What is the optimal mileage to drain a differential's factory fill? In other words, roughly when does the majority of break-in wear finish? My parents' G37 has around 4.5k miles on it and I'm wondering whether to change its rear differential factory fill out soon, or wait until 15-20k miles to do so.
Optimal mileage to drain differential factory fill
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I changed manual transmission fluid, gear fluid, differential fluid in my S2000 at around 7-8k miles to get all the metal shaving out.
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I changed manual transmission fluid, gear fluid, differential fluid in my S2000 at around 7-8k miles to get all the metal shaving out.
Did you actually find any metal shavings?
I would be very surprised if any swarf, or even metal dust, managed to make its way into the case. Modern factories are very careful.
I changed manual transmission fluid, gear fluid, differential fluid in my S2000 at around 7-8k miles to get all the metal shaving out.
Did you actually find any metal shavings?
I would be very surprised if any swarf, or even metal dust, managed to make its way into the case. Modern factories are very careful.
I changed the gear oil in my rear end at 5000kms when we swapped gears and there wasn't any metal to be seen. I should have left it alone. Could have saved myself time,gasket and gear oil.
Your results may vary
Your results may vary
Originally Posted By: Clevy
I changed the gear oil in my rear end at 5000kms when we swapped gears and there wasn't any metal to be seen. I should have left it alone. Could have saved myself time,gasket and gear oil.
Your results may vary
The diff has a drain plug so if I waste an hour of my time, oh well. Maybe I'll wait until 10k and put M1 75W-90 in there and leave it for a while.
I changed the gear oil in my rear end at 5000kms when we swapped gears and there wasn't any metal to be seen. I should have left it alone. Could have saved myself time,gasket and gear oil.
Your results may vary
The diff has a drain plug so if I waste an hour of my time, oh well. Maybe I'll wait until 10k and put M1 75W-90 in there and leave it for a while.
When I bought my Dakota a couple of years ago, it had 89,000 miles. I bought a few quarts of Mystik gear oil, intending to drain & refill the rear end. BUT: The factory fill synthetic gear oil looked so clean- I decided to wait until about 100,000 miles!
It's now at ~101-102K(don't rack up the miles like I once did), & I plan to change it at the next oil change. (But I suspect it'd go another 100K easily.)
It's now at ~101-102K(don't rack up the miles like I once did), & I plan to change it at the next oil change. (But I suspect it'd go another 100K easily.)
12,000 miles works well for me.
My Frontier had black "fur" on the magnetic drain plug at about 5000 miles when I drained and refilled with Mobil 1 75W-90. At somewhere over 30,000 miles, I drained and refilled again with Mobil 1. There was much less "fur" on the magnet and I'll no doubt let this in for a number of years.
However, I am glad I drained at 5000. Besides the "fur", the factory fill did not look so good. Mobil 1 stays very clean and clear.
However, I am glad I drained at 5000. Besides the "fur", the factory fill did not look so good. Mobil 1 stays very clean and clear.
Originally Posted By: Towncivilian
Originally Posted By: Clevy
I changed the gear oil in my rear end at 5000kms when we swapped gears and there wasn't any metal to be seen. I should have left it alone. Could have saved myself time,gasket and gear oil.
Your results may vary
The diff has a drain plug so if I waste an hour of my time, oh well. Maybe I'll wait until 10k and put M1 75W-90 in there and leave it for a while.
Mine didn't. I had to remove the pumpkin. I'm glad I did just for peace of mind. Had I not there would likely have been a chunk of metal in there wreaking havoc on my new gears.
Murphy's law right.
You gotta do what makes you comfortable right,and the few bucks it costs to know could be money well spent.
I used red line shockproof heavy and was very happy with it. I use it in my Harley
Originally Posted By: Clevy
I changed the gear oil in my rear end at 5000kms when we swapped gears and there wasn't any metal to be seen. I should have left it alone. Could have saved myself time,gasket and gear oil.
Your results may vary
The diff has a drain plug so if I waste an hour of my time, oh well. Maybe I'll wait until 10k and put M1 75W-90 in there and leave it for a while.
Mine didn't. I had to remove the pumpkin. I'm glad I did just for peace of mind. Had I not there would likely have been a chunk of metal in there wreaking havoc on my new gears.
Murphy's law right.
You gotta do what makes you comfortable right,and the few bucks it costs to know could be money well spent.
I used red line shockproof heavy and was very happy with it. I use it in my Harley
5k sounds fine. A couple of years back Amsoil did a story/study on it - and while I dont recall the exact change interval - they determined that changing it (even once) very early gained huge benefits.
I did it in my G last year, and it's a really easy job. I just backed it up on some ramps and went to work. It took me under half an hour.
Break-in is usually finished by 3-5K, so that's as good a time as any. I have had independent confirmation of just what Dinwiddle (yes, that's his real name) talked about in the article. I have also read the SAE papers he referenced. There are also some good gear oil particle counts/used oil analysis here. If you plan of keeping something for the long haul, I truly believe that early change is a critical part of long, troublefree axle life
Here is the Amsoil Article referenced above
First Diff Change
Here is the Amsoil Article referenced above
First Diff Change
Originally Posted By: djb
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I changed manual transmission fluid, gear fluid, differential fluid in my S2000 at around 7-8k miles to get all the metal shaving out.
Did you actually find any metal shavings?
I would be very surprised if any swarf, or even metal dust, managed to make its way into the case. Modern factories are very careful.
The 'swarf' and metal shavings are created IN the case from gears and bearings, NOT from factory dust and debris.
So at 5k or so, a fresh drain/fill of the best fluid you can find is smart for the long term. You need not be in a hurry, shop around.
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I changed manual transmission fluid, gear fluid, differential fluid in my S2000 at around 7-8k miles to get all the metal shaving out.
Did you actually find any metal shavings?
I would be very surprised if any swarf, or even metal dust, managed to make its way into the case. Modern factories are very careful.
The 'swarf' and metal shavings are created IN the case from gears and bearings, NOT from factory dust and debris.
So at 5k or so, a fresh drain/fill of the best fluid you can find is smart for the long term. You need not be in a hurry, shop around.
Thanks for all the input everybody. A local NAPA sells Amsoil 75W-90 SVG so I'll probably use that for the diff. With a paltry 1.5 quart capacity, it will be a fairly inexpensive change. I don't know how long the car will be kept, but nonetheless I like to minimize any possibility of trouble down the road.
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