Changing Differential oil with low miles worth it?

I see a lot of threads about people changing their diff, transfer, transmission, etc... with low miles , less than 5,000.

I have never changed mine that early on any of my Tacos or 4Rs, is this mostly just for some who are worried they were low from the factory?

I did check my rear diff fluid by opening the fill plug and putting my finger in the top, level was perfect and still obviously as clear as water with about 2000 miles on it. The only thing I could consider is cleaning off the magnet on the drain plugs from the breakin period, but don't really want to drain and fill.

 

Did you have it at the proper temp. prior to checking it?

 

And what temperature would that be, I am NOT talking about my transmission.... also wasn't my question

 

Probably not worth it, dif oil is usually changed every 100k or so. my last truck at over 250k and had the dif only changed once in its life.

 

I don't think you will have any harm changing out the Diff Oils early.

 

i changed mine at 5K... it was only a little dirty. There were some shavings on the magnet.

 

You will only know if it's worth it, if you have a UOA done.
Most all differential places have you change the gear oil after a proper 500 mile break-in.
New gear sets produce greater heat; breaking down gear oil. An improper break-in would generate even more heat.
Another reason is to drop the cover and visually inspect the gear wear and clean out the sluff at the bottom. Since we lack such a cover, that point is moot.
For some, it's cheap piece of mind.

 

I'd change it out then go 100,000 if you want

 

ya, maybe I'll do it at 3000 to make sure I am well out of the break in period and put some redline in it, I guess the front as well. Like I said, never did it this early on 3 other Tacos or my 4Runner, but it is cheap insurance I guess

 

Just my experience to help you make your decision.

I changed my rear differential fluid at 500 miles. It was clean and had a lot of life left in it. Changing the oil didn't prevent my differential from beginning to howl like a banshee. The replacement differential got the same treatment even though it howled from the moment it was installed. Whatever the problem is with the rear differentials isn't related to lubricant.

I changed my front differential fluid at 11,000 miles. It was dark and needed to be replaced. Changing it had no noticeable impact on sound or performance. Replacing it was still the right thing to do.

I changed the transfer case fluid at 11,000 miles as well. It still looked good.

The manual transmission fluid was changed at about 5,000 miles. It still looked good and changing it out made no difference.

In the end, I don't regret changing any of it out but I'm not sure it really mattered whether I did it or not.

 

Its a shame changing the Diff Fluid did not help with the Howling.

 

Thanks for the inputs, no howling yet on my 2017, hoping it stays that way!

 

I don't think you need to do it that soon but honestly just do what won't keep you up at night.

To put it into perspective on my first ford truck I never changed the differential oil (ignorance) and there were zero problems at 150k miles that were related to the diff oil.

I do want to say though that if you are wheeling and find yourself submerged in mud or water it is a good idea to change it.

 

You're more than welcome to replace the fluid, but it is not necessary. If I were you, I'd wait till at least 30k miles before even considering it. Afterwards, I'd probably only replace every 100k miles.

 

Any differential shop or 3rd part manufacterer like ECGS who I have had good luck with, recommends a break in schedule. On top of only short trips and varying your speed for the first 500 miles, they recommend replacing your fluid after the 500 mile break in.

I'm not an engineer so I can't say for sure if that's absolutely necessary, but if it is why wouldn't it also be a good idea for brand new differentials?

Replacing the fluid early definitely won't hurt anything.

 

That could be a fresh rebuild requirment. I know shops like that void any warranty if you don't follow that specifically. I'm not in the auto industry but it is entirely possible the diff's are run on a test stand to "break in the gears" and then the oil changed out again as part of the process. This is all speculation by the way.

Plenty of average buyers never follow this 500 mile diff change or changing diff fluid at all for that matter and their diff's last the life of the vehicle.

 

I agree.

If Toyota warranties my dif for 100k miles and doesnt require an oil change then I see no reason why they aren't already broken or or at the least any reason to change it.

 

Gear box oil changes at 5k won't hurt anything but your pocket book. I've always changed mine at 50K. Transfer cases even at 50K are clean. Most people never change differential fluids with no problems.

 

Exactly my point in this thread , 3 tacomas, 1 4Runner , Celica, and never thought about diffs until at least 30k miles, never had a problem. Can it hurt, no unless you just put the wrong oil or amount. It's one of those things, fix it until it's broke