Corolla tranny and oil questions

[dandxg]

I have a 96 Corolla DX with 1.8 and overdrive, do I have a differential or not? The Haynes manual makes reference to a differential being in a 3 speed, mine would be a 4 right?

Also, I am wondering if at 160k miles I can switch to full synthetic if I want. I have been using conventional all the time for except 2 changes with Mobil 1 at about 70-80 k for driving at high speeds over a long distance. What are your thoughts folks? My car runs fine with convential, I am just trying to decide to whether to baby with snythetic it to make it 200k and save money.

Lastly, if I stay with conventional oil can I go 4k without a change? I have been doing so, up to 4,500k actually. I just remeber years ago reading in consumer reports how the did testing of NY cab cars with 3k and 5k oil interval changes and after some time broke down the engines only to find no difference in the wear and tear of the engines. I appreciate your input

[Maxemily]

If the trans pan drain plug is removable with a 14mm wrench the diff will drain and fill with the trans. If you need a 10mm allen to remove the plugs, they are seperate systems.

[RedAE102]

As long as it's not leaking or burning ridiculous amounts of oil. then there's no harm in switching to synthetic (assuming we're talking the good stuff like Mobil 1 or Amsoil!). I switched mine to Mobil 1 full synthetic at 120,000 mi. At that point, it was a hair over the add mark at 3,000 mi on dino oil when I would go to change the oil. Since then, I've run Mobil 1 with Mobil 1 filters every 10,000 miles (oil analysis told me this was well within limits) up to 150,000 miles, and now the Mobil 1 Extended Performance every 15,000 mi. The car still has a slight seeping oil leak as before on dino oil (the oil pan is always wet with oil, but there's never any dripping on the ground under the car), and the oil consumption has actually slowed a bit to 1 quart every 4,000 mi (past the valve stem seals). That said, there's something for everyone in running synthetic in modern cars... It's easier on the wallet (3,000 mile dino changes cost 33-50% more depending upon the situation), easier on the car (far better protection), easier on the environment (you're creating ONE FIFTH the amount of waste oil), and not to mention just plain convenient (only have to change it every 15,000 miles, whereas with 3,000 mile intervals it seems like everytime you blink it's time for another oil change!).

[01loadedLE]

red, how often are those 15k mile changes, every year or 15months as it would be for me to reach 15k more miles? your oil isnt black by that prolonged time?

[Buurin]

Originally Posted by RedAE102

As long as it's not leaking or burning ridiculous amounts of oil. then there's no harm in switching to synthetic (assuming we're talking the good stuff like Mobil 1 or Amsoil!). I switched mine to Mobil 1 full synthetic at 120,000 mi. At that point, it was a hair over the add mark at 3,000 mi on dino oil when I would go to change the oil. Since then, I've run Mobil 1 with Mobil 1 filters every 10,000 miles (oil analysis told me this was well within limits) up to 150,000 miles, and now the Mobil 1 Extended Performance every 15,000 mi. The car still has a slight seeping oil leak as before on dino oil (the oil pan is always wet with oil, but there's never any dripping on the ground under the car), and the oil consumption has actually slowed a bit to 1 quart every 4,000 mi (past the valve stem seals). That said, there's something for everyone in running synthetic in modern cars... It's easier on the wallet (3,000 mile dino changes cost 33-50% more depending upon the situation), easier on the car (far better protection), easier on the environment (you're creating ONE FIFTH the amount of waste oil), and not to mention just plain convenient (only have to change it every 15,000 miles, whereas with 3,000 mile intervals it seems like everytime you blink it's time for another oil change!).

Red, are you sure you're talking about the tranny here? Seems like you're all about engine oil here. Tranny oil change would be like every 24000 kilos from my papers. And yeah, if I have the cash I'd put either of the two ATFs you mentioned. Good thing my 99 takes Dexron 3. Who knows what will Amsoil do in a tranny calling for T-IV.

Tranny oil change is very messy and at this stage I'll leave it to my mechanic.

And to chime with you, I switched mine to Mobil 1, without flush, on my first DIY oil change, and after only 300 kilometres it's already all black! I assume it's doing a good job at cleaning out the crap. I want to get at least 8000 out of it while my regular OCI is 6000.

[dandxg]

I an not sure what to think of this. I had the front end way up on jack stands working on the suspension and notices a tranny leak where the tranny goes into a bell type housing ( its black the tranny is silver), not sure if it is torque convertor or what. Anyway I wipe the leaking off and lower the car, cold for 24 hours not started, and the dipstick shows way about the hot mark! Could this be because the front end was lifted up for more than 24 hours! Did the mechanic whom did my 30k service interval overfill? Please give me your thoughts folks. Oh btw, it has been 10k miles since the service interval!