Filling a differential. Give me some ideas.

[Chris142]

I'm going to do a drain and fill on the differential in my Peterbilt.

The thing holds 5 GALLONS of oil. I have a 5 gallon pail of Coastal 85w140 to put in it. Hows the best, fastest ,easiest and cheapets way to get the oil into it?

Using the little oil pump from the auto parts store would be miserable.

 

[oilboy123]

Clear PVC tubing and a funnel? But that would probably take forever......

Or a hand pump that hooks to a bottle of gearlube. Might have to take beer breaks every gallon especially if non syn gear lube. Maybe a drill pump might work.

Heat up the gear oil with a heat lamp first?

 

[RichR]

Only suggestion I can offer is.
Try to figure out a way to warm up the lube to help it flow.

 

[mikey12]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I'm going to do a drain and fill on the differential in my Peterbilt.

The thing holds 5 GALLONS of oil. I have a 5 gallon pail of Coastal 85w140 to put in it. Hows the best, fastest ,easiest and cheapets way to get the oil into it?

Using the little oil pump from the auto parts store would be miserable.


The best, fastest, easiest, and not the cheapest way is to use a flexible vane pump like the Shurflo 3000-050 pump. Runs on 12VDC or they have a 115V AC version as well. I use it for ATF tranny fills and flushes. Runs about $115. I added hose barb fittings to it and use clear vinyl tubing with it.

 

[JHZR2]

I was going to say the same thing. There are FAR cheaper (and probably lousier) versions available.

 

[Chris142]

Well if I was going to spend $115 to buy a pump I'd just run it over to the truckstop instead and have them do it.

I was thinking more along the lines of siphoning it somehow.

 

[JHZR2]

no, you can get a 12V oil change pump for under $20. for 5 gallons, Id definitely use an electric pump. Vacuum-based equipment is going to require way too much pumping and very slow flow.

search for 12V oil change pump and look at the marine stores, these pumps are all over.

 

[mikey12]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Well if I was going to spend $115 to buy a pump I'd just run it over to the truckstop instead and have them do it.

I was thinking more along the lines of siphoning it somehow.


Said is was the best, fastest, and easiest. Didn't say it was cheap... Had the pump for over five years now. Pumps almost fast enough on ATF for it to fill as fast as the cooler line drains while idling (driveway tranny flush). Most of the $20 12V oil change pumps will not work well on anything above 40 weight unless you get it hot and even then it goes sloooooooow. Need a pump with some nuts to do gear oil that thick without burning out.

 

[mikey12]

Now the cheaper but not the best, fastest, or easiest would be to use one of those suction guns from the auto parts store...

Cheapest, best, fastest, and easiest usually do not work in the same sentence especially if quality or longevity are added as qualifiers.

 

[Chris142]

Wonder if I could pull a vacuum on some 5/8 heater hose to get it siphoning?

 

[LAGA]

Whenever I work with gear lube, I soak the containers in hot water to warm up the fluid to make it flow better. In your case, put the 5 gal bucket in a laundry sink and fill with the hottest water you can get. With 5 gals, you will probably have to change water a couple of times. Once it gets warm it should flow though the funnel.

 

[Jim Allen]

Chris142, I would do a siphon with a big hose, putting the bucket up as high as possible. After following LAGA's warmup procedure above.

Years ago, I used to use a douche bag (ahem!) to fill the diffs on my Land Rover. Put the prerequisite amount into the bag, route the hose, open the valve and go do something else for a while. I did learn that the rubber in douche bags (a device I haven't seen in a while) wasn't up to withstanding the chemistry of lubricants, but I usually got a year or so out of one.

 

[mechtech2]

That was my first thought - to siphon it while you go do something else.
But the fluid should be warmed up for better flow.

 

[ksJoe]

So you want something between free and cheap?

I assume the lid has a pullout spout with a screw on cap... You could get some hose that fits snuggly in the spout, add hose clamp to make sure its secure. Then secure the bucket tipped upside down. Once you've got it secured and are ready for more flow, take a screwdriver and stab an air hole in the bottom.

If you want to stop the flow, use a pair of visegrips with two small scraps of wood. Use the visegrips to smash the hose between the wood.

It would be best to have a spare (clean) bucket handy. Once you stab a hole the bottom, you either have to use it all right then, or have another bucket.

 

[Dualie]

If you know someone that had a LARGE oven you could warm it and put the oil inside. warning I have never tried this but I would definitely use a lazer temp gun to check the temp of the bucket often. I once used two halogen lamps to heat a bucket of oil once. worked well till I got distracted and it melted the barrel.

Small quarts of oil you can put in a microwave and it works pretty well to slowly warm the oil.

 

[My442]

MityVac sells a fluid extractor that has the ability to dispense fluid.

It holds about 2 gallons.

Works great, and about $80.

 

[hooligan24]

pay a neighbor kid $5 to hand pump it in there. When I was young, I was more thna happy to make a buck no matter how crummy the job was

 

[Audi Junkie]

Use an old shop-vac and toss it out.

 

[Shannow]

Drill a hole in the cap marginally smaller than 1/2" clear hose. Heat the hose to really soft, and squeeze it into the hole, then force a pen/texta into the hot tube to "swage" it into the cap shape.

Screw it on, put the other end of the tube in the diff. Upend the bottle and poke a hole in it...then go away and do something for a while.

For gearboxes I used to make a wire cradle that I could hang from the bonnet latch.

 

[Gary Allan]

First empty differential and be darn sure it takes all 5 gallons

Take 1/2 or 5/8 hose of EXCESS length.

Submerge into bucket with hose end opened to excess length (a couple of feet extra).

Place thumb or jam finger into end of hose.

Pull out excess hose length (that was in excess of the full bucket length's vertical column).

Move end of hose to below the level of the bucket.

Place in fill port.

Walk away.

Come back.

Clean up empty stuff.