Extractor for differential?

[wilnis]

Hi-I found lots of posts about extractors for engine oil, but not many(or any actually) about using the extractor for differentials. Has anyone used an extractor for the differential, which one, how did it work??
Thanks in advance. Bill

 

[daman]

Doesn't your application have a drain plug? or just pull the cover?

 

[millerbl00]

I bought one at home depot. It is called LiquiVac. Looks like a blue jug. Drove the truck and got the differential warm and it got 90% of the oil out. Better than having to pull and reseal the cover.

 

[wilnis]

Hi-No drain hole, just the filler hole. I was trying to avoid taking the cover off and dealing with gaskets that would have to be scraped,etc. This is for a Wrangler, my Dodge has reusable gaskets and is a snap to do, but I'm wary of the Jeep. Thanks. Bill

 

[wilnis]

Millerb100-Thanks for the info, I've seen a few on Amazon that have been reviewed on this site, just wasn't sure they would work on the oil in the differential. Bill

 

[millerbl00]

Your welcome. Warm it works great. May have to "move" the hose up and down a bit to adjust.

 

[daman]

Getting up to temp then pulling the cover would get waay more out and i'm sure a new gasket is available.

anyway good luck.

 

[dparm]

I've never used an extractor that worked well. Let gravity do the job for you.

 

[Brian Barnhart]

I recently used a standard gear oil pump that's normally used to pump the fluid in. I simply put a piece of hose on the "inlet" of the pump (the part of the pump that normally goes into the new fluid bottle), and stuck the other end of the hose through the fill hole. It took several pumps to get things started, but once it was going, I removed the pump from the hose and let gravity finish the job through the hose. If you get the hose near the bottom of the diff., you'll get most of the oil out.

 

[Zaedock]

Just pull the cover, get 100% of the old oil (and junk) out and RTV the cover back on. Takes less time than fiddling with a pump.

I have NEVER had a leaky cover using RTV on my covers, and they take an off road beating.

 

[Kestas]

I hear the dealers use an extractor instead of removing the back cover. Quicker and no need to change the gasket... but not for me. I want a good drain.

 

[ctc]

I tried a mityvac extractor on the rear diff of my Yukon. The fill hole was in a place which made it pretty much impossible to get more than 20% of the oil out. I ended up taking the cover off. So it depends on where your fill hole is located.

 

[gomes512]

Pump is better than nothing.

However from experience I always see wear particles stuck in between the cover and housing on the seal.

 

[pgun67]

If you do take the cover off the diff, what is a good spray to clean everything out on the inside? Is brake cleaner ok?

 

[daman]

yep use break cleaner to rinse as it evaporates and will not dilute the oil.

 

[rslifkin]

I couldn't get the cover bolts out of the D44a rear on my Jeep when I did it a few weeks ago. I just used the cheap suction pump I had around (with the diff warm). It took a bit, but I got a little over 2 quarts of fluid out. It holds 2 1/3 quarts, so there was no more than 1/4 quart left in there. Good enough to not worry me.

Still need to do the front diff, although I'll pull the cover if I can get it off. However, the fill plug is stuck, and I've yet to manage to get it out. And of course, always pull the fill plug before draining for this exact reason.