How too change Rear Differential fluid

[keithvibe]

Since I didn't see a write up on how to change it, figured I would do one.First thing to make things easier to work on. I backed the vibe up on ramps, putting the car up on jack stands will do.You will need a 10mm allen socket and a small breaker bar if you haven't removed the plugs before. Locate the drain and fill plugs on the driver side of the differential and remove the lower plug. EDIT: remove the upper fill plug first. This way if you can't get it removed you can stop here. If you can then you can remove the lower drain plugLet it drain, it will take a while because it's a very thick heavy oil.In the photo above you can also see the fill plug located just above the drain plug.To help it drain a bit faster you can remove the upper plug as well but DON'T mix the plugs up.In the photo below you can see that one plug has a magnet on it and the other doesn't. The one with out the magnet it the fill plug. The one with the magnet is the drain plug.I bought my oil from amsoil.comI bought a gallon jug only because it was something I plan on doing yearly. You won't need much oil you only need 1.1pintsI also bought this to make life easy:It alows you to just pump the oil where you need it, and not waste any.Once the oil is done draining clean and replace the lower fill plug on the differential, leave out the upper fill plug to pump new oil in. Pump the oil in till it comes out the upper fill plug. Replace the upper fill plug and clean up your mess. Also torque the plugs to 36ft-lbsThats it your done.Took me less than 30mins to accomplish this. Next up Transfer case being they use the same oil it makes life easier.

[pick41]

Old thread I know, but nice write up, was thinking about doing this myself before winter. Really like the Amsoil Products too, their hand pump is a must when dealing with their fluids, since the bottle necks seem to be different than standard.

[keithvibe]

it's really easy to do... don't be afraid to get a little dirty

[BlueCrush]

Wow! I never saw this thread, Keith. I'll have to change mine before the snow files.

[pick41]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »it's really easy to do... don't be afraid to get a little dirtyMight be the weekend project here in a few weeks. Not worried about getting dirty, one question, did you pull the Diff Cover all the way off, and clean everything off? I know I had to when I did my diffs on the 2500 Cummins, when I switched all the fluids over.

[keithvibe]

no just the two plugs is what I removed.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by pick41 »Old thread I know, but nice write up, was thinking about doing this myself before winter. Really like the Amsoil Products too, their hand pump is a must when dealing with their fluids, since the bottle necks seem to be different than standard. Do you realize, you posted 364 days to the day, from when it was origionally posted...!!! Timing, you have it.. lol... A quick note, the fluid will drain faster, if you go for a short drive and warm it up a little... Having it on ramps for the whole drain, might leave some in the case, toward the front of the diff... Changing it yearly is completely un-nessassary, it's not being contaminated with gas, it prolly doesn't need it.. I could be wrong though... Nice write up KV... I've never seen it before, but, then again, I don't have an AWD vibe, so I wouldn't really have a reason to look

[keithvibe]

I plan on doing mine again this weekend... no you really don't need to change it every year... every 30k would be fine... but i pound on my car in the winter for fun... I noticed the timing as well.lol Yea it will leave a bit in the transfer case while it's up on the ramps which is why i left the plugs out and pumped in a few ounces of the new fluid to get the rest out. This time around i plan in putting the car up on 4 stands so it's level

[pick41]

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »Do you realize, you posted 364 days to the day, from when it was origionally posted...!!! Timing, you have it.. lol... Didn't even notice the timing, but that was pretty good. I still have some 80w-90 in the garage, so might just use that to flush it a little bit. Looks like all I need now are ramps & some more Amsoil. Might as well get the gallon and do the T-Case too while I'm down there.

[keithvibe]

you can do the job with a jack and jackstandsyou don't need ramps... unless you really want them... you can buy mine... i never use them anymore

[pick41]

yeah, it will more than likely be jack and jackstands, ramps might be nice, but just another thing to clutter the garage.

[keithvibe]

ttt... Going to be doing this again very soon. I hope to get to the front transfer case as well. I'll have a write up for that one as well.

[keithvibe]

It's that time a year again. Going to be changing the fluid again this weekend. Anyone else??? lol

[jmacdonald07]

Hi there, this is my first post on GenVibe. I recently bought a 2006 AWD and wanted to change the rear diff fluid and transfer case fluid on it. I read that you used full-synthetic in your fluid change. My question is, have you noticed any leaking seals, etc... as a result of switching from dyno gear oil to full synthetic? I've read that depending on the age of the part, switching to synthetic can actually uncover problems (small leaks in seals, etc...) and create more problems than staying with dyno oil.Thanks for the help

[keithvibe]

I haven't had any leaking but I did my first change at 8k so the car didn't have any real miles on it yet.The syn/dino juice debate is one that I don't get involved in much. It's a user preference.

[jmacdonald07]

ok, thanks for the reply. My car has about 70k on it, so looks like a different situation than yours (i was wondering why everything look so clean in your pictures). I'll have to read up on it some more.