Front Diff and Transfer Case Oil Change Howto

hand pumps...NAPA is one source, Northern Tool in another...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200612566_200612566

 

Great post / sticky thread. Thanks.

Did mine today. Truck is 3 years old (2012) with 40,000 mi, never had a diff fluid change before. As far as experience goes, I've only ever changed the RR diff oil in my old '94 Toyota truck. Still, I wasn't expecting a huge problem, maybe only some hard to remove bolts.

I bought the diff oil in a 1 gal jug and 1 extra quart bottle and got a transfer pump that screws on to the 1 gal jug. After I finished the diff changes I dumped the remaining oil out of the 1 gal jug and put in the T-case and transmission oil so I could use the same pump for them. The 1 gal jug + pump makes a nice stable platform to pump from, and with a long hose from the pump to the fill hole you just set the jug on the ground and press down on the pump. Easy.

Transfer pump was $6.00 and was sold in the same area of the store as the fluids. Despite other people saying their cheap pumps broke immediately, this one worked fine and seems solid.

I ended up having no trouble with any of the fill or drain bolts except a little bit of swearing and rubber mallet hammering was required on the front diff drain plug. All others came out easy. I did need an extension to get to the fill bolt on the transmission as the driveshaft is in the way, but otherwise, just a 24mm socket, a ratchet, and a 10mm allen on a socket adapter, a one gallon oil jug with the side cut out (drain pan), and some rags was all I needed.

I used non synthetic fluids and even deviated slightly from the manual's recommendations mainly due to availability. Instead of the spec'd 75W-85 GL-5 I used 80W-90 GL-5. I did use the correct

$29 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 GL-5 for the T-case and manual transmission as those are easily available. I think I should be okay....

Both my diff's fluids were gross. My RR had some water in it from creek crossings and such, and was black but also had streaks of milky color in it. Drain plug had some fur on it and a few small slivers of metal. FT was black as hell despite me only using 4WD maybe 500 miles a year, and the drain plug had a ton of fur on it, maybe about the size of 1/2 of the last knuckle of my pinky finger. More than I've ever seen on a drain plug before.

My T-case fluid looked clean and my tranny fluid was about what I expected, not awful but still dirty.

I flipped upside down but reused all the crush washers.

I did not have to drop my skid plate to get to the front diff (SR5 truck).

In order of easiest to hardest to access, it was RR diff, T-case, transmission, FT diff. Took about 90 minutes to do.

My tip, after completing the job, hit all the drain areas and fill areas with aerosol brake cleaner, to degrease the surfaces. That way it's very easy to see if there is a leak after you are done.

Also, some guys are asking about skipping certain areas, like I saw some people asking about not changing the FT diff oil as they rarely use 4WD - I would not advise this. My FT diff was the worst of all. If I was to skip on one thing it would be the T-case, as that fluid looked great; but it's super easy to do that one and it's only 1.1 quarts so you're spending like $6 on it. Just do them all.

 

Do you have your diff breather relocated?

If not, my understanding is the water likely came in through your axle seals which may now be bad.

 

No, I do not, but I'm confident that the seals are fine. No leaks evident. I'm not concerned.

 

How frustrating. I wanted to do the front diff and transfer case today, went out to buy that hand pump; NOBODY CARRIES IT! I've tried NAPA, Part Source, and Canadian Tire. What gives? The guy at NAPA didn't even know what I was talking about at first until I showed him. He looked through the catalog, nothing. I even crawled under to see if I could manage a 1qt bottle in there to fill, for the transfer case sure, but the front diff I would be screwed.

 

I found a pump at Auto Zone, if you have one of those around.

 

Walmart carries them in their marine oils area.

 

(which is by the regular oil area)

 

That's an idea also, I still wouldn't mind finding a pump for future changes too. Thanks for looking for me bud.

Not that I know of, might be an American thing.

That would be awesome, I'll check tomorrow after work!

 

Post 569 has a link to a bucket pump from Northern Tool.

 

Looks like I'm going to have to buy it online. Walmart didn't have them either!

 

Dang, I'm surprised. I've bought a couple of them from Walmart. Always in the marine area by the oil section.

 

I just did mine today. No need to pre-soak the plugs, no need for the pump, no need to take skid plate off. I got frustrated trying 4 different stores and not having the pump so I did it without it. Front diff: Fill plug came out with 2 taps of a hammer on the ratchet. The drain plug took 5 good swings then cracked loose. As long as the hex is deep in the spot, and square on, it won't strip. Push the ratchet forward to eliminate bounce back, ensure it's always square, and whack it with a hammer. Xfer case, easy, it's a huge socket, just some muscle is all you need. Easy job, magnet was really fuzzy and goopy. Glad it's got brand new stuff in there.

 

Yes, the long, flex head ratchet is very handy, and is great for drain plugs...There has been one of those in my took box for over 20 years.

 

I have one, a Stanley 1/2" drive breaker bar that pivots. Problem is, Canadian Tire only had 3/8ths 10mm hex sockets.

 

Www.mcmaster.com and they sell single sockets, get the impact style, Williams brand.

 

I have the same tool but a 3/8 drive and was trying to remove the front diff drain plug and couldn't get it off. Even after using some bolt lube first. I haven't tried hitting it with a hammer yet though. and the rear diff came off no problem.

 

This i am sure has been covered, but after reading 30 pages i didnt see anyone mention it. Do you need to replace the washers on the rear differential drain and fill plugs? and do any of the others have those?

A couple of how to's i found indicated that they are crush washers so i wanted to check before i take it apart, and find that putting it back together without it leaking will require those parts.

 

^Yes, they are crush washers. Some owners have been able to get away with not replacing them. Some haven't.

Yep, comes with a magnet, too: http://goldplug.com/shop/ap24/

 

Excellent thanks, ill get replacements before I do it then