Thread: Changing the differential oil in a Hilux at 40,000 KLM, does anyone know why??

I have not done any mechanical work for about 15 years now
I have never needed to change the diff oil ever on any vehicle if it as not contaminated by water,dirt or broken parts
Toyota recommend changing the diff oil at 40,000 but do not have a recommended mileage to change the fuel filter which was a regular maintenance item in the past, does anyone know why???

It's a good question. I swapped out my diff oil at 20km and add synthetic and will never change it again. They say that there is likely assembly oil and probably some thrust and yolks bearing material inside.

I'd just do both.
One tip that I did with my Hi-Lux was to replace the diff breathers with a fitting that a length of thin hose can be attached. Run that to a much higher point on the vehicle then add one of those fuel filters that you see in the tank of say a brushcutter. That way if you go through water that's higher than the diff it won't suck in water as the diff cools down.

Blimey geezer, first grease NIPPLES on the prop shaft, now rear diff oil changes.
What's next, g/box oil change?
My Vigo is on 150k, none of the above has ever been done. I know a couple (2WD) that are on over 250k, and they have had none of the above done either.
I was under the impression that when the Gen 7 Hilux came out in 2004-5, ie the Vigo, that a lot of the regular service stuff, like greasing NIPPLES etc under the truck were dispensed with on the new design for all sealed units etc.
Obviously 4WD front props etc still need their lube.

I did similar as Lantern. I ran I much longer breather hose up to frame area. Be sure to use stiff fuel line so it can't collapse or kink. I have ran my truck up to the rocker panels crossing rivers messing around.

[QUOTE=thaiguzzi;4025676]Blimey geezer, first grease NIPPLES on the prop shaft, now rear diff oil changes.
What's next, g/box oil change?
My Vigo is on 150k, none of the above has ever been done. I know a couple (2WD) that are on over 250k, and they have had none of the above done either.
I was under the impression that when the Gen 7 Hilux came out in 2004-5, ie the Vigo, that a lot of the regular service stuff, like greasing NIPPLES etc under the truck were dispensed with on the new design for all sealed units etc.
Obviously 4WD front props etc still need their lube.[/QUOT

Read my post again sport, grease nipples on both drive shafts front and rear as per owners handbook, and oil change on both diffs
Stop being a troll if you do not know the answer to my question, which you obviously do not

Originally Posted by petercallen

Only oil used when assembling is regular diff oil or a very small amount of grease, if the correct torque pressure is used when assembling there should not be any bearing or other material, diff drain plugs were magnet and you only had to check it for any metallic materiel inside the diff without having to drain and replace the oil

Actually Peter the drain plug in the Hilux diff is not magnetic. At least mine wasn't. And trust me the oil I drained when I put it in a glass beaker and let it settle had quite a bit of various bearing material. That is normal as the pinion bearing sets, Axle bearings set as well as yolk hence why they recommend the diff change. That said though its likely that most would never need to change. Its entirely up to the owner. I like to PM my own truck.

I come from an offroad background and I would change the diff oil far more often. More like every 30k miles at the longest but for me I would change it every 10k miles but I also wrench on my own vehicles. When breaking in a new rig I would change it at 1k miles and I always install a magnetic plug at that point if one is not already installed so I can see right away if there is diff wear.

Diffs are not meant to be some magic maintenance free part of a vehicle even on Toyotas especially if you drive them off road at all.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Actually Peter the drain plug in the Hilux diff is not magnetic. At least mine wasn't. And trust me the oil I drained when I put it in a glass beaker and let it settle had quite a bit of various bearing material. That is normal as the pinion bearing sets, Axle bearings set as well as yolk hence why they recommend the diff change. That said though its likely that most would never need to change. Its entirely up to the owner. I like to PM my own truck.

Fair enough mate . things have changed over the years that's for sure, its been a very long time since you could buy a repair kit for the brake master cylinder and fix it yourself, now you can only buy the complete master cylinder at 10 times the price
The only time i ever had to change the diff oil was in a 9 ton truck when one of the teeth on the crown wheel broke of
Had to take the back plate of the diff centre to remove the crown wheel and pinion to repair it

Originally Posted by bsnub

I come from an offroad background and I would change the diff oil far more often. More like every 30k miles at the longest but for me I would change it every 10k miles but I also wrench on my own vehicles. When breaking in a new rig I would change it at 1k miles and I always install a magnetic plug at that point if one is not already installed so I can see right away if there is diff wear.

Diffs are not meant to be some magic maintenance free part of a vehicle even on Toyotas especially if you drive them off road at all.

Since i bought the vehicle new i would have done less than 100 klm in 4x4 on farm tracks, no bush bashing or wet river crossings up to now at 27,000 KLm
If any oil did need changing it would be the rear diff, still when the time comes to do it i will change both the oil in both diffs for peace of mind
But i still do not think it is something that needs to be done

Originally Posted by petercallen

But i still do not think it is something that needs to be done

It is your truck treat it as you wish but I would never take that point of view with any of my vehicles.

Originally Posted by petercallen

If any oil did need changing it would be the rear diff, still when the time comes to do it i will change both the oil in both diffs for peace of mind

Yep and add a good synthetic, close them up and forget'em. Being these trucks are half ton and not used for heavy loading or towing big weight, the oil will hold its properties very very well. If I was loading my truck like we see many Thais do I would be on a higher maintenance program frequency as big loads beat up tranny oils and engine oils. I am running full synthetics front to rear. I have not changed my engine oil in 25km. Will likely go to 35km and thats only because I do not have access to someone to analyze the oil..

When I had my diesel truck in the states I used to change my Red Line Engine oil every 30k miles. I would send a sample of the oil to Red Line and they would analyze it for free, always came back exceptionally clean. One thing about car makers and all this oil talk is oil companies want to you to change oils frequently because...well... they make money. The old days of detergent based conventional oils are long gone. Synthetic is the ticket and you can go a lonnnng time before changing them. I know guys that change engine oils every 50k miles with no issues at all.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Actually Peter the drain plug in the Hilux diff is not magnetic. At least mine wasn't. And trust me the oil I drained when I put it in a glass beaker and let it settle had quite a bit of various bearing material. That is normal as the pinion bearing sets, Axle bearings set as well as yolk hence why they recommend the diff change. That said though its likely that most would never need to change. Its entirely up to the owner. I like to PM my own truck.

What the yolk ?

Originally Posted by Fondles

What the yolk ?

Yolk for the output side to hold the u joints. Nowadays they probably have a new name for it, We always called it the Yolk assy

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Yolk for the output side to hold the u joints. Nowadays they probably have a new name for it, We always called it the Yolk assy

The yoke bolts to the pinion, what relation does it have to changing oil ?

Originally Posted by Fondles

The yoke bolts to the pinion, what relation does it have to changing oil ?

Ohh absolutely nothing Fondles. I was referencing what bearing or metallic material could be in the rear diff oil after break in driving.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Yep and add a good synthetic, close them up and forget'em. Being these trucks are half ton and not used for heavy loading or towing big weight, the oil will hold its properties very very well. If I was loading my truck like we see many Thais do I would be on a higher maintenance program frequency as big loads beat up tranny oils and engine oils. I am running full synthetics front to rear. I have not changed my engine oil in 25km. Will likely go to 35km and thats only because I do not have access to someone to analyze the oil..

When I had my diesel truck in the states I used to change my Red Line Engine oil every 30k miles. I would send a sample of the oil to Red Line and they would analyze it for free, always came back exceptionally clean. One thing about car makers and all this oil talk is oil companies want to you to change oils frequently because...well... they make money. The old days of detergent based conventional oils are long gone. Synthetic is the ticket and you can go a lonnnng time before changing them. I know guys that change engine oils every 50k miles with no issues at all.

Yes i know mate, when i took the vehicle in for the brake problem, they let me into the workshop to inspect it, after looking at the brakes the mechanic took me under the vehicle and claimed it needed proof coating because there were signs of rust, i had a look and it was spots of red mud which had stuck to the under body after driving on a dirt track thru a rubber plantation, i just flicked them of and looked at him smiling and he walked away
Same when my son took it to a different Toyota dealer for the recent service, they did a battery test with a print out 12.75 volts was showing and it said the battery needed replacing, BS if i leave the pickup for 3 days and start it,no problems starting it ever
Said i needed to change the engine air filter at a cost of 2000 baht, i had already changed it with a new one the week before with a identical filter to the one i took out but not a Toyota brand one, i bought both the engine filter and cabin filter of Lazada for 350 baht, Toyota had replaced the the cabin air filter at the previous service and charged me 450 baht for it
350 baht or 2450 baht what a ripoff
Big money to be made out of servicing and parts from dealers and in has always been the same and most people do not have enough mechanical knowledge to know they are being ripped off

@ Peter,
Oh Yeah man, a HUGE amount of dealerships revenue comes from service. They set the customer up with the "free" service to get them hooked then start on the fear of a "Voided" warranty if they do not keep it up and people bite on it hook, line and sinker. Its all crap. A few of the Techs at the Toyota dealer near my house up North have become pretty good friends. I only go to them for special stuff that I cannot do like take off my Piak bumper and paint match it, or undercoat it as I just do not have the spray. One time under warranty I had to assist them to take off my aftermarket skid plate as they had to change my oil for my last "Free" service.


My favorite is brakes. It was one of my specialties when I worked for Chevrolet as an apprentice mechanic. They have these silly policies on rotors and say they have to be turned when servicing disc brakes. Rather then check for cracks or a warped rotor, they take them off and turn them charging the customer a fortune. I used to feel bad for some folks as they would come in for one of those special brake offers and then there were endless hidden costs and that $99 dollar deal quickly ballooned into $350. Many times they would call the customer and they would come get their car. Numerous times I would explain the GM BS and then slide them a card and tell them I can do it at my house for a lot less. A quick rotor spin with a fixed dial indicator shows if they are warped. If not warped just drop in new pads and save the customer a small fortune. Nowadays they call them "Hats" and they do not turn them, they tell the customer they need a new rotor and again rip the customer off. You only need a new rotor if it has been turned to far for safety reasons or is cracked. I had over 275K miles on my Truck in the states and never turned or replaced a rotor. I just dropped in pads and done.

Anyway this is why I still do all my own servicing at the house. I will only take my Hilux to Toyota if it is something I do not have a special tool for or to do aftermarket work. I am about to change my hood and I messaged a Tech I know and will want it paint matched. They said Bring it in, we still have the paint from the bumper job..

To be fair to Toyota, although the genuine parts can be expensive, in my experience, more often than not the labour to fit them is free, so swings and roundabouts.

Originally Posted by Neverna

To be fair to Toyota, although the genuine parts can be expensive, in my experience, more often than not the labour to fit them is free, so swings and roundabouts.

Nothing is free at dealer workshops mate, Pearl Toyota charge me about 3400 baht for a standard service including 1200 baht mechanics fee
Phuket town Toyota charge me the same price 3400 baht for the same service with no mechanics fee they just jacked up the price of the parts and oil supplied
JPR2 post #19 is a example of what the majority of new car dealerships do increase their profits, this apples to independent auto workshops as well especially when dealing with woman or men with no mechanical knowledge

son recently had the 100,000 klm service done on his Toyota hi-ace commuter for a all inclusive cost of 2800 baht
Toyota dealership quoted him 8,000 baht for the same service
He used the same workshop that had a grease gun to lube my tail-shafts and will be doing all the repairs and servicing of my Hi lux in the future

[QUOTE=petercallen;4025857]

Originally Posted by thaiguzzi

Blimey geezer, first grease NIPPLES on the prop shaft, now rear diff oil changes.
What's next, g/box oil change?
My Vigo is on 150k, none of the above has ever been done. I know a couple (2WD) that are on over 250k, and they have had none of the above done either.
I was under the impression that when the Gen 7 Hilux came out in 2004-5, ie the Vigo, that a lot of the regular service stuff, like greasing NIPPLES etc under the truck were dispensed with on the new design for all sealed units etc.
Obviously 4WD front props etc still need their lube.[/QUOT

Read my post again sport, grease nipples on both drive shafts front and rear as per owners handbook, and oil change on both diffs
Stop being a troll if you do not know the answer to my question, which you obviously do not

I thought WTF is this bloke, nay, Sport, on about?
So this salvo i got underneath my Vigo (7th gen Hilux), and lo and behold, just like my trusted Thai mechanic said, 3 UJ's, 0 (thats zero, Sport) grease NIPPLES.
As he said, when they went from the Tiger model (6th gen Hilux, Sport) to the Vigo model they got rid of all the multitude of grease fittings underneath the car.
2WD Prerunner.

[QUOTE=thaiguzzi;4026882]

Originally Posted by petercallen

I thought WTF is this bloke, nay, Sport, on about?
So this salvo i got underneath my Vigo (7th gen Hilux), and lo and behold, just like my trusted Thai mechanic said, 3 UJ's, 0 (thats zero, Sport) grease NIPPLES.
As he said, when they went from the Tiger model (6th gen Hilux, Sport) to the Vigo model they got rid of all the multitude of grease fittings underneath the car.
2WD Prerunner.

I do not know if older model hi lux Vigo's have grease nipples on there universal joints and splines and do not care but the 2017 on hi-lux Revo PPV 4x4 G model does, and in the owners manual it recommends greasing them ever 5,000 KLm which they could not do in the Toyota dealership because they did not have a grease gun, that's what i am on about sport

[QUOTE=petercallen;4026968]

Originally Posted by thaiguzzi

I do not know if older model hi lux Vigo's have grease nipples on there universal joints and splines and do not care but the 2017 on hi-lux Revo PPV 4x4 G model does, and in the owners manual it recommends greasing them ever 5,000 KLm which they could not do in the Toyota dealership because they did not have a grease gun, that's what i am on about sport

I was under the work hack 2016 revo today, it has zero nipples.