PorKen

Finally put some synthetic oil* in the 3-speed diff; been meaning to change it since I bought the car.

Per previous threads, I cleaned around the plugs with a toothbrush, and squirted some Liquid Wrench on them. Then I drove around all day, looking for a 17mm trans/diff tool, or even a decent allen socket - no dice.

I finally found an big 'ol 17 allen bar at the hardware store ($7!), and cut it short with a chop saw. The top one came off easily with the 'impactor', the lower was a little tougher, but it doesn't look like it's ever been out (no tool marks).



I suppose the metal filings on the magnet are normal for 145K miles?

I wrapped the plugs with Teflon tape, and then filled 'er up with ~2 quarts (all it would take, book says 2.11) of oil. Thankfully, synthetic gear oil is not as bad smelling as the old stuff, as a big portion of it went in my hair when the hose popped off!

*Pennzoil 75W90 GL5 synthetic, WallyWorld, $7.50/quart

SharkSkin

If it's never been changed, that's not so bad. If it had been changed 4 or 5 times, there would likely have been a little bit of crud on it each time. I'd say check it again in ~5-10K and see what it looks like.

Doug Hillary

Hi Porken,

it may be worthwhile to change the gear oil again after you have covered about 1k or so. This will remove the last of the "sulphur" based old gear oil and other contaminants

Regards

PorKen

Dave,

I reckon the oil has been changed at least once, as the top plug has marks on it. Jiffy Lube et. al. use a vacuum to empty the diff, through the fill hole, I figure that's why the bottom plug was untouched.
...

Doug,

Good plan. I'll change the oil again when I get back from Sharktoberfest, which is just under 1000 miles - one way!

SharkSkin

Ken, that would still indicate 145K worth of shavings. If you collected that much metal in 30K, I'd say it's something to worry about.