Messiest Differential change ever LOL

[96ToyoCam164K]

So, I did my 2nd differential change (same car). I borrowed some extra space at a car wash, 75 degree sunny weather couldn't of been a better day to do some shade tree.

Well, as I was unscrewing the fill plug...I assumed it would be empty like it was the first time I did it (yeah, it was probably never changed until I did it last year). Before I could even get the plug off, black stuff just pours all down my arm, fills over the drain pan and spills all over the concerte The differential must have only been about 20,000 miles old (recommendating is every 15,000 miles). It was just as cruddy and brown as the last time.

Then I do the drain plug, thinking most of it came out the fill plug, and it just pours out flooding the drain pan and all onto the concrete. All down my arm.

As Im screwing in the 2 plugs, im lying down in a puddle of burnt differential fluid....

Regardless, I felt great that I did it...but felt bad because I made such a mess and old tranny fluid is hard as hell to clean up. The owner of the car wash is going to kill me if I ever go back because I told him I wouldn't make a mess!

[deadrx7conv]

If you use a synthetic, it won't turn black or cruddy. Mineral ATF will cook itself to death trying to lube a 'differential'. Any synth blend or full synth is a serious step up from a mineral generic DexIII fluid in a differential. Sometimes, I wonder what Toyota was thinking putting ATF in a diff.

When the fluid is hot, it'll expand. So, hot diff will overflow from the fill plug. Next time, just loosen the fill plug to make sure its not stuck. Don't remove the fill plug until after you remove the drain plug.

[TedL]

Originally Posted by 96ToyoCam164K

Before I could even get the [fill] plug off, black stuff just pours all down my arm, fills over the drain pan and spills all over the concerte .

If the flow from the fill (not drain) plug overflows the drain pan, either you chose an awfully small drain pain or the last person seriously overfilled the diff.

Originally Posted by deadrx7conv

Sometimes, I wonder what Toyota was thinking putting ATF in a diff.

What other lube does any manufacturer use in a FWD diff?

[fenixus]

just use Castrol Import Multi Vehicle ATF (synthetic blend) from local autozone, it's like $4ish per 1qt, works good. I use it as ATF (both tranny and diff) and P/s fluid on both solaras I have. it lasts MUCH longer than Toyota recommended shitty mineral Dex-III.

another option would be either Mobil1 ATF (full synthetic) or Royal Purple ATF (also full synthetic), but they are expensive like hell.

6cylinder model tranny (A541E) is connected internally with the differential (4cyl A140E is NOT), so when you open diff drain plug you WILL be draining fluid from tranny actually too, same about the diff drain plug. A541E does NOT have a filler plug for differential.
on 6cyl models, you should drain them together (tranny+diff) at same time.

A541E tranny holds about 2.6qts of fluid and diff about additional 1.7qts, total of about 4.3qts, remember that you can drain them almost dry from either of drain plugs (diff or tranny). that's why Owner's manuals states 1mz-fe tranny fluid refill capacity as up to 5qts and doesn't even mention such a thing as differential at all.

for 4 cylinder it's a separate thing, tranny 2.6qts and diff 1.7qts (can drain separately at different times).

since you mentioned having a diff filler plug, I assume you have a 4cyl engine model ?
did you have the front of car on jack stands when opening the diff filler plug ?

[deadrx7conv]

My dodge took a 75w140 full synthetic in its front differential. That would protect a diff really well. Others simply share the fluid flow from the ATF circuit(like the v6) so it doesn't get cooked. And, the manual transmission Toyotas, shares the gear oil with the manual transmission, usually a GL4/GL5 90 weight.
The diff in many Toyotas seems to get forgotten too frequently during maintenance.

Even if you drain the tranny pan and diff, its not dry. The torque converter and valve body are still full.

[korrupt1]

Originally Posted by deadrx7conv

The diff in many Toyotas seems to get forgotten too frequently during maintenance.

unfortunately....too many vehicles fall in this category

[schumionbike]

Originally Posted by fenixus

A541E tranny holds about 2.6qts of fluid and diff about additional 1.7qts, total of about 4.3qts, remember that you can drain them almost dry from either of drain plugs (diff or tranny). that's why Owner's manuals states 1mz-fe tranny fluid refill capacity as up to 5qts and doesn't even mention such a thing as differential at all.

for 4 cylinder it's a separate thing, tranny 2.6qts and diff 1.7qts (can drain separately at different times).

since you mentioned having a diff filler plug, I assume you have a 4cyl engine model ?
did you have the front of car on jack stands when opening the diff filler plug ?

You know somthing odd, I check the atf to make sure it's full before I did the work on the V6. I drain it on two different ocassions, one time just the trans fluid, the other both trans a diff fluid. The time I drained the trans fluid alone, I got 2.8 quart off that thing and when I drain both, it came out to like 3.8 quarts. I check a couple of times when the engine is hot and it's full. The trans is shifting just fine too so it seem kind of odd that Toyota says that the capacity is up to 5 quarts. What's your experience with this?

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by schumionbike

You know somthing odd, I check the atf to make sure it's full before I did the work on the V6. I drain it on two different ocassions, one time just the trans fluid, the other both trans a diff fluid. The time I drained the trans fluid alone, I got 2.8 quart off that thing and when I drain both, it came out to like 3.8 quarts. I check a couple of times when the engine is hot and it's full. The trans is shifting just fine too so it seem kind of odd that Toyota says that the capacity is up to 5 quarts. What's your experience with this?

pretty much same here. I drained them both 2 times so far (both at same time) and never got more than 4.3qts. though I drain them when hot and front jacked up.

[deadrx7conv]

The full capacity includes the torque converter and valve body.
When draining the differential and the pan, you are only draining partial capacity.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by deadrx7conv

The full capacity includes the torque converter and valve body.
When draining the differential and the pan, you are only draining partial capacity.

yeah, but what Owners Manual says it's the refill capacity (both tranny and diff) is up to 5qts on 6cylinder model.

I think the torque converter and valve body can easily hold another 5-6qts.

[JohnGD]

Walmart's SuperTech Mercon-V (suitable for D-III) is the cheapest ATF that's better for PS or the differential than dino D-III. That's if owners don't want to go Castrol Import Multi-vehicle ATF or Mobil-1 or other boutique ATFs.