Quick help!... what color is rear diif fluid SUPPOSED to be at 2200 miles ???

[roperteacher]

I just had my rear differential fluid checked here locally to rule out my " Whine" coming from a rear end problem. They checked it, it was FULL, BUUUUT the fluid is GRAPHITE GRAY with a little metal already sticking to the magnet with 2200 miles on the clock. This is a 2004. 5 600 4x2 standard trans... . thanks guys!

 

[MCornwell]

I just changed my diff. fluid out to Mobil 75-90 at 20,000 miles. I



have cleaned the fill plug magnet 4 times before, each time with



some metal paste. The oil was clearish brown with just alittle bit



of suspended wear material, the gears looked good. If he



showed you what he wiped off the magnet it would be graphite



gray, but if the oil itself was gray because of alot of suspended



metal filings i would take it in soon.



-Mitch

 

[roperteacher]

I watched them check it, he showed me fluid from inside the rear end, not the plug. It was definately graphite gray in color... going to make an appointment to get it to the dealer this week!

 

[Andy Morrison]

If the fluids that color I think you found your whine.





Andy

 

[rbattelle]

Some of us who changed much later than 2200 miles found some grayish-colored oil. There's no way to determine, however, at what point it turned that color: 2200 or 14000. But 2200 seems awful early. Couple that with a whine... you might have some problem. Then again, it might go away after the axle finishes breaking in. Maybe you should make the dealer document it, so that if later on the whine gets really bad and you want a replacement there's a record that a problem was encountered?

 

[draymorris]

My fluid was gray at 18 k. I replied on your other post with more info.



Keep us posted.

 

[roperteacher]

It was definately a bad rear end... they are going to replace several parts in it! Wouldn't the dealer have to keep replacing the parts if they were under warranty???? THey can't expect me not to pull a trailer can they??? Thanks!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

a decent, proper fix - would be to replace the entire differential. and make DERN sure the housing and axle tubes are thoroughly cleaned of all contamination...

 

[Turbo Kidd]

I have 14,000 miles on my 03 and I still have not changed the rear diff fluid. However, I plan on changing every fluid in my rig the next oil change (17,000 +/-). My dealer sent me a coupon for $399..... Which includes front & rear diffs, transmission, transfer case and oil change with filter..... all synthetic! Call me crazy, but that seems like a good deal!?! It has cost me & $110 just for the oil change in the past (For synthetic).

 

[RobbieH]

changing all those fluids is incredibly easy. No way I'd pay $399, but then they quoted my wife $1100 for doing the same thing on her Cherokee, so for a dealership that is a good price. I did it myself in the garage drinking a few beers.



$110 for an oil change is outrageous.

 

[adsharpe]

Changed mine at 2800 cause the dumb *&^% dealer service guy added two qts. non-synthetic when I noticed it was a bit low. It was slimy grey and didn't look like diff oil.



I put Shell Spirax S synthetic 75W90 and away we went.



By the way, the Spirax S looks like honey. Should be able to check for gear wear by color check.



I buy the Spirax in 5 gallon pail from the local distributor, which makes it cheap for a synthetic rated by the big truck boys for up to 750,000 miles in rears or transmission.

 

[Tony T.]

Changing gear oil

I changed both front an rear gear oil at 15,220 miles an the fluid looked new that came out. Gears looked real good also. Not really any grey paste to speak of on the magnet. Towed TT maybe a total of 5 times in that 15,000 time frame. I have not been able to tow our TT much lately since my wife had her wreck. So I don't know if towing alot is affecting some that are hearing a whine or not. I replaced factory fill with the Castrol Syntec 75w-90. Funny though the Schedule (B) says change every 15,000 miles an Schedule (A) has no mention of changing at all.

 

[CChase]

Originally posted by Tony T.

Funny though the Schedule (B) says change every 15,000 miles an Schedule (A) has no mention of changing at all.

Owner's manual says it's not required to be changed even on Schedule B unless the diff is subjected to water contamination or severe service.



[On edit: Look on page 350 of the Owner's Manual]