What gear\tranny\diff oil should I use?

ginovf · Oct 16, 2013

Can anyone shed some light on this? I have a '96 2 door, manual 4x4. Will Redline's 75W 90 GL5 gear oil work in my transmission, transfer case and differentials? How much oil total would I need to replace all 3?
Thanks!

vanib · Oct 16, 2013

Check the amsoil website.

ginovf · Oct 16, 2013

That site is GOLD!
TY!

rmr1 · Oct 17, 2013

For a 1996 MANUAL - according to my Haynes manual you would need -

Rear differental - 2 pints (0.9 litre) of API GL-5 SAE 90 hypoid

(assuming you run your RAV4 in temperatures above 0 degrees Fahrenheit)

MANUAL transaxle - 10.6 pints (5 litres) of API GL-5 75W-90 gear oil

Therefore 2 drain points and 2 fill points.

Transfer case n/a for a MANUAL.

ginovf · Oct 17, 2013

Thank you RMR1!
You cleared up one other question that's been in my head...the transfer case. Manual doesn't have one, great! I'll need to pick up one of the Haynes manuals.

PVerdieck · Oct 22, 2013

Whatever you do, dont put AMSOIL Severe Gear 75W-90 Synthetic EP Lubricant in it. I started having syncro issues, which I think are because it was too slick. Sunday morning I put Red Line MT-90 75W-90 GL-4 in.

ginovf · Oct 22, 2013

Dam...I was going to use that in my differential. I should be OK, no?
I bought their 75W-90 Long Life Synthetic Gear Lube for the tranny. It's GL-4 rated.

Aussie50 · Oct 23, 2013

PVerdieck said:
Whatever you do, dont put AMSOIL Severe Gear 75W-90 Synthetic EP Lubricant in it. I started having syncro issues, which I think are because it was too slick. Sunday morning I put Red Line MT-90 75W-90 GL-4 in.

I'm having similar issues with the old gear oil in my trans, its probably a 200,000km old factory fill

, any good oil for older transmissions?

The syncro rings are slow to work and fast gear shifts result in a uncomfortable click as they are forced into mesh.

For industrial machines I run lighter oils like ATF or Hyspin if I want less resistance and higher speeds, but if syncro's hate low viscosity an ATF fill would not be a good idea ( I was planning on doing what Honda does and run ATF as an experiment in one of my boxes)

PVerdieck · Oct 23, 2013

ginovf said:
Dam...I was going to use that in my differential. I should be OK, no?
I bought their 75W-90 Long Life Synthetic Gear Lube for the tranny. It's GL-4 rated.

In the diff, I believe you would be fine. It was just that it didnt appear to be playing nice with the synchros in the transmission.

PVerdieck · Oct 23, 2013

Aussie50 said:
I'm having similar issues with the old gear oil in my trans, its probably a 200,000km old factory fill , any good oil for older transmissions?

The syncro rings are slow to work and fast gear shifts result in a uncomfortable click as they are forced into mesh.

For industrial machines I run lighter oils like ATF or Hyspin if I want less resistance and higher speeds, but if syncro's hate low viscosity an ATF fill would not be a good idea ( I was planning on doing what Honda does and run ATF as an experiment in one of my boxes)

I imagine the Red Line would be fine for you.

My issues are documented here:
http://www.rav4world.com/forums/83-4-1-general/127154-me-toyota.html

Basically, I would have times it would grind for no reason, when going into fifth. A few other times it was brutal getting into 1st. I made the swap based on what someone found on a Red-Line data sheet. If the tranny fluid is too slick, the brass synchros dont work well with it. So I dumped the AMSOIL for the Red-Line last weekend.

Aussie50 · Oct 24, 2013

Thanks for that, I have the same issues you did, I take it yours is behaving itself now that it has the redline fill?

not sure if the Redline brand exists here but I will cross reference the product specs with what we have.

PVerdieck · Oct 28, 2013

Aussie50 said:
Thanks for that, I have the same issues you did, I take it yours is behaving itself now that it has the redline fill?

not sure if the Redline brand exists here but I will cross reference the product specs with what we have.

It definitely appears better. It isnt silky smooth as glass, but the balkiness to find 1st has definitely been reduced, possibly eliminated.

Aussie50 · Oct 29, 2013

PVerdieck said:
It definitely appears better. It isnt silky smooth as glass, but the balkiness to find 1st has definitely been reduced, possibly eliminated.

Same here, I did the change and its helped a lot, still a bit notchy but that is just the nature of a worn and possible abused box, RAV has been through a few owners and probably learner drivers so its to be expected.

PVerdieck · Oct 29, 2013

Aussie50 said:
Same here, I did the change and its helped a lot, still a bit notchy but that is just the nature of a worn and possible abused box, RAV has been through a few owners and probably learner drivers so its to be expected.

Betty the RAV4 gets a Gearbox Oil Change - YouTube

Bingo, its still notchy.
Now what would really set me off before, is the scenario I mentioned before.
When I hit a light, I put it in neutral. I then shift after the green, unless I am expecting it and go into first early. Now sometimes I space, its green, I'm at the head of the line and I feel like an idiot for holding people up. When that happens I drop it in neutral and shirt to 1st fast. And it would grind. That made no sense to me. That hasn't happened again yet, but not sure if I have repeated the scenario again.

It did balk yesterday finding 1st initially, once.

Good God! is that your oil catch tray there? It looks like you could drain a tanks transmission with that.

Aussie50 · Oct 30, 2013

PVerdieck said:
Bingo, its still notchy.
Now what would really set me off before, is the scenario I mentioned before.
When I hit a light, I put it in neutral. I then shift after the green, unless I am expecting it and go into first early. Now sometimes I space, its green, I'm at the head of the line and I feel like an idiot for holding people up. When that happens I drop it in neutral and shirt to 1st fast. And it would grind. That made no sense to me. That hasn't happened again yet, but not sure if I have repeated the scenario again.

It did balk yesterday finding 1st initially, once.

Good God! is that your oil catch tray there? It looks like you could drain a tanks transmission with that.

Yep exact same thing happened to me before I learned to go slow and make doubly sure that she was in gear, horrid angry noises and people looking at me like I was an idiot

. but yeah little Betty is happy now and so am I

The drain pan is an old storage tub, I bought half a pallet load of them from an army surplus store years ago, small OD Green ones were small arms ammo, big ones like you see were for other supplies. they are great because you can slide one under most cars and drop the oil without jacking it up

, assuming you can reach the plug that is.
RAV4's are so easy to change the oil on, never had a car so easy to service.

HandyAndy · Feb 27, 2015

rmr1 said:
For a 1996 MANUAL - according to my Haynes manual you would need -

Rear differental - 2 pints (0.9 litre) of API GL-5 SAE 90 hypoid

(assuming you run your RAV4 in temperatures above 0 degrees Fahrenheit)

MANUAL transaxle - 10.6 pints (5 litres) of API GL-5 75W-90 gear oil

Therefore 2 drain points and 2 fill points.

Transfer case n/a for a MANUAL.

The only API GL-5 75w-90 gear oil I can get is by Castrol, its synthetic and very expensive. I'm planning on draining all 5 litres :shock: so it can be an expensive operation.

You think the Universal 80w90 GL-5 would do the trick? So far my research indicates it should be perfectly fine.

What gear\tranny\diff oil should I use?

ginovf

vanib

ginovf

rmr1

ginovf

PVerdieck

ginovf

Aussie50

PVerdieck

PVerdieck

Aussie50

PVerdieck

Aussie50

PVerdieck

Aussie50

HandyAndy

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