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I changed out my differentials back in the fall with RedLine 75-85 and am getting ready to do transfer case as soon as the golden fluid arrives. Are you all transferring oil from can to a bottle to save the remainder of your oil for future changes (hoping to get two exchanges out of 3 liters)? or are you discarding due to the likely long time before the next change? I know it's not a huge decision if the oil were regular priced...
so I just went to buy the transfer case crush washers yesterday... $3.99 each from my local dealer. Do yourself a favor and buy the entire differential/transfer case washer kit off Amazon or eBay for $10.
Just a comment on a past experience substituting aftermarket synthetics for OE Factory Fill fluids...Years ago I had a Corvette with a ZF 6 speed trans. The forums were peppered with Redline, Amsoil etc. etc. aftermarket synthetic "recommendations". There were many who had various types of transmission issues as a result. Not 100%, but a sufficient population to question the wisdom of deviating from the OE product. I had it on good authority from a then Corvette Challenge driver and team owner, to ONLY use "Factory Fill" in the ZF. He was adamant that the life of the ZF would be severely compromised using anything else. Sometime down the road as the C4 Corvettes got long in the tooth, I believe that GM had stopped having whatever oil company make it for them. If I'm not mistaken, there was a BMW transmission fluid that was recommended by ZF that worked fine.
I'm not stating that the circumstances are the same with Toyota factory fill fluids, but for my $$, it would seem a bit dicey to use anything else because we think it's better, and or cheaper. Just FWIW. Good luck on your major service job.
Just a comment on a past experience substituting aftermarket synthetics for OE Factory Fill fluids...Years ago I had a Corvette with a ZF 6 speed trans. The forums were peppered with Redline, Amsoil etc. etc. aftermarket synthetic "recommendations". There were many who had various types of transmission issues as a result. Not 100%, but a sufficient population to question the wisdom of deviating from the OE product. I had it on good authority from a then Corvette Challenge driver and team owner, to ONLY use "Factory Fill" in the ZF. He was adamant that the life of the ZF would be severely compromised using anything else. Sometime down the road as the C4 Corvettes got long in the tooth, I believe that GM had stopped having whatever oil company make it for them. If I'm not mistaken, there was a BMW transmission fluid that was recommended by ZF that worked fine.
I'm not stating that the circumstances are the same with Toyota factory fill fluids, but for my $$, it would seem a bit dicey to use anything else because we think it's better, and or cheaper. Just FWIW. Good luck on your major service job.
As you point out, it's all circumstantial evidence, but at the same time, I wouldn't put diffs in the same category as a transmission or Tcase for my own personal needs. And I think you see that difference in this thread and some others - putting a solid GL5 alternative (i.e., Redline) in your diffs is going to be just fine, but with transmissions and transfer cases (especially manual transmissions), it's not as wise an idea to experiment outside of factory recommendations.
Just ordered two cans of Toyota TC gold fluid and 5 quarts of Amsoil Severe 75w-90. I was thinking of Redline 75w-85 but decided to go with Amsoil instead.
I just drained and filled the Osyssey with Redline ATF a
nd it is shifting really smooth but for the GX, I will probably let the dealer do it if needed to.
"Unique to a few 2010+ SUVs (4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, GX460, LX570) is the 75w synthetic LF transfer case fluid. Unfortunately the fluid is only made by Toyota for these applications and is considerably more expensive than the 75w85 synthetic LT/LX. "
wanted to attach virgin oil analyses from bobistheoilguy.com re: the Toyota Transfer Case Gear Oil LF, Royal Purple Synchromax, and Ravenol MTF-3 75W. The second two actually list themselves as being suitable alternatives to the Toyota product, but you will see their additive amounts are very different. I didn't find any other aftermarket oil claiming compatibility with LF.
Does Toyota use/require that LF fluid in their manual transmissions? That's the only way it would make sense to me. Making a high dollar, highly fortified 75W gear oil for transfer cases seems extremely wasteful and unnecessary. But it would make a bit more sense if these were for manual boxes as well.
03-05-18, 05:49 AM
