Low axle fluid on new truck

[DPKetchum]

Filled mine until a little dribbled out.

 

[blacksheep4x4]

Starting with the 04's they started putting a fill line on the diff cover. It is to the left and about an inch below the plug. If you filled it to the plug, it is over full.

Why don't they just make it easy for people and lower the plug on the diff cover?? I guess that would be too easy.

 

[blacksheep4x4]

my 04 305 with 1200 miles on it went in for trans cooling line recall monday and i had them check rear fluid for two reasons , reading about low fluid levels on some of these trucks and since new its had a rear end whine under acceleration at 50 mph. they drove truck and said it does have a rear end whine around 50 and it was full on fluid. the service tech shows me a letter from chrysler about this and it said to put sure grip additive in rear and drive it for awhile to see if that helps. i told them that as far as i know the 04 has synthetic fluid in it and it already has the additive in it. he looked at me kinda funny and said this is what DC says to do and if it doesn't help the noise to bring it back and they will look at it. first of all i hate having them mess with rear end on my new truck. the noise is only there at around 50 not higher or lower and as soon as i lift off pedal it goes away. the worst part is most in town driving is 45-50. the way i look at it is there is a 50-50 chance that if i have them fix it, it will be right or worse then it is and i will regret it. truck should never have left factory making this noise to begin with. on a side note , other then this rear noise the ctd dodge is one nice truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

04 swb, 4-door, 2500, auto ,open rear,average mpg 20.

The rear axel in my 03 had to be rebuilt three times before the wine went away. It started at 55mph and progressed until it howled between 55mph and 70mph. It got so loud it would just about drive you out of the cab.

 

[MLee]

How about the new trucks

When this was first discovered, there was alot of talk about this problem, and the dealers, if questioned replied it had been done. There was near accidents with the differentials locking up etc. Because of low, unchecked fluid levels. It was put back in the owners lap, it was your fault.

My question, are the new trucks still coming in and being delivered with low fluids???????????? If so then the new owners need to be made aware of this situation, and get it taken care of.

As stated, there are fill lines inside the housing. If filled to the bottom of the threads,,,ITS TOO FULL.

My penny's worth

marv.

 

[BillGotthelf]

Look the reason for the lowered oil level was that the company that manufactures them, AAM and DC found that the synthetic they were using was foaming up with the oil level at the fill hole. This was providing less than optimal lubrication to he rear gearset and limited slip clutches. It has to do with the area of spinning metal in contact with the lubricant at any one time. They had problems especially with the LS clutches so if you don't want to follow the manufacturers specs oh well its your truck. Heck you probably are a Rocket Scientist and know more than anyone anyway.

 

[Diesel Power]

cause that so called synthetic is realy no better than what they had 10 years ago---valvoline :-laf :-laf

 

[DPKetchum]

AAM's have NO CLUTCH's in them.

 

[BillGotthelf]

How about limited slip ASSEMBLY.

 

[Stretch]

My Axle is in spec as far as fluids go. Levels are between the fill lines and the plug hole. I still get the whine in the rear end, mainly when it it cold (Alaska). Seems to go away when diff heats up though.



Should I take it in to the dealer anyway? Is there any potential for damage associated with the whine?



Thanks,

 

[NavyDood]

Um... why doesn't some just contact AAM and aske them. After all they did design the axle.

 

[dieselpowered]

Metal on Diff Fill plug

Hi,



I went to check the rear diff level (which was full) and found the fill plug magnet full of metal chunks. The oil has metal flakes in it. Truck only has 3900mi.



Should I take it straight to the dealer or remove diff cover and inspect further?



Henry

 

[rbattelle]

I'd go straight to the dealer, dieselpowered. That looks a bit excessive to me, unless what I'm looking at is simply "powder", in which case it might be normal.



In the rear, I filled mine with 4 quarts, which brought it right below the level of the plug. In the front, I filled until it ran out the hole.



To those who are debating the proper fill level, you might read this. It states, specifically:



6 mm (1/4 in. ) ± 6 mm (1/4 in. )



measured from the bottom of the fill hole. That tells me that it can be filled up to the bottom of the fill hole. [Same for the front and rear].



-Ryan

 

[steved]

:--) Where in the hell did you find that info at? I filled it up like I usually do, which I guess in this case is over full. Well, I didn't have a heck of a lot to do tomorrow. I've never heard of that and for years just filled it up till it came out the fill hole.



Others heed the word of Sag2...

I'm running mine with the level at the plug, and I'm keeping it that way.



steved

 

[steved]

AAM's have NO CLUTCH's in them.

Yes they do, they are termed "shoes" if you look at a breakdown... but they don't need special additive to function.



steved