Oil Change

[john21245]

Hi everyone,

just serviced my 4.2 04 plate XT3 with service items recomended and supplied by Opie Oils.However I'm a bit concerned with their recomendation for the transfer box and rear diff of 75W-90 since my owners manual definitely states sae90.I have tried to get an sae90 gl5 but with no success. Do I follow their advice, which I've allways done in the past or can anyone tell me where to get the correct oil? My local Toyota garage wont sell it to me.

John

[jedi134]

Interesting! your local Toyota garage wont sell it to you, strange? I belive the correct oil for the rear diff and transfer box is 85w/90 oil. And the 75w/80 is used for the gearbox, Anchorman will confirm this, as he has all the info.

I used this stuff from GFS car parts, eurocar parts may sell this to, you`ll be suprised at what these places stock and are cheap too. Around £5 per liter, I bought a 4 liter tub for £18

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-972-fuchs-tita...ission-oil.aspx

It has the right viscosity and is GL5 rated. But I surpose any oil with the right spec will do.

[john21245]

Interesting! your local Toyota garage wont sell it to you, strange? I belive the correct oil for the rear diff and transfer box is 85w/90 oil. And the 75w/80 is used for the gearbox, Anchorman will confirm this, as he has all the info.

I used this stuff from GFS car parts, eurocar parts may sell this to, you`ll be suprised at what these places stock and are cheap too. Around £5 per liter, I bought a 4 liter tub for £18

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-972-fuchs-tita...ission-oil.aspx

It has the right viscosity and is GL5 rated. But I surpose any oil with the right spec will do.

Thanks for the information but it seems strange that they would recomend 75W-90 when they stock a straight 90 GL5. Toyota only buy in bulk for their own use and won't sell to the public!!

John

[IanXT4]

My local Toyota dealer uses Castrol Syntrax Universal 75W/90 for the gear box and both diffs in my 2004 4.2 XT4

I looked up the specs and it seemed to meet all the Toyota requirements.

Castrol say:

It is suitable for all units requiring gear oil of SAE 75W, 80W or 90, including multigrade 75W/90 80W/90 and 85W90

It can replace the following Castrol gear oils

Castrol EP 80 Castrol EPX 80W/90

Castrol EP 90

Performance

API GL3, 4, 5

[anchorman]

I guess the reason they only use EP90 is because something in the range can ONLY use that grade but for others it is OK to use that grade.

Here is the data sheet for the vehicle;

rav4_gasoline.2003_service_datapdf.pdf

You will see that for ambient temperatures above -18C (pretty chuffing cold) you can use SAE 90. If there is a risk that the temperaure can fall to less than -18C you can use SAE 80W/90.

All my information shows that 75W/90 is for the gearbox. In Ians info below you can see that Castrol are happy to use that in the transfer and diff' application but if you tried to use 80 or 90 grade in the gearbox you would have terrible trouble getting gears in cold weather.

You will have no problem getting 80W/90 gear oil from any decent stockist.

An important thing with gear oils is to make sure you have the right GL rating as some applications require special chemistry to make sure they are compatible with certain metals and synthetics used for sealing and other plastic/rubber components.

[HEMI]

when we did our first Rav 4 clutch I rang our local stealership and they put 75/90 in box boxes,so thats what we've done

[john21245]

when we did our first Rav 4 clutch I rang our local stealership and they put 75/90 in box boxes,so thats what we've done

Thanks for all your help.I think I'll go along with Opie Oils recomendation and use their 75W-90 GL5.

Once again thanks for all the replies,

John

[jedi134]

Hmmmmmm if thats the case I may do the same next time its due for a change, I`ll just stick to the 75w/90 for everything, it will also do for the golf, so save`s me buying different gear oils.

Also just a quicky, will it harm any or the diffs, gearbox`s if they are over filled?

[anchorman]

Like most things, it is OK in moderation so if the oil is dribbling out of the filler when the car is level that should be OK. However, too much oil may cause pressure to build up which in turn can cause premature seal failure. In a gearbox, too much oil can cause the syncro's to act in strange ways as they rely on a certain amount of friction and drag to work as predicted. In that case you could have difficulty getting gears. In an engine there is a risk that oil can get into the breather system and that can cause oil to get drawn into the inlet side of the engine. If there is enough to fill the combustion chamber it will probably prevent combustion but the biggest risk is "hydraulic-ing" and as the oil cannot be compressed it will bend a connecting rod or break the crankshaft. It has been done many times in the past where somebody thought you should keep pouring oil in until it is full!!!

[HEMI]

if you fill it through the correct hole you cant overfill it.

Anchorman,if you overfill a diesel engine they can actually blow up,we've seen a few that have been overfilled and the oil has entered the combustion chambers though the valve ports and then they just rev and rev and rev till they die and there is nothing you can do to stop the revving,

[jedi134]

@ HEMI if it starts reving out of control can you not try and stall the engine? 5th gear and then dump clutch,? could break something I know but have you a choice? I`ve also heard of turbo seals going and letting oil into the combustion chamber, with the same results, out of control revving engine.

@ Anchorman ,the engine I can understand about over filling. As for the gear box and diffs/transfer box`s over filling, on a few cars I`ve done, they state say 1liter to fill when they do actually take a bit more, sometime`s 1/2 a liter more, and this is with the car level, maybe I better take a look one day and undo the filler plug to let some gas`s escape?

[anchorman]

I have serviced several of these RAVs and although I have a pit in the garage I tend to work off ramps. What I do is measure the amount in from a plastic bottle as per the service data sheet. However, I have checked both 4.2s and 4.3s after putting them back on level ground and the level plug is almost perfect - the oil is just about level with the hole.

[HEMI]

jedi,once it starts revving you cannot stop it,it revs till it blows and it doesnt take long but in fairness you have to overfill the engine by quite a lot for it to do this,we had a santa fe do this and you wouldnt believe what the owner did to his,overfill wasnt the word,lol

[bonjo]

Hi everyone,

just serviced my 4.2 04 plate XT3 with service items recomended and supplied by Opie Oils.However I'm a bit concerned with their recomendation for the transfer box and rear diff of 75W-90 since my owners manual definitely states sae90.I have tried to get an sae90 gl5 but with no success. Do I follow their advice, which I've allways done in the past or can anyone tell me where to get the correct oil? My local Toyota garage wont sell it to me.

John

SAE 90 refers to a single grade while 75W-90 covers a range from 75>90. I don't see any problems with using this. I personally recommend using Mobil synthetic gear oil as I have done for over 20 years.

Just be aware that rear limited diff's oil requirement is slightly different in case it applies to you