The truth about differential and transfer case fluids

My 2014 TRD off Road 4x4 has 89,000 miles. I never do any towing or off roading.

I know the book says that these fluids need to be changed at 30k miles - but I'm skeptical. The dealer keeps after me about it at every oil change...they want several hundred dollars to do it.

Is this really necessary? What intervals do you recommend? What is everyone's experience with changing these fluids? Or not changing them?

They also wanted me to change the power steering fluid which I'm pretty sure is a crock.

 

OP is right - fresh fluids are never a good thing.


It’s like $50 to do it yourself. Problem solved. Problem staying solved.

Same with power steering fluid. Easy to do - a bottle of Maxlife atf is what? 8 bucks at Walmart?

 

Yes, it is necessary.
In my opinion the Dealership is overpriced on these Services.

My order of Priority would be.
Rear Differential
Front Differential
Transfer Case.

Do NOT skip the Transmission Fluid service.
If you can afford to do it, or do it yourself, I recommend at least every 60k.

 

Sorry to break it to you, but several hundred dollars in maintenance costs every 30k is not a big deal.

Its a Tacoma, its still waaaay more reliable (eg. cheap) than most other cars on the road. 300$ is a drop in the bucket compared to emergency tows and unexpected repairs on lesser quality vehicles

 

This is why I prefer to buy vehicles with under 30k miles on them. Deferred maintenance usually comes back to cost several multiples of the amount that was "saved" by skipping it.

 

I'll echo, alot of toyotas out there with hundred of thousands of miles that have no maintenance... But I change mine every 50k ish. It's cheap and easy if you do it your self.

 

I change my rear diff every 30k. And I do a suck and fill on the power steering reservoir every oil change (5k)

 

Think about it this way. If you were looking for a used Tacoma, would you buy the one with a big stack of maintenance records or the one where the owner skipped it all?

Thats what people are doing when they spend money on maintenance at the dealer.. they know they could get it done cheaper somewhere else, they understand that having that thick folder of records will be helpful later on down the road.

Its about keeping the value of the truck up where it should be

 

Mine is in the 190K range now, changed ever 100K................................

 

I agree with these comments. Change them and do it yourself. It's super easy. The transmission is the most technically involved in that fluid level needs to be checked at a certain temp. However there are instructions on here and it's not bad at all. For what it's worth, I change any automatic's transmission fluid first at 10k then the normal schedule. Hopefully that gets the initial break-in materials out so they're not wearing things further.

FYI, every turkey baster I've seen won't fit the little hole in the PS reservoir. I had to use a large syringe with a hose from Amazon, still super easy.

 

I had the dealer do mine at 60k. They book says 30k but my dealer actually recommended 60k even if you tow. My dealer calls it a 4x4 service. $175 covered T-case and front and rear diff.

 

What is the general consensus on changing the above fluids regarding mileage vs age?

In other words, what if it takes years to hit that 30k miles mark? How often would you change them?

 

just wait to the 30k. No need to overthink it. We have 2wd 4cy tacomas for our service rep trucks. 300k with just brakes, tires and oil changes.

 

Okay.

I'm really good at not thinking.

 

Changing the lubricants at recommended intervals is a good idea. There always anecdotes from people that have never changed fluids or have changed fluids at larger intervals with "no problems". But unless you're actually disassembling those components and analyzing wear, you'll never know if skipping an interval will hurt your truck. It's cheap insurance and good practice IMO.

Lubricants do breakdown with time. But unless you're going an extreme amount of time between changes compared to what would be considered a "normal" amount of time to accumulate those miles, your probably ok.

It's also worth considering changing fluids at a higher rate as the truck accumulates mileage. Increased wear (for example on a 150k mi. vehicle--compared to 10k mi. vehicle) can affect how the lubricant effectively protects the components.

 

Probably already stated, but fluid changes is one of the simplest changes you can do, and do yourself, to keep your truck in excellent mechanical condition in the long term

 

I am pretty anal about maintenance and fluid changes. However it wasn't until about 5 years ago I even knew about changing out some of those fluids in the power steering, axles, brake lines, coolant flush, transmission, etc..
Being addicted to this site has taught me a lot on these types of things since I am mainly self-taught on mechanics. Having said that my last Tacoma (Gen 1) had 285,000 miles on it when I sold it. Ran like it was new still. Never had the axle fluid changed or the transaxle. Transmission fluid changed once. Oil however changed religiously.
Now I would never let the fluids go that long with what I have learned. But if anything can take a beating and keep on ticking it is a Tacoma. Learn to do the changes yourself. Use the money you would spend on having the dealership do it and get a good floor jack (Harbor Freight is a great place for floor jacks), and a good toolset, a plastic drain pan, a roll of disposable shop towels, and watch a couple of youtube vids on how to do it. It's the gift that keeps on giving. You will come out way ahead and know it was done right and have all the tools for future use. I rarely let the dealer do anything unless it is a recall or something. They are too freaking expensive. Good luck to you

 

Every 30k is overkill. Regardless of how often you do it, I'll reiterate what others have said; Doing it yourself is relatively easy even for someone with little experience. I'd like to think someone in ATL would be willing to help you or even do it for you. My reason isn't so much to save money, although that's a great reason. But I generally don't trust shops, whether they're dealers or small repair shops. If you do it yourself, you know it's being done and done right.

 

Looking through the service manual for my 2007 I can't find where it says to EVER change the diff and transfer case oil for normal driving. It does say to change that fluid every 15,000 miles for.

No where does it ever say to change it if you don't tow. I'm calling BS on needing to change the fluid that often, even if you do tow. I changed mine at 170,000 just to be safe and I do tow some. I've driven several vehicles 150,000-200,000 miles on the factory fluid. Most of that stuff is in the service manual for 2 reasons.

#1, So they can scare people into bringing them into the dealership and overcharging them for unnecessary work.

#2, So they can say "Gotcha" if you do have a warranty issue. An engine should last 100,000 miles even if the oil is never changed. As long as it isn't allowed to run out. The transmission will be good for at least 400,000 miles on the factory fluid. If either goes bad within the normal warranty period it is due to a defective part, not poor maintenance. But if you can't prove you did the maintenance they won't honor their warranty. Gotcha!!!

Lots of guys like to think of preventative maintenance as "cheap insurance". In reality it isn't always so cheap. If you change the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles you'll spend more on transmission maintenance than it will cost you to have the transmission rebuilt. If you do every item in the service manual at the suggested time, and pay the dealer for the work, you'll pay more for service than you paid for the truck before you hit 200,000 miles.