Transmission Fluid???

[allamerican1089]

Ok I have a 1986 SR5 runner with the manual W56 transmission. I've never owned a runner and want to do a change on all the fluids. Could you guys please make some suggestions for the following...

1. Appropriate gear oil for the differentials?

2. And appropriate transmission fluid?

I'm about to go back home to see the family and would like to take the runner with me so time is short. Your feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[KidVermicious]

Get your hands on a Haynes or Chilton manual for your truck if you're going to get dirty, it's got all kinds of answers in it.

The differentials, the transmission, and the transfer case all want 75w90 or thereabouts. The transmission is picky and wants GL4 75w90. GL5 will work in a pinch, and some guys run it without trouble, but stories abound of W56 transmission trouble being cured by switching to GL4. You're going to have a hard time finding it on the shelf - you'll have to look at Redline, Royal Purple, maybe AMSOIL has a GL4? I use Redline 75w90 in both diffs and the transmission/transfer case.

 

[allamerican1089]

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. Got a Haynes on the way. Do you know how many quarts of each fluid I will need?

 

[ajohnson]

About 3 qts each for the tranny and rear diff, not sure about the front diff, I think 2 qts for the transfer case. The manual will specify this info.

 

[allamerican1089]

Cool. Thank you for your help!

 

[allamerican1089]

Forgot to ask one thing:

How do I tell if I have a limited slip rear diff?

 

[KidVermicious]

You probably don't. If you wanna know for sure and don't want to drop the third to find out, jack both rear wheels in the air and spin one. If it drags the other along with it, it's limited slip. If the other one spins exactly with it, you're locked.

Have you found 4Crawler.com main page in your web trawling yet? It's a wealth of info for these early trucks. Toyota 4Runner Technical Information is a good resource, but poke around the rest of the site too. You'll get about a week of noob questions before people start telling you to search, so read up.

 

[allamerican1089]

Lol sounds good! And yes I have found 4crawler...great site!

 

[92-SR5]

I run royal purple in my tranny and it shifts like butter. It is very expensive though (~$23 per quart).