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Factory diff flush?

Tyler

🔟 Mythical
Badministrator
Volunteer T3G Editor
Anyone flush their diffs? I know a lot of people say theirs weren’t even full or had a ridiculous amount of shavings in there.
 
Have you looked at your diff? There is a recall for seepage on the rear diff. You can find the Technical Service Bulletin. My diff has seepage. Taking mine into the dealer next week. ugh...
That sucks. But yes I’ve looked and no I haven’t seen mine leak.
 
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I plan on doing it soon I’m at 40 K miles. I went to Toyota and quoted the fill bolt and Magnetic drain bolt and special Toyota sauce differential oil for 60 or something. I’ll try to find a printout it sitting somewhere in my truck so for right now it’s 60 is just a ballpark estimate
 
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I took my truck within the first 5k and dropped it at two separate dealers to have them document that they inspected, flushed/filled, the diff. If I ever have any diff issues I've got it documented. Not to say the mods I now have won't make a warranty claim difficult. I had the first dealer fully drain and refill the diff, and the second confirmed it was topped off.
 
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I took my truck within the first 5k and dropped it at two separate dealers to have them document that they inspected, flushed/filled, the diff. If I ever have any diff issues I've got it documented. Not to say the mods I now have won't make a warranty claim difficult. I had the first dealer fully drain and refill the diff, and the second confirmed it was topped off.
Did they look at you like you were stupid and try to say you don’t need to be doing that?
 
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Did they look at you like you were stupid and try to say you don’t need to be doing that?

Yep. The first dealer I told them exactly what I wanted with the flush and fill and I had to leave it overnight so the truck was cold when they did it etc. The second dealer could see that I had a history where I had already had the diff checked. They looked at me like "why do you need to do this again when you already did it?" I just asked them to confirm the fluid was at the correct level and have it documented. They did and I have the paperwork from two dealers showing my fluid was good from early on in the trucks life. This may be overkill for some, but it wasn't to hard for me to do and gives me piece of mind as I plan to keep the truck for a long tome.
 
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Anyone flush their diffs? I know a lot of people say theirs weren’t even full or had a ridiculous amount of shavings in there.
I did cause i have 4.88’s and yes a ridulous amount of shavings. Very easy to do and rear is worse cause you use it 24/7. Id highly recommend a pump for fluid though i will definitly use one next time
 
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I did cause i have 4.88’s and yes a ridulous amount of shavings. Very easy to do and rear is worse cause you use it 24/7. Id highly recommend a pump for fluid though i will definitly use one next time
I’m surprised it’s not part of the free maintenance to do this.
 
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Well i did my gears before my first maintanance. After my 2nd 500 mile break in flush i had no shavings with new nitros. Boy my truck sure drives nice with gears and ovtune on 33’s
I need the gears and OVTune! I can imagine how much better that is.
 
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It comes in a squeezable bottle. U push tip in and squeeze. My hands were killing me by bottle 4. Buy the 10$ pump u wont regret it lol. Also the plug was a complete PITA to get off it was very tight
Did you put anything special in or just basic gear oil?
 
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Purchased: 4 quarts of 75w90 valvoline ($38), 2 crush washers ($5)
To make this easier I just poured the bottles in until they were half empty and couldn’t pour anymore without squeezing. Then I combined the bottles to make one full bottle and continued with the process until the diff was full. No squeezing or pump. Torqued to 36lbs according to this thing I found on google. Also put a piece of tape under my fill bolt descending so the oil wouldn’t stain my diff when being re filled. Used brake parts cleaner to clean the bolts off. Used floor jack to raise rear passenger side and drain extra oil.
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Purchased: 4 quarts of 75w90 valvoline ($38), 2 crush washers ($5)
To make this easier I just poured the bottles in until they were half empty and couldn’t pour anymore without squeezing. Then I combined the bottles to make one full bottle and continued with the process until the diff was full. No squeezing or pump. Torqued to 36lbs according to this thing I found on google. Also put a piece of tape under my fill bolt descending so the oil wouldn’t stain my diff when being re filled. Used brake parts cleaner to clean the bolts off.
View attachment 2846
Good job. Idk why, but I always doubt the torque specs when I find them from an outside source like this.
 
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Me too man, I googled it about 7 times just to make sure. Also had this diagram to give me definitive peace of mind.

My neighbor is a mechanic and owns a shop. Came out when he saw me changing out my differential and said he never uses torque guides. Said just tighten and be done. I still torqued it to factory but got me thinking how important it really is.
 
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My neighbor is a mechanic and owns a shop. Came out when he saw me changing out my differential and saod he never uses torque guides. Saod just tighten and be done. I still torqued it to factory but got me thinking how important it really is.
My buddy is an airplane mechanic and also said that I’m over thinking it. I still torque down everything that’s weight bearing, has a washer, or contains fluids.
 
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My neighbor is a mechanic and owns a shop. Came out when he saw me changing out my differential and saod he never uses torque guides. Saod just tighten and be done. I still torqued it to factory but got me thinking how important it really is.
Depending on what it is. I mean I hope he torques to spec inside the engine block at least...
 
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