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Differential oil change worth changing or not?

68K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  Bigphil555 
#1 ·
Ok, so I attempted to change my front and rear diff oil this weekend and soon enough I ran into some problems.

First finding a level area on our property. We live on a hilly area. Then getting under the rav. I couldn't get under the rav while it was on the ground. So I jacked it up and had to use 4 jack stands to level the vehicle while trying to gAin some room to work. When all that was done, I was finally able to get under the vehicle and started to loosen the filler plug on the front diff. That came out easily enough. After that I tried getting the drain plug off but ended up stripping the hex head.

When to the dealer to get a quote And to no surprise they wanted an arm and a leg for this job. 96$ per axle. The service advisor told me that I shouldn't have to change it out at 49k. But just recommends having it checked out every 30k. I keep reading about others changing their diff oil out. So what do I do? I called a local mechanic I was referred to by a by a friend, and the mechanic tells me I shouldn't bother changing the gear oil out at all. At least not till 100k. Keep in mind I didn't mention this mechanic was a former Toyota tech.

So any suggestions? Get it done or not.


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#2 ·
First, I would be afraid to crawl under a car raised by 4 jack stands. I was able to do it without any car lifting.
Second, there are lots of car on the roads that never had diff oil changed.
I would personally change it, especially since I tow sometimes, but it's up to you.
 
#4 · (Edited)
...I attempted to change my front and rear diff oil this weekend...

...The service advisor told me that I shouldn't have to change it out at 49k. But just recommends having it checked out every 30k. I keep reading about others changing their diff oil out. So what do I do? I called a local mechanic I was referred to by a by a friend, and the mechanic tells me I shouldn't bother changing the gear oil out at all. At least not till 100k. Keep in mind I didn't mention this mechanic was a former Toyota tech.

So any suggestions? Get it done or not....(?)

First of all, you know if talking about the differentials, keep in mind the front diff is located with the transmission and is a different service (ATF WS fluid). So you're probably thinking rear diff and transfer case, which is also up front.

Second, Toyota is kind of vague about the diff service. Just for comparison, check what it sez--in the 2008 Maintenance Schedule change every 30K miles (48K kilometers):

Question for you: Is this 2008 diff very much different than your 2010 diff? It must be in Toyota's mind, because, LO AND BEHOLD in 2009 the schedule says just INSPECT it every 15K miles. (Inspect for what? Fluid level? Metal fragments? Doesn't say.)

To further make you think, in my 2009 schedule it specifies to CHANGE it if you tow--every 15K miles. (Doesn't say how much you tow. Would one time qualify?) So do some math and then do whatever makes you feel good. Bottom line, there is some micro metal crunching going on inside any mechanical component, like the differentials and the transfer case. You can believe that Toyota miraculously cured this in 2009, and the diffs just need some occasional checking. Or you can swap out that fluid once in a while.

I'm sticking with the Canadian schedule. Way too many stories here about whining tranny and noisy differential couplings. Fluid related? Can't say, but I'm not chancing it.

BTW, credit to Vanib for posting the Canadian schedule a while back.
*
 
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#5 ·
I think I will get it done then. It's better to be safe than sorry. It's hard for me to see how I could fit under my rav since I already tried and barely could get far enough under it though. I'm somewhat of a big guy so I'm thinking that's my prob right there. Got a quote for 75$ for the entire job. Way better than the dealers 96$ per diff.

Thanks for all the in put.


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#6 ·
...Got a quote for 75$ for the entire job. Way better than the dealers 96$ per diff..
Yea, that's a fair price, and avoids a lot of back crawling!

I got blind sided by dealer who charged $130 back when I didn't know the vehicle very well. That price was high considering they already had it on a lift for the oil change. And there is only about half-quart of fluid per rear diff and transfer case.

Just for your own records, keep track if they also do the transmission/ front diff. It's easy to do but that's about 4 quarts of the more special ATF fluid.
 
#13 ·
I think it is worth changing and worth doing your self. I had mine changed at the dealer and he did not use new washers. Its not a big problem but I think it wasn't tightened enough I feel it leaking. May be its just residue but I decided to do it and realized old washers were resued( had some rust on them). After changing oil and replacing them with new washers I don't see any more oil seeping out. The back one is easy. for the front one you will need a metric 10mm Allen wrench.

 
#20 ·
I recently changed the rear differential oil in our daughter's 2006 RAV4 at 153,000 km ... I believe that this is the first time it was changed. We live in an area where salt in routinely used on the roads and undercarriage corrosion is common ... including on the rear differential oil plugs. This was an unplanned rear differential oil change ... I did it the same time that I was doing a brake fluid flush after a rear brake job on the RAV4.

I drove the RAV4 up onto ramps on the front and on the rear simultaneously (i.e. all 4 wheels up on ramps) ... there was lots of room to work on it this way and I did not have to use jack stands. I personally do not feel safe working on a vehicle under jack stands only ... so decided to use the 4 ramp approach. The flooring in my workshop is 1/2" rubber mats over dirt so this also affected my decision to avoid jack stands.

It was difficult to get good access to remove the fill plug on the right side. I did not want to drop the exhaust pipe (which is in the way), so I removed the "Right Rear Suspension Member Brace" to get better access to the fill plug.

Considering the fill plug was fairly corroded (and I wanted to get a good bite with the hex socket without stripping the plug), I used a small hammer to tap the 10 mm Allen socket and extension into the hex head plug. This ensured that the Allen socket was well seated in the plug. I then used a breaker bar to break the fill plug free. Some excess oil came out of the fill plug hole, which confirmed that the differential was filled to the proper level.

I repeated the same procedure to remove the drain plug on the other side ... tapping in the 10 mm Allen socket with a light hammer before removing the drain plug. The oil was moderately discolored, and the magnetic drain plug showed minor metallic material.

I refilled the differential (using an oil suction gun) with approximately 0.5 litres of the specified 80W-90 API GL-5 gear oil (using what I had in the shop ... if I had planned this ahead, I would have used synthetic). I did not change the washers on the plugs ... but again, if this was a better planned event, I would have also installed new washers on the drain plug and fill plug.

I hope this helps someone who may not be familiar with the rear differential oil change process.
 
#21 ·
also make sure to check the vent cap on top that it is not stuck. :D I've read that it can cause leak if it's not able to vent

when we did ours, the cap is a little bit stuck and hard to move, we soak it with brake cleaner (or is it wd40 LOL) until we can move it freely.
 
#24 ·
I was able to find some more information on the rear differential breather plug location in the workshop manual. I also dug up a schematic of the breather plug and a photo of a (similiar?) new one, as well as one installed on a used differential. You can see how this breather plug would be prone to plugging from debris and also how you could go about to "blindly" clean it up. See attachments.

Note that the breather plug in the photo is a screwed fitting. The breather plug in the manual appears to be a pressed in fitting. I assume that they are functionally similar.

Now that I know where the breather plug is and what it consists of, I will try to clean it up during my next vehicle service. Perhaps some tapping on the cap of the breather will help to free up some of the debris. As "c00lman" suggests, getting it to move freely is likely key to having a functional vent.
 

Attachments

#25 ·
Good Luck :D on ours, I soaked it with brake Cleaner and paper towel for few minutes then try to move it by hand (couple of times) until it moved.

Don't forget there's another one for the transfer Case since our Rav4 are almost similar except for the engine V6 vs I4 :D, that one if i remember is a bit better (not as stuck and dirty as the rear) I loosen that one too when changing the transfer case fluid at the same time :p

I'm thinking of doing the same on our F150 to be ahead of the game haha :D seeing how dirty the fluids are :p
 
#26 ·
Hi all, this discussion is great information. Does anyone know if this will be the same for 4.4 specifically for 2018 4 cylinder AWD. I probably don’t need it for awhile but I like to be prepared.
Also does anyone know if the amounts are the same as will .5 Q fo both the front and rear.

I also read people have just filled it till overflow. So can I assume you can’t overfill the fluids if people are using this method.

thanks
Kono
 
#31 ·
Hello, I have a 2016 RAV4 AWD. Can anyone tell me, is there forward differential oil that needs to be changed or is that part of the regular transmission and doing a flush will change some of the fluid?

Ok, so I attempted to change my front and rear diff oil this weekend and soon enough I ran into some problems.

First finding a level area on our property. We live on a hilly area. Then getting under the rav. I couldn't get under the rav while it was on the ground. So I jacked it up and had to use 4 jack stands to level the vehicle while trying to gAin some room to work. When all that was done, I was finally able to get under the vehicle and started to loosen the filler plug on the front diff. That came out easily enough. After that I tried getting the drain plug off but ended up stripping the hex head.

When to the dealer to get a quote And to no surprise they wanted an arm and a leg for this job. 96$ per axle. The service advisor told me that I shouldn't have to change it out at 49k. But just recommends having it checked out every 30k. I keep reading about others changing their diff oil out. So what do I do? I called a local mechanic I was referred to by a by a friend, and the mechanic tells me I shouldn't bother changing the gear oil out at all. At least not till 100k. Keep in mind I didn't mention this mechanic was a former Toyota tech.

So any suggestions? Get it done or not.


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