Dealer wants $660 to change differential fluid

[Fredtp]

So...I live just outside NYC and took my 2018 JLU to the dealer for 30K maint. They want $330 to change the differential fluid...each.

is it just me or is this high? Is there anything special a dealer does that isn’t just a straight forward oil change?

I could change it myself but it’s time and hassle I’d rather spend elsewhere.

Thx

I changed mine yesterday and I am 70 years old and it took me 30 minutes to do both differentials.
But I like working on my own stuff.

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[DaltonGang]

241 posts, about draining Differential Fluid. Geez guys, get a life. Put down the computer, smack your Wife's Ass, and get busy with more important and fun things in life. 241 posts, Ridiculous.

 

[Mike921921]

Dealerships definitely go by the book - when the book says x hours for a job that's what they bill by. Even if an experienced mech. can do it in half the time it still gets billed by the book time. Support your local mech./shop if you don't want to do it yourself.

 

[Vinman]

So far fetched, you mean like 1 in 10, 1 in 100, 1 in 1000 or 1 in 10,000. I would bet that there are not 50 people on this site the have fucked up diff plugs. I am thinking that it is far feched. There is always going to be an exception to the rule. Kind of like the marathon runner in their thirties that die from a heart attack. Anyone asking how to change the diff fluid is probably doing it for the first time on a new vehicle that has never had the plugs removed.

Ok, you win.
You’re right, I’m wrong.

 

[DanW]

241 posts, about draining Differential Fluid. Geez guys, get a life. Put down the computer, smack your Wife's Ass, and get busy with more important and fun things in life. 241 posts, Ridiculous.

Yet you took the time to chime in, knowing it would have zero effect on our obsession with this topic. Maybe you need a life as much as we do! LoL!

 

[DaltonGang]

Yet you took the time to chime in, knowing it would have zero effect on our obsession with this topic. Maybe you need a life as much as we do! LoL!

I've been on quarantine lockdown, for the past 8 days. I'm really really bored.
So, even the silliest topics seem to peak my interest. Did I say I was bored yet??

 

[Rodeoflyer]

I do my own fluid swaps, however If I'm paying someone to do the work, it surely wouldn't be a dealer. They only touch my jeep for warranty work.

Lots of great 4x4 shops can change it for you if you don't feel like doing yourself (or lack the tools/garage).

 

[DanW]

I've been on quarantine lockdown, for the past 8 days. I'm really really bored.
So, even the silliest topics seem to peak my interest. Did I say I was bored yet??

Lol, I think all of us are. I'm not on quarantine, but even my job, which normally never has a dull moment, is boring during these Covid times. Next thing you know, we'll have a 400 post thread on which way you should close the dash vents, up or down!

 

[limeade]

Lol, I think all of us are. I'm not on quarantine, but even my job, which normally never has a dull moment, is boring during these Covid times. Next thing you know, we'll have a 400 post thread on which way you should close the dash vents, up or down!

Don't be silly.....the Wrangler vents rotate so you can close them to the left or right too.

 

[wibornz]

So I got to wondering if you did climb under your Jeep and low and behold your new Jeep has a destroyed fill plug, what are you going to do. Not change the fluid and just keep driving it, or are you going to find a way to remove it?

If you ahead and remove and replace the destroyed fill plug, did it really matter that you pulled it first or last? I know what I would do even if I couldn't get the plug out.

 

[DaltonGang]

Lol, I think all of us are. I'm not on quarantine, but even my job, which normally never has a dull moment, is boring during these Covid times. Next thing you know, we'll have a 400 post thread on which way you should close the dash vents, up or down!

Come on, everyone knows it should be diagonal.

.

 

[Vinman]

So I got to wondering if you did climb under your Jeep and low and behold your new Jeep has a destroyed fill plug, what are you going to do. Not change the fluid and just keep driving it, or are you going to find a way to remove it?

If you ahead and remove and replace the destroyed fill plug, did it really matter that you pulled it first or last? I know what I would do even if I couldn't get the plug out.

The problem arises if the fill plug is destroyed and somebdy that doesn’t have the means to remove it pulls the drain plug and drains the fluid. Now what? They have a Jeep that can’t be driven to get the fill plug removed since there’s no oil in the diff.

I know I would have no problem getting the fill plug out no matter what shape it’s in (and I suspect you wouldn’t either) but the average DIY’er may not have the necessary tools or skill to do that.

I’m not trying to be argumentative with you just trying to give newbies some suggestions to make their life easier.

 

[Vinman]

I know what I would do even if I couldn't get the plug out.

Pour a pre-measured amount of fluid in through the vent hole?

 

[neil]

241 posts, about draining Differential Fluid. Geez guys, get a life. Put down the computer, smack your Wife's Ass, and get busy with more important and fun things in life. 241 posts, Ridiculous.

I will be changing my diff fluids in a couple weeks, and can only hope to read all these posts beforehand.

 

[txj2go]

I've been on quarantine lockdown, for the past 8 days. I'm really really bored.

I've been stuck at home for almost 10 months. I'm past bored.

Pour a pre-measured amount of fluid in through the vent hole?

Get a tiny little funnel...
or a syringe with a small spout.
Or jack up one side of the Jeep and pull out an axle shaft.

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