Transfer case fluid after 59k w/pics

Mine looks good at 71k.

 

Has anyone tried this? Need to change mine soon



https://www.redlineoil.com/mt-lv-70w75w

 

Ravenol has lots of calcium, which washes internals of the t-case. Could it be that Ravenol just picked up all the dirt left by past lubricants? What UOA did show? Any significant metal wear?

Example. I've been using Red Line oil in turbo engines for years. It is very rich in calcium. It also turns dark pretty quickly, but manages to keep mechanical wear at minimal levels. I took the engine apart due to blown exhaust valve, it had 1/3 of wear of similar engine (same model) with similar miles that I took apart some time ago. So Red Line did quite well protecting the internals, but it was always dark in like 2k miles. Factory-filled and dealer replaced Castrol wasn't turning dark till 5k miles, but it was responsible for all the gunk and varnish in the engine when I bought that car.

 

Could be the cleaning action. I just don't see how the transfer case could get dirty, it's a sealed system. But oil can get dark as it degrades and falls out of spec, my diff fluid was changed out at the same time and looked great (Schaeffers) and I know it has more calcium and cleaning agents than the Ravenol. The oil I just put in it has tons of esters and alkylated naphthalene, so it going to clean like crazy if there is any varnish or build up.

I'll try to send the UOA off in the next week or two, along with the rear diff fluid. It'll be a fun comparison

 

Exactly.

This is from my car after ~200k miles, serviced regularly.


Direct comparison is a bit unfair: in this application the transfer case sits below exhaust manifold and turbo. But anyways, gunking still happens in transfer cases.

What I saw, Red Line (esters) didn't do much to hard varnish in my engine. Nothing did, I've tried a few engine cleaners as well. I was cleaning oil sump with dimethyl sulfoxide, washed it thoroughly with kerosene before installing it back, but it still had traces of DMSO. The next time I was there in a few thousand miles, varnish softened and begun to come off.

 

I have the 75w-85 https://www.redlineoil.com/75w85-gl-5-gear-oil however I haven't made the time to get everything change yet.
I have a bunch of Red Line products ready to be used, 75-85 for the transfer case, the 75w-90 for the diffs and some ATF D6 for the transmission. Right now I have about 42k in the truck with factory fluids, I'll do a post when I finally get it changed.

 

@vtl if you're wanting to get your engine clean, check this stuff out.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/the-value-of-using-base-oils-that-run-clean.354558/

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/high-performance-lubricants-engine-cleaner.347347/

 

Ya see...

If the forum were to band together, for the low price of a nickle per month, we could get pictures, oil analysis, and maybe even new product reviews regarding drivetrain fluids and how they hold up.

 

It is clean... Well, where it is better be clean. I was lazy and didn't take out and boil the cylinder block and lower tower, only rehoned cylinder sleeves in place. The rest was thoroughly cleaned.


Also a few months before the engine died I had to address leaking RMS that gave up after using SeaFoam and BG109. Pain.

 

Looked like a fun project!

 

Following and waiting for the UOA. I’m not convinced oil color is the best way to tell the condition of the oil or how well it performed.

Having staff that, I’m glad I paid the nuts for the Toyota oil. I’m about to do mine and almost went for the Ravenol…

 

Royal Purple Syncromax is what I use in the transfer case. It is compatible with the stock Toyota oil but is significantly cheaper. It's listed as compatible in RP's data sheet. Has worked well for me in the past.

https://www.royalpurple.com/product/synchromax-manual-transmission-fluid/

 

Samples for the transfer case and rear diff have been mailed off this morning with priority mail. Should be seeing results by the end of next week depending on the lab.
@14burrito

 

Thanks for doing that and footing the bill!

 

I'm curious too! Maybe next time I'll start a go fund me

 

That's why you have oil analysis, to see how your oil is wearing and if you need to change it or not

And if you wanna come drop my skids to change my transfer case oil, feel free. It's a bitch and half to drop my homemade skid. I made it a little too theft proof.

 

I’ve used the “oil is cheap” line a ton but in this case - it’s not. My t-case oil continues to look good at 71k miles. I’ll change it later this year and run it another 5 years or 75k miles. If the 2.5 gens used regular gear oil I would change it more often but since we use unicorn tears I’ll monitor and stretch it.

 

Mine looked like lightly colored honey at 30k. I am definitely in the severe use category, but that oil looked perfect. Kinda wish I had drained it into its own oil catch pan so I could’ve put it back in

I wonder if Ravenol makes a conventional 75W as well. Mine is definitely fully synthetic, and there are lots of Toyota drivers who pack on the miles with Ravenol (thinking of this forum and T4R.org) and have no issues. Almost all of the Amazon reviews are 5 stars from Toyota drivers specifically buying it instead of OEM 75W.

 

Just sent off an ATF myself from our mom-mobile

 

"Insert crow eating gif here because I don't know how to do it"

Well, I was wrong. Fluid is just fine. Here's the report.

How the hell do you post a gif from mobile? This post woulda been way better with a gif

 

Nah, no crow eating. Just nice to have facts and data. Given what you posted from BITOG it looks like the Ravenol held up great. Especially for being basically the break-in oil.

If you are just looking at the additive packs, Toyota is obviously better. But for your use the Ravenol is fine.

Thanks again for posting!

 

Well I did talk some major shit about Ravenol when I started this thread

But thank you for the feedback. I also have my UOA for the rear end. Blackstone said the wear metals were high. But they're actually not when you compare it to the averages. And the TAN is exactly same as the VOA sample

 

Did you post it? I’m about to change mine out and would love to have a reference point

 

I'll post it up tomorrow

 

So, it is Ravenol's cleaning action. All that dirt is in fact sediments from Toyota's lubricant. Very interesting! Thanks for doing that!

Ravenol kit now seems to be an even better alternative to OE fluids.

 

What dirt? Other than price what makes Ravenol better?

 

It had bulk fill 75w90 in it when I got the truck. It was still clear and had maybe a few thousand miles on it when I drained it.

 

Metal wear and oil oxidation form a relatively thick layer of sludge on the inner surfaces of the diff/t-case.

Better as is in "price is better, yet UOA looks very good".

 

In reading on this debate, it also looks like Redline MT-LV is an option. What say the collective?

Plug gaskets: anyone have a preferred place to buy? Looks like for the TC and differentials I need

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