ahc21ahc

Since my GX is due for its 5K service (free), I've been studying the maintaince schedule and trying to decide whether I'm going to tackle everything myself. I called around a few dealers and the price for a 10K service is around $200-225 and the 15K service a wopping $400-475!! The crazy thing is the $475 service I was quoted doesn't even include diff/transfer case oil changes, just engine oil and filter, engine/ac filters, wipers, clean brakes, inspect, replenish fluids. Now, I think the GX is a fairly reliable vehicle, and even if it wasn't, on a new car for the first 50K miles, I don't really see the point of spending all this money on maintaince since if anything goes wrong, it should be covered by warranty. If I wanted to spend this much on car repairs every year, I'd just continue to drive my ES with 180K miles on it.

I looked under the hood yesterday, and swapping out an engine air filter is like a couple of minute job and the AC filter too. I removed the skid plate underneath, and the oil change doesn't look too bad either. Rotating the tires shouldn't be too bad but might take some time. I also crawled under the car and checked the grease zerks on the drive shaft. Doesn't look too hard either to grease these, or am I wrong? I don't have to jack up the car either. The drain and refill on the diff and transfer case doesn't look too hard either since I can get under the car w/o lifting it - should be similiar to tranny drain and refill on my ES which I did a few weeks ago right? Only other thing is brake fluid flush - may be a pain to do myself, so I may let the dealer do this and inspect the brakes too. The coolant is good for 100K, spark plugs 120K, and transmission fluid is supposedly lifetime.

It is just me or does the GX look to be pretty easy to maintain myself for the first 100K miles? I can see buying new tires and brake pads/fluid flush being farmed out, but that's it. Any one worried about warranty issues with DIY?

tubbyg35

i did the work on my old brothers gx470 04 and its not that hard if you know what your doing

tubbyg35

my car is harder then the gx the gx engine bay has more room my g35 its really tight and hard to get into places

The G Man

ahc21ahc, sounds like you know what you are doing, you should do the maintenance yourself. I usually do all the easy stuff myself and leave the fluid and belt changes for the dealer.

BobsGX

ahc21ahc - I have an 07 GX with only 3K miles on it. I might take it to the dealer for the first free 5K service. Which is basically an oil and filter change. But since my nearest dealer is a 120 mile round trip plus tolls, I will no doubt do the 1st service myself since it will cost more in fuel and tolls to have the dealer do it. Plus I like the fact when I perform the service, it was done correctly and I use the type of oil I prefer instead of the cheapest oil the dealer can purchase in bulk. I do however keep all receipts for oil, filters, etc. in case a warranty problem does come up down the road and the dealer says my car has never been back for service. Doesn't hurt to CYA.

V8_Fan

You might check the clearance on reaching the front diff. When I did the 60k service on my LX (dealer wanted $2.4K, I balked), I put the AHC in high to get a couple of extra inches. Without that extra space, I would have had to put it on stands (PITA). Even so, for most of the newer Toyota 4x4's, you need a 10mm allen head socket ($5 at Sears, only found it in 3/8" drive; all the other diff/t-case bolts are 24mm hex, but use a 6 point socket, as it's easy to round off the heads). The fill bolt was on really tight, and there wasn't enough space for a 18" breaker bar (1/2" drive, meaning adapters to 3/8", and adapters add more play; there's only enough room in there to move a wrench maybe 20 degrees). You really need a long 3/8" drive socket w/ pivoting head (S&K makes one for around $32). IIRC, I got it off using the 3/8" socket w/ an old bike seatpost over the socket handle as an adjustable breaker bar. You will also need a tool to pump the fluid into the front diff, as there's not enough space to get those 1 qt squeeze bottles in there (at least on the LX). I buy my fluids in bulk from a commercial fuel shop in 5 gal pails, so I have a pump on the pail. Otherwise, you'll need either one of those electric drill pumps or have a buddy slowly poor via a funnel and tube from the engine bay. The fluid poor much faster if warm (put bottles in a bucket of warm water beforehand). Another tip...ALWAYS undo the fill plug before the drain plug. This way, if you can't get it off, you can always drive it to the dealer and have them do it! Otherwise, you could be stuck in the garage w/ no fluid in the diff and you can't get the fill bolt loose!!! You should be able to buy 4Runner parts from the Toyota dealer, as the drive train is the same. I buy '03 landcruiser parts from a discount dealer out-of-state...way cheaper.

For the bigger jobs like the front wheel bearing repack (30K mi intervals, but you can really stretch it to 50K easily as long as you don't submerge the hub), you obviously have to put the car on stands. That job requires some special tools, but the savings are even greater. All the Toyota 4x4's since the 1980's use the same front wheel hub/bearing system (a drive flange or manual locking hub, gasket, cone washers, then a c-clip or bolt at the end of the axle, outer 54mm axle nut, lock washer, inner 54mm axle nut, claw washer, outer bearing, hub (rotor is bolted to the hub), inner bearing, oil seal for inner bearing. You just need to replace the oil seal, gasket, and lock washer (about $40 in parts). Labor will take like 3-4 hrs if you know what you're doing, but you'll save over $300 on this job alone! Tools you will need: thick brass bar (like 3/4" stock) and big hammer to get the cone washers off, two torque wrenches to range from about 17 ft-lbs to 90 ft-lbs, 17mm deep 6 point socket to get the front calipers off, OTC 54mm socket (or 2 1/8" SAE) for the axle nuts, fish scale (optional, to check final wheel torque), seal driver or stack of wood to hammer in the oil seal, bearing packer (optional, but nice), tub of grease (I use Amsoil or Mobil 1 NLGI 2 red, no moly), snap ring pliers to remove C-clip (Sears), big flat head screwdriver (to set to new lock washer tabs, pliers to remove oil seal.

Only thing I have my dealer do on my LX is the AHC fluid flush (for safety, since the vehicle drops at each corner whenn you bleed it; can crush you) and ATF fluid exchange since you need a special $2K machine to change out all 12 qts of ATF (only 3 qts in the pan, the rest in the torque converter). Overall, these vehicles don't cost a lot to maintain since they are so reliable, but the dealers tend to charge an arm and a leg for service since this is where they make their money (because they don't break down).

I would just change the oil at 10K mi and maybe rotate the tires. Unless you live somewhere hot like AZ, I would probably wait until 30K to change the diff fluid and then put Mobil 1 gear oil in the diffs/t-case at 30K and run that until 60K mi. I put synthetic in there and always go at least 30K. At 15K, I'd just change the cabin filters, engine air filter, oil/oil filter, and rotate tires. Cabin filters (at least for the LX) are behind the glove box (remove glove box (and plastic panel behind the glovebox on the LX) to reveal a door containing the filters; its the same on my honda). Probably the same on the GX.

ahc21ahc

Jim - thanks again for some useful info. Front wheel repack is no longer listed as a maintaince item for the GX. It's still listed in the GX factor service manual with procedure outlined in gory detail, so I'm not sure if this is a needed item or not.

V8_Fan

It's listed in my 03 LX owner's manual (has maintenance for the LX/GX/RX), but I heard Toyota dropped it at some point also for the 4runner. My guess is I believe the 30K mi recommendation for the repack is if you drive offroad, occasionally cross a river, etc. I believe it's a world standard recommendation, so it covers places like Australia & Africa. But since it's written in the recommended maintenance for the '03 and earlier 4x4's, you have to do the maintenance for the warranty to be valid. Toyota has probably delegated it to the "repack if needed" list (like with changing belts, PS fluid, etc.). The tech will just grab the wheel at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock and see if there's any wobble/play. If there is, bearings need repacking.

If you also notice, Toyota DECREASED the oil changing interval from 7.5K to 5K about the same time they changed the oil filters from the expensive factory (Japanese-made resin core) one to the cheaper paper-core Thai-made one around '04 or '05. I managed to buy a bunch of the factory ones (P/N is 90215-20004 as opposed to 90215-YZZD3), so I run a 7.5K OCI w/ no worries. BTW, on the ih8mud forum, there's a thread where people posted comparison photos of various brand and OEM oil filters cut open for the 4.7L V8 (Wix, Mobil1, Fram, Toyota -YZZD3, Toyota -20004, K&N, etc.). All have a paper core except the -20004, which has sort of a legendary reputation now. This is still the filter used in the Mid East, Australia, Africa, Japan.

ADVocate

Doing most things to your truck are not that difficult in the big scheme of things. One thing to consider if your vehicle is still under warranty, is keeping real records of what services you do. Keep in mind, that if anything under warranty which was not serviced regularly by the dealer or mechanic, could be called into question if it fails. I can do quite a bit mechanically, but have no desire for that myself. The last thing I want is to convince a dealership that it failed because if a malfunction rather than inadequate service. To each his own ....

lexusdr

Dealer does everything for me...only thing is, it's a TOYOTA dealer. Same service, much less. I discovered this b/c my Lexus dealer is 90 miles round trip and needed a closer solution. Toyota assured me warranty would be unaffected.

LexusTech

Not the GX,it's a sealed bearing setup.

V8_Fan

You sure? I've never heard of a front "sealed bearing" 4wd unless you're referring to the inner bearing, which sits behind a metal (brass?) oil seal. It isn't a fully sealed bearing in the sense of zero maintenance. You still have to yank out the seal, regrease the bearing, and drive in a new seal. The rear is a pressed-on, fully sealed bearing (as in zero-maintenance), as is the rear of the LX470/LC100. The sealed rear bearings develop play in them after 100K mi or so, plus the grease will leak out and mix w/ the rear diff fluid, making it green instead of gold. You will feel slop in the rear end when turning, etc. Since the front bearings on most toyotas are not sealed, when they loosen, you just regrease them and retorque them and you're good to go. If they were sealed, it would be downright dangerous, as the slop would result in little steering control.

LexusTech

Yes I'm sure the GX470 front hub/bearing setup is quite different than the LX470/LC100. When I described it as sealed,I meant it is non-servicable (cannot disassemble to repack with grease). No offense but have you actually worked on any GX470s? A coworker was replacing a GX bearing last Friday (waiting for new hub + bearing to arrive),I'll see if he still has the old one lying around if you need photographic proof. I'll also post an illustration from the service manual if you'd like.

V8_Fan

No, I've worked on Toyota trucks/SUV's from the mid 80's through the current LX/LC. The sealed bearing thing might be why Toyota dropped the 30K mi bearing repack requirement. I thought that happened sometime around '04-05. This means that now one MUST have the dealer do the front bearing replacement or you'd have to have a hydraulic press with the proper press adapters. It seems over the years (from the mid 80's), toyotas have been less and less built for the long haul. The old trucks had double timing chains w/ steel/rubber guides (300K+mi), then they went to the single chain w/ steel guide (300K mi), then single chain w/ plastic guides (150-250K), then to the belt (90K). And while maintenance is being stretched to longer intervals, one can perform less and less of the maintenance oneself. First the rear bearings went from full floater (non-sealed) to semi-floater (sealed), now the front! Argh...

The current 4runner/FJ cruiser must also have the same sealed bearing, as they are built on the same chassis as the Prado/GX. Do you know if the '03's still have the good old fashioned non-sealed bearing?

LexusTech

'03 LX470s? Yes still the same repackable bearing,even 2007LX470's still use the repackable bearing.


Hope the attached file works,it's the GX470 front hub and bearing assembly. My coworker already returned the old bearing to parts so I couldn't take a photo of an actual GX hub and bearing.