Changing Front, Trans, Transfer & Rear Differential flui
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 4:15 pm
I got the mileage on the Pathy up to 5300 so I wanted to change out the factory fill fluids and put fresh in. Just to get out all the break-in gunk and metal particles that would have sheared off by now. So I started the process yesterday and I'm kinda surprised at what I have found.
Front differential : gear oil still extremely light honey colored but a ton of trash on the magnetic pickup.
Transmission : next up.
Transfer Case : again, clear as all with trash on the magnet.
Rear Differential : Black to Grey. Looked like oil that had been exposed to a lot of moisture. As if I had been through a number of deep water crossings even though I haven't. Magnet had a LOT of trash. Way more than the others and more than I would have expected.
Little Stevie found his rear diff fluid was nasty also @ 28k miles. Fluid was cheap enough so I'm going to give this fill another 5k and see how it drains out. For now I'm guessing there must have been a bunch of assembly lube or gear marking compound from assembly at the plant that polluted it. I don't know but it was as bad as the stuff I drained out of my '76 K20 with 60k or so on it.
So far the only tools I've needed are a ratchet, 10mm Hex socket and a couple of extensions. If you have the Nissan Skid Plates it will make it a big pain in the ass to do some of these. Infact a $5 fluid pump would serve you well in my opinion. At a minimum you'd do well if you remove the skid plate covering the transfer case, else when you drain the fluid it will dump all over the top then spread out and pour through the holes and continue to drip forever.
In my opinion the gaskets on the differentials and transfer case can be reused at-least once. They are crush to fit aluminum pieces that should hold up. I failed to order enough as I thought the transfer case used the same washers as the oil pan so I was in a pinch and reused the rear diff ones and hoped they would crush a bit more.
Front differential : gear oil still extremely light honey colored but a ton of trash on the magnetic pickup.
Transmission : next up.
Transfer Case : again, clear as all with trash on the magnet.
Rear Differential : Black to Grey. Looked like oil that had been exposed to a lot of moisture. As if I had been through a number of deep water crossings even though I haven't. Magnet had a LOT of trash. Way more than the others and more than I would have expected.
Little Stevie found his rear diff fluid was nasty also @ 28k miles. Fluid was cheap enough so I'm going to give this fill another 5k and see how it drains out. For now I'm guessing there must have been a bunch of assembly lube or gear marking compound from assembly at the plant that polluted it. I don't know but it was as bad as the stuff I drained out of my '76 K20 with 60k or so on it.
So far the only tools I've needed are a ratchet, 10mm Hex socket and a couple of extensions. If you have the Nissan Skid Plates it will make it a big pain in the ass to do some of these. Infact a $5 fluid pump would serve you well in my opinion. At a minimum you'd do well if you remove the skid plate covering the transfer case, else when you drain the fluid it will dump all over the top then spread out and pour through the holes and continue to drip forever.
In my opinion the gaskets on the differentials and transfer case can be reused at-least once. They are crush to fit aluminum pieces that should hold up. I failed to order enough as I thought the transfer case used the same washers as the oil pan so I was in a pinch and reused the rear diff ones and hoped they would crush a bit more.