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yes @Acrad Looks like MOC products also have a range of fluid exchange machines which dealers might use to perform differentials, power steering, brake and coolant fluid services.
Is there any visual way to just look the TC fluid to determine if its a dedicated TC fluid or differential fluid? I can use a syringe with a flex hose to go in via the fill bolt and extract a small sample.
just to have a peace of mind and with an upcoming 3K mile trip, I will go ahead and change the TC and Diffs oil.
I did chat with Ravenol customer service on the TC oil, and they did confirm it has the same SAE 75W specs as the Toyota 75W.
Ordered the Ravenol MTF3 - 75W for TC and MTF1-75W-85 GL5 for the diffs through their US distributor Blauparts. They are having some black friday sale going on now and is priced around $13 per quart, much cheaper than in Amazon.
@Acrad I will keep you posted on what oil I find while draining the TC and if its different from the diff oil, I'm curious to see if the dealer has honestly used a dedicated TC fluid or not.
Got the Ravenol TC (75W) and Diff fluids (75W-85) delivered over the weekend and got the fluids replaced.
Transfer Case and the Rear Diff was a breeze, was able to replace them in under 10 min.. Front Diff was little challenging.
Ravenol bottles have these cool extendible spouts and you can directly pour into the transfer case or the diffs without any fluid pump.
Transfer Case old TC fluid Rear Diff Old Rear diff fluid
@Acrad I did find that the TC fluid was more flowy and less viscous than the Diff fluid, looks like the dealer in the 4X4 service did use dedicated TC fluid on the TC
Both the front and rear diff fluids were super nasty and were thick black, good that I replaced it.
The TC fluid did seem to be in a good shape, still have a slight golden tint to it and could have easily lasted few more thousand miles.
I did remove the spare tire so that I can pour in the fluid directly from the bottle instead of using a hand pump.
The skid plate under the front diff has a hook which goes into the cross member when we loosen the 4 12 mm bolts, which was easy to remove and install back without hurting your back.
Hello All, I'm going to be replacing fluid in my diffs and transfer case in my 2010 with 77k miles. I'm not sure what has been done before I have owned it (purchased at 68k miles). From reading/researching, I'm good on diff fluid (plan on using amsoil 75w90 severe gear) but still confused on the transfer case. There was some discussion that the TC's were changed in 2014+, requiring the 75w fluid. My owners manual states the same. Should I just bite the bullet, spend like $80 more and buy the liquid gold from the manufacturer or is the Ravenol 75w a viable option?
Anyone had their front diff drain plug seize up? Fill plug loosened up fine with a breaker bar but couldn't get the drain plug to budge. California truck so a bit surprised. Last front diff oil service was ~8 yrs / 100k mi ago according to previous owner's service records. No luck with penetrating fluid and impact wrench. After several attempts, the hex head is starting to strip.
Ordered a hex head extractor set and an OEM plug... we'll see how that goes.
A bit hesitant to use the OEM part again though as it seems like a shortcoming with the 10mm female hex. This appears to be a common issue in 4unner/tacoma forums and 90341-24016 has been a popular replacement part which provides a 14mm nut instead of the 10mm female hex. Not sure if it fits GX. Curious if others have tried it out.
You do this once every 5-7 years or so, go for Toyota fluid. You spend more on coffee or beers in 7 years. 😂
You need 1.5quart. Maybe check with local gx owners and see if two can split 3 cans.
Ditto ... RAVENOL is a perfect substitute. The "Golden Toyota Fluid" is way overpriced ... is available via on-line suppliers for a discount versus paying the full (highway robbery) retail price, but is considered "hazardous material" from a shipping standpoint, so shipping costs typically offset any savings opportunity.
When I did this last year, I bit the bullet and spent the $130'ish to get 2 cans of the toyota golden fluid, the opener and a hand pump, just a personal preference....
I see nothing wrong with using the ravenol fluidand it comes with the built in pouring spout so definitely more convenient and less expensive.
I merely figured if I was willing to spend more on Amsoil for the differentials, I had a hard time justifying not spending more for the toyota oem fluid for the diff.....
I believe either fluid is more than sufficient to do the job
Given that dealerships are using 75w90 in the transfer cases when they change the fluids, I would have zero hesitation using the Ravenol in lieu of Toyota fluid.
Given that dealerships are using 75w90 in the transfer cases when they change the fluids, I would have zero hesitation using the Ravenol in lieu of Toyota fluid.
Agree. For the engine, most dealers use "mystery motor oil" out of a 55-gallon drum hidden in the back room that is pumped thru a delivery system to the workstation ... and then charge the customer Toyota branded product pricing. Why not ... the vehicle only needs to last thru the warranty period as far as the dealer is concerned, with the customer having no clue as to the difference.
