Almost two years later, the job that took me 3 hours plus because of a bone headed mistake, took 10 minutes, not counting the time spent letting the gear oil drain. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

After 20 months and about 30K on the No-Slip the gear oil was not bad looking and there was very little collected on the drain plug magnet, however there were three or so "little gritty bits" in the drain pan. Not Identifiable parts, just little clumps a fourth the size of a flake of oat meal consisting of grit smaller than fine sand. Should I worry?

And though I put 3.5 quarts (+/-) of gear oil in last time, only about 2 quarts came out. I had checked the level last summer and it looked OK. Haven't seen any leaks in the driveway or on the drums. Should I worry?

I realize this doesn't help,
but it might make you feel better.

The time before last, that i changed the oil in my diffs.
i found alot more than gritty small particals.
more like pieces of gears the size of m&m's.
I thought oh *****, my gears are done, but that was over
50k ago.

When i drained the diffs i didnt bother measuring the
the volume. It seems suspect to lose that much gear oil.

no worries, IMO. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Nah. The stuff on the magnet sounds like normal bearing wear. 3.5 quarts seems like a lot; how long did you let it run out the fill hole before you stopped trying to fit more in and decided it was full?

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> I think... Last time when I filled it I had bought 3 quarts because the owners manual calls for 2.2 (or so) quarts. When I tried to check the level through the fill hole after putting about 2.5 quarts, I couldn't feel any (finger tip through drain hole) - it took almost 3.5 quarts to bring it up to the correct level (just below fill hole). So, this time I made sure I had enough but still stopped at 2 and at 3 quarts to check - came up level somewhere between 3 1/4 and 3 1/2. Both times I *did* jack up the drivers side to encourage as much fluid to drain as possible, but set it down level before refilling. Maybe that made a difference.

Wasn't real worried about the stuff on the magnet - it was quite a bit less than after breaking in the No-Slip (500 miles) and there weren't any springs or chunks of gear - just that little bit of grit.

Still not sure what to think about only 2 quarts coming out... Could it be a slow leak at an axle seal? Some hidden overflow that maintains the proper level even when somebody pours in an extra quart? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I love this truck. I had just about sold myself on the new Tacoma crew cab as a replacement, because I'll need three shoulder belts in the back seat to haul youngsters around in the near future. However, that has been supplanted by a new plan - keep this truck forever and get a small, much more efficient sedan as a daily driver... And maybe before too long, they'll put out a midsize truck that gets 30MPG. Or runs on hydrogen...

I'm on the same plan! I already have an '89 Corolla, problem is my parents hijacked it. I should have it back this summer though.

I'm with Adam... 3.5 quarts seems like more than the rear diff. is supposed to take. However, its been about a month since I did mine and I don't remember what the manual spec'd.