For the Manual trans and rear diff on a 2WD Taco.

180K miles and I bet never changed. Should I?

The first one I owned, had 275K on it when I sold it and never had any fluids changed except oil. The one I have now is approaching 100K, Ditto.

Thinking back, I have never changed any fluids of transmission or rear differential on any vehicle I have owned, except when I was repairing it which were mostly leaks. Mostly put the old stuff back in and added new oil to bring to up to full. My 1952 8N tractor did have the 90 weight gear oil replaced with trans hydraulic fluid to get the rear pump working better in cold weather.

Maybe I have just been lucky.

I would change it. It doesn't cost much and can't hurt anything. I change those fluids on my rigs every 2 to 4 years, depending on the service they are seeing.

I change my trans and axle fluids every 50 K...

I do it myself, so the cost is pretty cheap considering...

since they have the drain plugs I do it... remember most American stuff doesn't have a drain plug...

cheap insurance.. no issues, on a 27 year old truck with 525 Thousand on it now...

That's longevity. Think those fluid changes might have paid for themselves.

Do mine every 50,000, I would change it.

I'm in the 50k camp too. Especially if you tow with it. Up to a 100k with normal service would probably get you by in most rigs.

What year is your Tacoma? I had a 99 Tacoma 4wd and it called for a GL-4 gear oil in the transmission and transfer case. The diffs called for a GL-5. I would recommend you try Redline MT-90 Gear Oil for your transmission. There are some more readily available oils that meet both GL-4 and GL-5 specs. However, some have experienced synchro issues after using some of these...if you believe what you read on forums.



www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=46&pcid=7

I would change it, it's not a hard job and chances are good that the fluids that are in it, have lost their usefulness.

Thanks all. I'll change it.


I'll have to Google what fluid to use as I don't have an owner's manual.

I guess it depends on conditions where the truck is used the most.

Going to change the tranny and rear diff fluid on my Sons 2006 that has 81k on it. On my 2009 I changed the diff at 65k after the rear wheel bearing was replaced.

Living in AK,, I'd go for 75 W 90 Mobil Synthetic....

If that was originally in it, I wouldn't worry about it having 180K on it...that's pretty tough gear lube...

It's a '95. I'm sure it did't come from the factory 19 years ago with syn fluids!

I'll put 75w90 dino in it.

Seals might not be compatible with Synthetics ..Good Idea

You should really look in to the Redline MT-90 for a Toyota manual transmission.

Tell me why? I saw that mentioned on the taco forum. This is 2wd, no off road, daily driver rig.

The GL-5 gear oils *could* harm the synchros in the manual transmission of the Tacoma. Some additive in the newer formulation I suppose. Mine only had 90,000 miles when I changed it and did not want to take a chance on wrecking the tranny. Seems like the best price I found was from Summit Racing.

I've read GL-4 in the trans and GL-5 is OK in the read diff. Also read some fluids have sulfur which is bad for the synchros.

Regular dino gear oil should be OK?

Maybe I'll call the Toyota dealer and get the reco. I don't have a book.

100% agree! My 93 had a little catch going into 3rd and I changed it out with the Redline and it shifts like butter now.

same thing goes for the AX15 Tranny in a jeep yj. brass syncros corrode when exposed to sulfer. Redline also makes a fluid for manual trannies called MTL (manual transmission lube) that is used where 30 weight motor oil is called for tranny lube.

I change my tranny and differentials at 50 k also. 196k on my jeep and it runs and shifts like butter.

Mine's an 88 4WD 4 Runner... but it has over 1/2 million on it...and has used synthetic gear oil most of its life...so the seals are compatible...

It says that you can download a Toyota manual here. miles

toyotamanual

Can't get it to work.

Maybe I got it fixed. miles

didn't work for mine...too old...
drat!