified in the owner's manual then the warranty would be ok. Hmmm... so that brings up the viscosity question.

Mentioned to her that the Mag 1 oil that my dealership SM officially blessed was 75W-90 (as is Mobil 1), but the manual specifies 75W for the xfer case and 75W-85 for the diffs, so strictly speaking, the dealer SM (certainly trumps a "tech") blessed a non-conforming oil, at least regarding the viscosity. She talked to Roger again, and she assured me that he assured her that Mobil 1 LS 75W-90 would be ok to use and would not compromise the warranty. I requested a statement to that effect in writing, and was told that "the case" was in the "corporate system" and I could not obtain a copy, nor could I see it on-line, so I have no idea what it really ended up saying in "the case". I can only hope that if I have xfer case / diff warranty issues in the future, that "the case" does in fact state that Toyota customer service said that using Mobil 1 would not invalidate the factory warranty.

If the simple things are this difficult, then good luck with the hard ones.

Our F'runner only has 3,000 miles on it, so I'll put on a few more, let everything get good and broken in, drain the official Toyota oil out, flush a half quart of Mobil 1 through to wash out the dregs, and fill 'er up with Mobil 1. And I sure won't miss shelling out $70 per quart for Toyota's Official Holy Oil Transfer Case Gear Lube.
 
Last edited:
dsfra said:
Got tired of playing games with the SM at the dealership regarding diff and xfer case oil, and finally gave up asking him what specific products would satisfy the "or equivalent" clause in the owner's manual - never could get a straight answer. He did state in writing (e-mail) that "Our parts department sells a MAG1 brand gear oil to our guests as an option other than Toyota. It would not void your warranty". And that was as far as he would go.

Asked him a simple Yes/No question: Would the use of Mobil 1 synthetic LS 75W-90 compromise the factory warranty? His useless answer: "The Mobile 1 product is a nice choice." I was asking him about Mobil 1 preserving the factory warranty, not whether he thinks it's nice or not. Asked him again. His second useless answer: "Our parts department sells a MAG1 brand gear oil to our guests as an option other than Toyota. I’ve attached a picture as an example. It would not void your warranty". Asked again. Third useless answer: "I don’t see why the Mobile 1 would not work in my opinion. I am not in a position to speak for Toyota." Then who the hell is?

At wits end, and having been screwing around trying to get an answer to this seemingly simple question since August, I called the Toyota 800-331-4331 number, and told the whole gruesome story to Jonathan, whereupon he handed the call off to Margarita, and I got to repeat the bulk of the story to her. The punchline ended up being: Any oil that is recommended by a tech at a Toyota dealer would be considered to be an "equivalent" lubricant by Toyota corporate, and would thereby not compromise the Toyota warranty. So if some pimply-faced high school dropout tech at some backwoods Toyota dealer says it's ok to use Ajax Oil, then that means that Toyota corporate would consider it to be an "equivalent". They gotta be kidding - but they weren't. It's official case number 1210172364. Asked her specifically about Mobil 1, and she talked to Roger, who stated that Mobil 1 would be ok. Margarita reiterated that as long as I used oil that was specified in the owner's manual then the warranty would be ok. Hmmm... so that brings up the viscosity question.

Mentioned to her that the Mag 1 oil that my dealership SM officially blessed was 75W-90 (as is Mobil 1), but the manual specifies 75W for the xfer case and 75W-85 for the diffs, so strictly speaking, the dealer SM (certainly trumps a "tech") blessed a non-conforming oil, at least regarding the viscosity. She talked to Roger again, and she assured me that he assured her that Mobil 1 LS 75W-90 would be ok to use and would not compromise the warranty. I requested a statement to that effect in writing, and was told that "the case" was in the "corporate system" and I could not obtain a copy, nor could I see it on-line, so I have no idea what it really ended up saying in "the case". I can only hope that if I have xfer case / diff warranty issues in the future, that "the case" does in fact state that Toyota customer service said that using Mobil 1 would not invalidate the factory warranty.

If the simple things are this difficult, then good luck with the hard ones.

Our F'runner only has 3,000 miles on it, so I'll put on a few more, let everything get good and broken in, drain the official Toyota oil out, flush a half quart of Mobil 1 through to wash out the dregs, and fill 'er up with Mobil 1. And I sure won't miss shelling out $70 per quart for Toyota's Official Holy Oil Transfer Case Gear Lube.
Click to expand...

Just a thought - the original manual for my 2006 4th gen states 75w90 for the front and transfer and 80w90 for the rear (out of which at least the latter is mineral based and I guess the 75w90 is also conventional). Toyota started using the fully synthetic 75w85 in 2008 (or so) and advised it in a TSB to put it all around, for better fuel efficiency, both in new and used cars. My guess would be that synthetic 75w90 is pretty much close to the OEM 75w85, so now that you have these guys' it would be ok to switch to 75w90. See, I know 4th's and 5th's are slightly different in this respect, but my point is that if Toyota easily advised to switch from conventional to synthetic lube even for used cars, I think the difference between what you have as OEM and what they offer is even smaller.
 
Am I the only one that runs Royal Purple in here? Put that stuff in all my vehicles so far and its been PHENOMENAL.

Changed diffs every 50k or so...

Motor Oil easily 5k

Theres a bit of work to be done to my 4R when I get home....but I am planning on converting. Unless anyone here has a comparison with the Lucas products or maybe something better?
 
jstim said:
Am I the only one that runs Royal Purple in here? Put that stuff in all my vehicles so far and its been PHENOMENAL.

Changed diffs every 50k or so...

Motor Oil easily 5k

Theres a bit of work to be done to my 4R when I get home....but I am planning on converting. Unless anyone here has a comparison with the Lucas products or maybe something better?
Click to expand...
I used to run RP when I had my old Ford Ranger, but when it started to burn oil I stopped using it. Plus I get better pricing around here for Mobile1 than RP.
 
Motor oil for a 5th gen V6

The wifes new ride is an '11 T4R. New to us but dealer serviced with the previous owner. So on the rest of our fleet I run Rotella T6, it's generally available for less than $25/ gallon. Though it's considered a "diesel" oil, will it be a problem running it in the Toyota?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Reasonable labor or total rip off...I vote for the latter
Replies
5
Views
2K
osugsxr
O
A
Pink Fluid Leak Near Rear Passenger Wheel
2 3 4
Replies
60
Views
9K
Drcoffee
Drcoffee
T
Well I had the dealer do the 60k transmission svc..
Replies
13
Views
4K
Grommet
G
nodge87
FS: 2001 3rd Gen Limited 4WD - $12,900 - Brooklyn NY
Replies
0
Views
4K
nodge87
nodge87
N
FS 2000 Limited 4wd w/E-locker $5k Chambersburg, PA
Replies
4
Views
611
Novashards
N

Members online

Total: 5,613 (members: 6, guests: 5,607)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,120
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top