Nasty rear diff oil. Opinions wanted.

[AlphaWrangler]

I wouldnt worry until you change it and it sparkles lol

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[m3reno]

I switched my Dodge Ram's gear to Auburn and they recommended I change the oil every 5,000 miles because of the clutch wear. Maybe you should change the oil a bit sooner.

 

[AKLespaul]

I switched my Dodge Ram's gear to Auburn and they recommended I change the oil every 5,000 miles because of the clutch wear. Maybe you should change the oil a bit sooner.

I dont mind changing the oil at all. The book says 30000 miles or 3 years. my first was at 11k and the next 22k later. Maybe every 10 or 15k ...

 

[ArmyRN]

Ive got a 23 JLU WILLYS XR 2.0T. Just before I had TrueTracs installed front and rear (around 20,000 miles), I flat towed my 3000lb flatty about 1500 miles round trip from SW WA to Idaho and back. Mostly highway speeds with some hills. Did not baby it.

Afterwards when I dropped the Jeep off at the extremely experienced shop for the diff work, they told me the rear diff gear oil was dark. Possibly burnt. Was it from the added stress on the rear diff from towing, or from the LS plates? Don't know. We put 140 gear oil in the diffs, and I haven't checked it yet (has only been a couple thousand miles ago).

I'm not a fan of LS diffs with friction plates that wear out. If you're changing gears out anyways and want to keep a LS, go with a TrueTrac.

 

[Fatbob Frank]

Ultimately I'd worry more about what your old gears looked like than what the diff oil looked like...
If they weren't damaged then the oil was doing it's job...

 

[Dyolfknip74]

You have to run it on your lips to truly know if its still effective.



(In case anyone was going to actually run this on a mucus membrane, dont)

 

[AlgUSF]

If you have the "Limited Slip Rear Differential" it will get black from clutch plates wearing and depositing material in your fluid. The clutch material is non-ferrous and will not gather at the magnet. When I did my regear the fluid was dark black and had the typical sulfur smell of gear oil. I didn't think much of it as I knew the source.

 

[zouch]

i'm with you on the TrueTracs. have one in the rear of each of my J**ps.

but after TrueTrac, no more synthetics; Eaton recommends a conventional oil with those.

I'm not a fan of LS diffs with friction plates that wear out. If you're changing gears out anyways and want to keep a LS, go with a TrueTrac.

 

[ArmyRN]

i'm with you on the TrueTracs. have one in the rear of each of my J**ps.

but after TrueTrac, no more synthetics; Eaton recommends a conventional oil with those.

Oh yeah, pure Dino oil only. No additives.

 

[ArmyRN]

i'm with you on the TrueTracs. have one in the rear of each of my J**ps.

but after TrueTrac, no more synthetics; Eaton recommends a conventional oil with those.

Eaton also recommends a FAD delete when putting a TrueTrac up front. I used a MOPAR FAD delete plate, and bought a Tazer to make the Jeep think it wasn't there to begin with.

 

[bd100]

but after TrueTrac, no more synthetics; Eaton recommends a conventional oil with those.

Meanwhile Dana recommends synth for the axle. I guess you could use conventional and change it frequently, but if towing then I'd worry about burning the gears. Supposedly they run hot. And then people put nodular covers on them which may make things worse.

 

[zouch]

we only have some Dana bearings left to lube, at this point.
there’s plenty of good conventional lubes out there, and i change it often enough that this is one thing i’m absolutely not worried about (nodular covers or no).

Meanwhile Dana recommends synth for the axle. I guess you could use conventional and change it frequently, but if towing then I'd worry about burning the gears. Supposedly they run hot. And then people put nodular covers on them which may make things worse.

 

[CarbonSteel]

The m220 is supposed to get 75w 85 not 140

Not according to Dana who manufactures the axle. Dana specs 75W-140 for all Mxxx axles. They have no skin in the CAFE game like Stellantis does.

 

[Speed331]

Did my third 30k mile change this weekend. Oil looked brand new - golden and clear with almost zero residue on the magnets.

Running Valvoline 75w-140 since the first change for several reasons;

Dana reccomends it for all axles - I'll take their word for it. After all, the designed and built the darn things.

I daily drive in a very hot summer climate (Vegas Baby) and want the protection of the higher viscosity.

And, I don't need two half full pouches of different weight gear oil floating around my garage....

 

[Pape]

Rear diff oil is most of the time nasty. Front is most of the time pristine.
If you are concern send a sample for oil analysis.

Personally I did not see much differential issue thread over here other than the electronic not handling the heat properly.

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