RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
Motor oil does not have the shearing protection of gear oil, there's a reason is smells like sulfur.
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DIFF FLUID??
- Thread starter kmanxj5050
- Start date
- Location
- Columbus, In
Man, If i didn't know any better i would think there is some sarcasm in that statement!
bigalpha
Moderator
- Location
- Tucson, AZ
No, I'm just using my deducing reasonable skills.
birchlakeXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Melrose, MN
A no brainer. Change fluids regularly and use the mfg. recommended fluids.
If you don't, the odds are that "eventually" you'll be posting more questions here than answers.
If you don't, the odds are that "eventually" you'll be posting more questions here than answers.
stewie
NAXJA Forum User
isnt every 15 years a regular interval? oh, and speaking of diffs- i went to try to pull the backing plates off a zj d35 (to get the rear disk brakes off you have to pull the shafts) at a local junkyard. the vehicle was a total soccer mom car- 2wd, pristine interior, no damage except for driveline- and "looked" like the visible parts of it were well taken care of. when i popped the diff cover the remaining diff oil in the bottom of the diff was nearly pure sludge. after looking arround some more, i notice that at the forward section of the case wedged between the housing and the carrier was the pinion gear, well most of it anyways. the carrier bearings were difficult to turn and further investigation showed the pinion bearing was siezed, most likely due to lack of lubrication.
so if you want the above to be you, go right ahead and dont change your diff oil or put in used motor oil. just dont come crying to us when your axles literally explode on you.
lawsoncl
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Idaho
I dunno, gear oil seems to last a long time. I've seen countless Cherokees at the salvage yard with 200k+ miles that looked like the diff covers were never removed. On the other hand, my ZJ had the diff oil changed at 70k right after I bought it and at 140k, but then the spiders self destructed pulling out of the shopping mall. Gear oil still looked great except for the little bits of ground up spiders in it. I replaced it with a junkyard axle that looked like it had never been changed in 225k that looked great inside.
-Chris
(Yes, I broke a D35 while cruising the shopping mall.)
RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
Was that a D35 or one of the hybrid D44's that ZJ's came with.
winterbeater
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Royal Oak, Michigan
Maybe the FSM makes sense here. For normal service, they NEVER change the axle lube. For severe service, which includes off-road and trailer towing, they recommend every 12,000 miles. Transmission fluid for severe service is also 12,000 miles. Normal service for tranny and transfer case is 30,000 miles.
wim hoppenbrouwers
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Netherlands europe
Hallo. That's strange, because in my service manual is mentioned, that each 40.000 km or 2 Years you have to change the Axle gear oil.
This manual is from the German Chrysler and has also control pages for stamps of the dealer. :dunno:
This manual is from the German Chrysler and has also control pages for stamps of the dealer. :dunno:
lawsoncl
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Idaho
D35 c-clip. Not entirely sure what happened. Pulling out of the parking lot and it bound up and then went clunk. Lots of noise on curves driving home and then wouldn't back into the driveway until I put in 4wd. Pulling the diff cover confirmed my suspicion of munched spiders. All the other bearings, pinion, and ring gear looked great.
BruceB83
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Dacula, Georgia
A good friend of mine is an ASE Master Tech (plus some) and has worked on vehicles for almost 30 years now, Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler the major portion of it. He has told that rear diff replacements are one of the top major item replacements resulting from non-maintenance. Outside of hobbyists like us, it's one of the top ignored maintenance points on a vehicle.
winterbeater
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Royal Oak, Michigan
Maybe it changed from '92 to '01, or maybe the German's are just more fanatical in their maintenance. But I've never seen a normal (street driven only) vehicle have the differential go bad unless it ran out of oil. And only an occasional rear wheel bearing. Normal vehicles here NEVER get the differential oil changed (with the possible rare exception of positraction axles). Clearly, the rear axle should have vent hoses elevated to prevent intrusion of water for puddle forging.
RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
Thats not how the water gets in there, usually, what happens is the axle gets warm/hot and when you get into water above the seals/bearing on the axles and the pintle the colder water is sucked in by the warmer axles and seals. The outside water also is usually at a higher pressure which also helps push it in. It really goes in fast if you end up sitting still in water high enough like waiting for someone in front of you to get across the pond or whatever you are crossing.
winterbeater
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Royal Oak, Michigan
You still wouldn't want your vent under water either, but I see what you're saying. The vent probably couldn't take in enough air anyway unless it was bigger.
RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
In what I described the vent lets air OUT so water can get pulled in. Plug the vent and internal pressure would keep water out, not a good solution but about the best I can describe it.
winterbeater
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Royal Oak, Michigan
IMHO, when a hot axle gets chilled, the air inside shrinks in volume creating a vacuum. Without a vent to equalize the pressure, it would suck even more water past the axle seals. That's why we run vent tubes from dirt bike transmissions up as high as we can for water crossings.
RichP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Effort, Pa
That makes sense.
Terrific
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Brooksville, FL
Most of my post was joking. The diff fluid, to the best of my knowledge was origional though. It was a highway 2wd, that recieved very little maintenance most of it's life. It served well as a way to keep my more prized vehicles parked in the driveway.
I eventually lucked into a very cheap donor vehicle and decided I could use a well worn 4wd to abuse. I'm surprised at how much service it has given, and how little care it got for so long. It is a true testament to what an XJ is really worth, in the real world.
If you care about a vehicle, regular maintenance should become a religion. I got lucky back then, but I was a little reckless, and stupid.
I know there are many highway vehicles out there, that never get diff fluid changed. As long as there are no leaks, there often will be no troubles. Most vehicles don't last long enough for differential trouble to occur under normal highway use. Xj's are an exception, as they are often abused and neglected for well over 200,000 miles.
My dad used to give me a lot of heat for my poor maintenance habits in my youth. He made many sarcastic comments and the used motor oil bit was one that he offered from time to time. He also told me that if I changed the oil more often, my Jeep my remember to break down, and that 6 quarts is just a recomendation. It's not to be taken too seriously.
