Quick question, how often do you change your differential oil? I took my car recently in for a brake inspection and I found that the dealership marked that my differential oil required attention. I am assuming it needs to be changed/flushed? I guess I should take the hint and have my mechanic change it out but I wanted to see what everyone else has done in the past.

 

Anyone change their oil?

 

it's not a bad idea to change it every 30-45k. it only takes like 1-2 qts of 75w90. Toyota gear lube is super expensive...it's like $50 a can of synthetic. Go with Mobil 1 Synthetic. It's not that expensive and it's really easy to do. a 10mm allen socket is all you need as far as tools go, and some way of filling up the rear diff

 

I found this today:

http://www.oneautozone.com/

Royal Purple gear oil 75w90 for $13.99qt. This is probably about a quarter per quart what Toyota would charge for it.

But sewell seems to sell 75w85 when you go to the service section for the GS:
http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2006-1954.html

And further still they have a page that says to use 80w90:
http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2006-1954.html

Is it all a wash anyway? I don't know if RP is any "better" than the synthetic stuff Toyota uses but if it'll save me a hundred bucks to pick a couple qts of this stuff up for my next differential change then why not as long as it's not terribly wrong stuff. The RP web site does list it as GL-5 compatible.

I guess I'm also looking at picking up a bunch of their 5w30 and switching from whatever Toyota/Lexus has been putting in for oil to synthetic, the price is right but I'm still not convinced it'll do any good in the long run since I don't plan on ever extending my oil change intervals.

 

So is one qt good enough or you need two? Any way to check how much more needed when filling?Also is it needed only on the back or also in the front?

 

Buy two quarts. You'll most likely end up using about 1.5q or so. Just keep on filling until fluid starts to run down from the fill hole.

 

For those interested in DIY this video makes it pretty clear what you need to do. Probably the biggest issue is finding somewhere to do it that is actually level and squeezing the oil out of the containers in a way that doesn't waste a ****load of it (I'm not sure if on our cars theres room to get the bottle higher than the fill plug).

http://www.ehow.com/video_2328107_ty...fluid-use.html

On RWD you only have one differential in the rear, on AWD you have both front and rear differentials. Remember differential is only on drive wheels.

 

Would 75-90 be any good? http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...fier=1437_0_0_

 

is the same fluid usable for the front and rear diff on a gs350 awd?

 

If I recall right specifications dictate the rear differential uses synthetic and front regular, other than that for weights I don't recall.

 

My very high-tech solution:

 

a simple hand pump which screws right on the top of the oil containers (tranny fluid, gear oil, etc) does the trick rather easily. They're inexpensive (9-12$) at auto zone, o'reilly's, eBay, etc. They are not super high quality...but will do the job. If you clean them and let them dry...you can get a few uses out of one. I used one to replace my rear diff oil a couple of months ago, and then again (MUCH bigger job) for changing out the tranny fluid. I had to zip tie the plastic tube that goes down into the oil container ONTO the bottom of the pump, as it kept falling off into the fluid...but after that...had no problems. I have a back-up just in case I'm in the middle of a job when it finally craps out.

Technically, it's called a "fluid transfer pump".

 

I use this one for the diff fluid changes on my s2000


I need to buy fluid, I was gonna use the same Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Oil that I use on the s2000 for the rear but I am now concerned about choosing the right stuff for the front on my AWD.

 

yes...that's exactly the item i've got. I've seen them at several places and they all look basically the same.

 

I have a Jackrabbit pump, it's not fast but it works and has lasted many years. My trucks take a bit more gear oil, I use a 5-gallon pail and once this pump establishes flow it can siphon from the pail down into my gearboxes. Very not fast in the winter in Michigan, I try to wait for summer when the oil flows faster.