TahoeRunner

So that harbor freight set is only a 3/8" drive I noticed. I ended up finding this instead and ordering it last night. This gives me the option to use the 1/2" breaker with a 19mm socket or a 19mm wrench!! http://www.amazon.com/Laser-1578-Drain-Plug-13mm/dp/B009UE4IEG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364919555&sr=8-1&keywords=drain+plug+key I actually ordered one off of ebay, but tons of companies in the UK Selling these. anybody used one?

Towncivilian, I look at Harbor Freight tomorrow. We have one in town, but I didn't think they would have it. I checked with napa today and they didn't have anything...

Hey so I got the rear diff, and the t-case done this weekend but for the life of me couldn't complete the front diff and transmission. By the way the fluid came out pretty clean looking of both. The T-case was ATF and still pretty bright red, and the rear diff was still a nice golden color. There is no way the fluids are 17 years and 134k miles old, so the previous owner must have had his fluids swapped out at some point and forgotten. He had lost his receipts that were older than 6-7 years old and he was an older gentleman. Makes me feel better. I was only working with a 1/2" drive ratchet and mallet and a almost 3' long breaker bar. I was able to get both plugs off the rear diff and was able to get the fill plug loose on the transmission and drain loose the front diff. I couldn't get enough bite on the transmission drain plug though with anything with exhaust and cross members in the way... At one point I was hugging a cross member and braced with both feet on one of the tires under the truck and the bar slipped out... that hurt. I soaked the drain plug in PB Blaster twice to hopefully get rid of anything in there. Any tips? what's worked for you getting that plug out. I'm going to get a 13mm square bit today... Nobody close to me had one on the weekend. on the front diff, there is so much stuff in the way of the fill plug. The only thing I could get in there was a 6" extension with the 1/2 ratchet but I couldn't get any type of force on it with only the 1/2" tip. I'm hoping the 13mm bit will help that situation... I'm open to successful ideas...

Yeah my 1995 XE with the 5speed runs around 3400-3500 rpms at 70-73 mph. I think I figured out mine has 4.57 gears in the rear end? does that sound right? Mine has the sport package with the limited slip so not sure if that makes the gearing shorter. yeah I'd say that you are a little high, however with mine, the tires are stock 235's but my speedo is still 4-5mph to slow at 70 mph. So depending on the accuracy, I might actually be spinning a little lower rpms for the speed (if i'm actually going 75 when i'm going 70). One thing is check the tire pressure too. Mine was more than 5 mph slow and seemed like the rpms were worse, and then I found out that at his last rotation Costco inflated the tires to the max psi on the tire. I brought it down to 30 psi and that helped some.

beastpath, you are right that the hanger bolts to the bracket that is mounted to the exhaust, but the hanger is slightly modified compared to this one. I'll have to look at our pick and pull, but with it being so dry around these parts, I wouldn't think a junk yard one would last too long if it is still kept together by the rubber piece

Well I bought everything! I ended up going with the following: 5 Qts Redline MT-90 from Amazon for the tranny (ordered with the Exhaust Hanger for only $15!) and they are on the way 3 Qts Valvoline Maxlife Dex III ATF from Napa for the T-case 5 Qts Napa High Perf 80w-90 GL5 Gear Oil for the Front & Rear Diff And a fresh 4 Qts of Valvoline Maxlife 5w-30 and Fram Tough Guard Filter for the engine (the Maxlife is on sale for only $3.49/qt at Napa!) Can't wait to do it all! Really interested to see how the Redline does for the shifting. One thing is that I also bought the LS Additive for the rear because the Napa guy at the counter said that even though the Napa Gear Oil (which is apparently the exact same thing as the Valvoline HP 80w-90 LS but with a Napa label) says its suitable for open and limited slip diffs, he recommends adding the additive anyways if your car calls for the additive.... Does that sound right? I got the LS add just in case but thought I'd run it by you guys and I can return it if its a waste. Is it better to be safe than sorry? Anyways, got everything I needed for just under $200 which is what I was trying not to go over! Thanks for all the help and info everyone!

Hi, I asked this as part of a question quite a few months ago and am still struggling with this... So I just ordered the Walker #35802 that mounts to the muffler and looks like this http://www.amazon.com/Walker-35802-Exhaust-Hardware-Hanger/dp/B0019ICMM6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363890730&sr=8-1&keywords=walker+35802 However for the life of me I can't find the modified version of this that mounts the exhaust to my t-case. The hanger looks just like this but on the part of the bracket in the picture that has the two mounting holes that are kind of perpindicular to the bracket, that piece looks more like it wraps up and over another bracket that mounts next to the catalytic converter. So it wraps up and over and then has two holes on it. other wise the hanger looks just like the #35802 with the little plastic block between the two metal pieces. I'll try and snap a pic of the hanger tonight so you guys can see what I'm talking about, but I thought maybe someone else has had to replace that bracket. I went to Napa and looked at a couple of diagrams online, and nothing shows a bracket there at that location.

A whopping 134,000 miles!

Okay I think, I'll just go with the Dexron ATF then... The other reason I was hoping for the GL5 in the tcase was if I ordered 2 more quarts of it, I got my shipping free from AAP, but I can't have the ATF shipped to me, so now I don't have enough to get the free shipping I know, cry me a river...

Thanks Precise1. Yeah I'm specifically asking for the tcase.

Okay so I've been researching and mulling it over. I'm going to spend the $$ on the redline MT90 for the tranny, just because with it probably not being over-filled and a little bit notchy in the gear changes (no wining or anything though) I figure thats worth it. However, with as few of miles as I plan on driving it, I'm just going to do the Valvoline HP 80-90 gear oil thats only $6/qt and if I have to change it in 5 years after 10k miles, I'm not too concerned. One more question though... So it looks like you can use the same gear oil in the tranny and transfer case, but can you use the Gl-5 oil? Are their soft metals in the tcase that would keep me from using the 80w-90 gear oil for the diffs, or do you have to use GL4? If you have to use Gl4 I'll probably just go with the ATF in the T-case and go with the Maxlife ATF. But with the fractions of a quart everything requires, I can save my self a quart of fluid for the TCase if I use the same stuff for the diffs and tcase.

The location here in sparks they said everything they sell by the case, all though some are 6 to a case.

Well never mind... I just went to Redline's website and answered my own questions. The 75w-90 is a Gl-5 and the MT-90 says specifically to not use in hypoid differentials. Crap...

hey so I called interstate oil just a few minutes ago. They only sell Redline by the case of 12. However the case of 12 is only 127.20 which comes to $10/qt and that's cheap! They sell both the MT-90 and the 75w-90 (which is $4 cheaper for the case). Would it be okay to put the MT-90 or 75w-90 in everything (tranny, t-case & diffs)? A Case would be enough to do it all. The only thing I notice, is that I would have to get the LS additive if I go with the MT-90... It seems weird to do one fluid for everything... thoughts?

Yeah, I'm not too worried about water entry, most the off roading I do is in the dry desert and its infrequent. Don't plan on taking on any streams. I was kind of thinking of the 75w90 Redline for the diffs and t-case. With the potential in the winter time of making long slogs in 4x4 at moderate speeds I'd like to do the better protection in the t-case. and thanks for the recommend on Interstate Oil. I'll check em out today...

Thanks Guys, I actually did some looking around yesterday and found the Redline MT90 locally. We have a Summit Racing Warehouse here with a store attached and I found they carry the MT-90 for $14.95. And I'm kind of suprised to hear that on the Lucas Oil products, but I'm no chemical engineer I guess... I'll check out the Mobil1 for the diffs and the ATF for the t-case. AAP doesn't allow me to ship the M1 and we don't have a store in Reno. Is the MT-90 good to run in the t-case also or even the Mobile 1 If I choose not to run the ATF? Seems like the main advantage to the ATF is price?

So I guess the Pennzoil is out. I've seen a few on here recommend it when I was searching through the forums, and its good for yellow metals but not GL4. Advanced Auto Parts doesn't carry Redline on their website from what I can tell, and I was trying to order everything from them since they had 15% off and free shipping. So is the Redline the Best? My local Napa had the Redline 75w90 but I didn't see the MT90 so I'll have to call them in the morning to see how much it is. I see many of you run the Royal Purple, but it seems to be the priciest.

yeah just to clarify, I'm not considering going full synthetic on the motor oil, just considering it for the diffs, trans & tcase. I'm sticking with half Synthetic for the motor oil just so I don't spring any leaks. I'm changing it at a year even if I don't hit the 3 or 4k mark.

Hey everyone, Its been a while. Been real busy with my 2 young boys, changing jobs, fighting winter plagues, etc etc... I've been looking around on the forum the past few days and catching up and so a few days was the anniversary of when I picked up my 95 Pathy a year ago. Just smogged him again and reregistered, and when I looked at the smog ticket, I've only put 3800 miles on him since I bought him... He just sits in our garage and comes out to play at least every other weekend... poor fellow! He's going to get some excersize this summer though as we've planned out our camping calendar and we plan to load him up and head out a few hours from home a few times to go exploring. Anyways, I've gotten close to doing the fluids and fixing a few small things, but never got around to it. In two weeks i've got an all day date with Sarge to finally give him the attention he needs! I've been reading all the fluid threads and such and getting ready to pick it all up... I still have a few question though I wanted to get your input on before I buy stuff. I've read up on the manual transmission specifics all the capacities, etc and so here is my plan... Manual Transmission = 4 qts of Penzoil Syncromesh and 1 Qt of lucas oil stabilizer Front and Rear Diffs = Lucas 80w-90 (non-syn) w/ LSD Transfer Case = Either Syncromesh or the Lucas for the diffs (any suggestions) Good ole fashioned Oil change with Castrol High Mileage Part Synthetic and new Napa Filter So any true benefit with going with the Synthetic upgrades on any of this. I'm trying to be somewhat budget concious and with only getting 3k miles a year or less, not sure if its worth the extra money. So I've read that the Syncromesh works well and improves the shiftability in the manuals (and its reasonably priced) but any other manual trans fluid you guys like? My tranny is a little notchy going into second, especially when cold. Anything that smoothes that out i'm open to. Seems like some of you are running the Lucas Stabilizer and that works well... As far as the gear oil or ATF in the transfer case, any one thing better than the other? I like that the gear oil is thicker, and with using the Pathy on winter trips over the sierras a few times, I've had to drive in 4x4 at 40mph or so for extended periods... would gear oil be better for that? I'm also going to finally replace the exhaust hangers, and fix the rear hatch sensor issue that triggers the dash and overhead lights. Other than that though he's running good and I can't complain really. I'm open to input on any of this. Thanks!

I'm gonna have to take a pic... mine doesn't look like that at all.

Does one of them have a factory roof rack in good shape? how bout the LE wheels?

Yeah I was looking at that hanger. I actually went to napa on Saturday and they looked it up in one of their catalogs and he was able to give me the part number for the one that attached to the muffler that was just like this, but the diagram didn't show the one just like this that attaches ahead of the cat to the T-case. I'm having trouble finding that one. it looks similar, but looks like it end of the bracket is bent to mount up... not sure. They have to order them either way as they don't have them in stock. I've seen that same hanger on Amazon for $15 and free shipping if I order two of them. Precise1: I forget as its been a while, is there a link on the forum for the FSM? I don't have one otherwise. Where do you live in N. Nevada Dirtx?

Okay I think, my original text didn't make it on here or something. Thats wierd. I have two broken exhaust hangers. The one for the muffler and the one just upstream from the cat I believe that mounts to the side of the transfer case. they are the sandwich style with the rubber block between the two plates. I think the one at the transfer case has a slightly different mount but i'm not sure. I didn't get a super good look, but both are are split down the middle of the rubber block. Are these just bolted in and how hard are they to change, its pretty tight in there from what I can tell.

Gotta love the marketing in that ad... haha. I don't know if I would call my pathfinder a "performance machine" but maybe I would have thought differently back then! haha

Yeah the 5% in the back, I've done that before and all I saw in my rear windows was my dash!