Rear diff oil

[mgrowc1]

Just had a service on my jlur. I am right at 15k miles and just under 2 years. The tech told me that I really need the rear diff fluids changed and they are black. I remember having this done on my old JK and was over $300. Seems ridiculous that I would need to do this again already considering I don’t do any off-roading. Anyone else having to change it this quickly and is the $300 or more I expect the dealer to want appropriate? I am obviously still under warranty and have th extended warranty so don’t want to do or not do anything that will mess that up.

Thanks,
MG

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[word302]

I just paid $60 for 3 quarts of redline to do front and rear diffs. Probably take about 10 minutes each to do them yourself. Add another $15 if you don't have a drain pan.

 

[melendez69]

15k miles is early to need this, unless you're doing some serious off-roading & driving through water. No one should pay $300 to have diff juice changed. I changed mine today, not out of necessity, but because I changed the diff covers.

It's an incredibly easy DIY and you don't have to be mechanically inclined. 1.5 quarts a side. Get a portable container & dump it at O'Reilly's or Autozone.

 

[Litfuse]

Differentials create more metal shavings than a motor will. Changing early is not a bad thing. Two things, first, do the work yourself. It’s super easy. Next, change it early and then go to 50k mile/4 year change.

 

[basinite]

You probably have a LSD and the clutch plates breaking in caused the oil to prematurely blacken. I had the same issue on my old 2012 after about 15-20 K miles. I changed my oil and didn't have any issues after that. Just make sure you (or the dealership) adds the special friction additive in addition to the oil. This is of course provided you have a LSD and not an open differential.

 

[mgrowc1]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Knowing that I am pretty useless with cars mechanically in general, this is still something you would all recommend doing myself? If so, what tools and oil/additive should I be getting?

Literally the only thing I’ve ever done is change the air filter as they wanted something like $40 to change it (not including the price of the filter).

Thanks again for the help!

 

[mgrowc1]

You probably have a LSD and the clutch plates breaking in caused the oil to prematurely blacken. I had the same issue on my old 2012 after about 15-20 K miles. I changed my oil and didn't have any issues after that. Just make sure you (or the dealership) adds the special friction additive in addition to the oil. This is of course provided you have a LSD and not an open differential.

I assume you are taking about limited slip differential? If so, I have no clue to be honest if I have that or not but sounds like I need to change out the fluids anyway.

 

[Jimmy_jak]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Knowing that I am pretty useless with cars mechanically in general, this is still something you would all recommend doing myself? If so, what tools and oil/additive should I be getting?

Literally the only thing I’ve ever done is change the air filter as they wanted something like $40 to change it (not including the price of the filter).

Thanks again for the help!

I am somewhat mechanically inclined but no more than you I assure you. It's $60 in lube and catch bucket. Very very simple job. Tons of videos online.

 

[Watchthis]

Did mine yesterday in an hour and I move around pretty slow as a senior citizen.

 

[melendez69]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Knowing that I am pretty useless with cars mechanically in general, this is still something you would all recommend doing myself? If so, what tools and oil/additive should I be getting?

Literally the only thing I’ve ever done is change the air filter as they wanted something like $40 to change it (not including the price of the filter).

Thanks again for the help!

DIY'ers would recommend doing yourself (I'm in that crowd). You don't need any special tools... a 3/8" ratchet is all you need to remove the drain & fill plugs.

> Teflon paste or a thread sealant for the plugs. Use a wire brush to clean the old paste from the threads.
> Friction modifier and three quarts of gear oil... Amsoil, Red Line, Royal Purple... everyone will have their preferred brand. Most oils will already have the modifier, but the additive is recommended.
> Maybe a fill tube ($3) to get the oil in. Amsoil has a squeezy quart to make this easier... no tube necessary.
> Remove the fill plug first... drain plug last.

If you really don't have the confidence, you should be able to find someone who can do it for a whole lot less than $300. But anyone here will help.

 

[CarbonSteel]

The vast majority of all axle wear occurs at 15K or less and once changed and despite longer and longer runs, there will always be less wear metal per mile. I changed mine at 5K and the oil was black, had lots of metal on the drain plug, and had the worst UOA of any axle I have ever seen with such low miles. I have changed the oil in dozens of axles in my time and never had one with 604ppm of iron at 5,000 miles. The other concern is the low oil capacity of these axles--more than 1 QT less capacity than similarly sized axles.

I would recommend that everyone with a JL change their rear axle oil at 15K or less and move up to a higher viscosity oil. I am running 75W-110 in the front as it is the viscosity that 75W-90 used to be before the SAE J306 tables were updated a while back. I run 75W-140 in the rear axle. Amsoil Severe Gear has given me great service through the years (especially when towing heavy) and so I highly recommend it.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Knowing that I am pretty useless with cars mechanically in general, this is still something you would all recommend doing myself? If so, what tools and oil/additive should I be getting?

Literally the only thing I’ve ever done is change the air filter as they wanted something like $40 to change it (not including the price of the filter).

Thanks again for the help!

Couldn’t be easier:

 

[BrntWS6]

Did mine at 7k miles and it was black as well. The price people charge for these is crazy. Its no harder than an oil change.

 

[melendez69]

Couldn’t be easier:

That video came to mind, but I thought this guy was on The Naughty List.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

That video came to mind, but I thought this guy was on The Naughty List.

I do t know anything about that... just the first hit on YouTube, and a good video.

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