| Changing Front and Rear Differential Oils on a TD6 '02 | |
Not so much a howto, more of an observations and comments on how it went.
Purchased replacement 3 litres 75w-90 fluid from Opie Oils, going by Lubricants guide on the wiki.
Started at the rear diff as expected access to be easier than the front.
All the drain and filler plugs are a 14mm inverted hex socket, so make sure you have one of these before you start. I improvised with a brake line coupler left over from doing my brakes. Perfect!
Undo the filler plug first! If you can't undo it for whatever reason, you can stop now, and at least you still have a driveable car. (Lesson learned from draining the automatic transmission fluid from gearbox!)
Once you know you can undo the filler plug, get a suitable container (use a low flat container to avoid knocking it over - like what I did, twice!) to catch the old fluid, and undo and remove the drain plug. The fluid should come gushing out, it is a bit less viscous than engine oil and for me it was a warm day. My fluid was a dark brown colour, slightly translucent in appearance.
Remove the filler plug now and clean up both plugs.
I didn't have any seals on either drain or fill so used Hylomars to create a new seal on refit.
Refit the drain plug and tighten.
Access for refill is awkward, so plan for this. I used a 500ml syringe and some air con pipe. Keep pumping it in until it starts to dribble out of the filler aperture, then refit the filler plug and tighten. (This is as advised on RAVE)
For the rear diff I got @ 1400ml out and got 1400ml in. (Hmmm, wiki suggests 1000ml refill, 1200ml from dry ?)
Access for the front diff isn't too bad, but draining the diff will make a mess. I made up a makeshift funnel with an old coke bottle in order to stop the fluid going everywhere but still got in a mess and knocked my catch container over again! Again fluid was dark brown, slightly translucent.
Again check the filler plug will undo before draining. You will need a socket and extension to attack this from the wheelarch area, so might be easier with wheel off, especially for filling. Oddly the drain plug was the difficult one at this end.
The drain plug for the front diff has a magnet in it, this will catch you out as you get to the end of the thread, then it jumps out and attaches to the casing of the diff, further spraying of fluid everywhere. On inspection a small amount of metal filings but nothing to be unduly concerned about
Both plugs removed and cleaned up, clean up around the face of the drain plug and refit with some sealant and tighten up.
To fill I found it easiest with my syringe to sit in the wheelarch and squirt it into the filler aperture from there. YMMV.
Once dribbling out of the filler aperture refit the filler plug and tighten. Clean up excess.
For the front diff I got @ 800ml out ( I think, because I split a lot, but it felt like less - some signs of a leak too)
and 800ml in. (Hmmm wiki suggests refill 750ml, 800ml from dry - closer this time)
Nice straightforward job for a change  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember 
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962
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13th Jun 2014 2:30pm
