Differential oil change

[Hemi395]

Here's a pic of the cover installed and the close clearance of panhard bar

 

[JB1]

Looks great, this has been on my list of things to buy/do. What did you use to seal it?

 

[Hemi395]

Looks great, this has been on my list of things to buy/do. What did you use to seal it?

Thanks! It comes with an o ring type of gasket built into the cover so no sealant is necessary

 

[JB1]

Oh ok I did not know that, I assume the bolts don’t have thru holes so nothing needed on the threads either?

 

[Hemi395]

Oh ok I did not know that, I assume the bolts don’t have thru holes so nothing needed on the threads either?

That's correct they are just bored into the case of the axle and are not through holes. I opted not to put antiseize on the threads because the bolts that come with the MH cover are stainless.

 

[R.L.K.]

That looks great Hemi !
I kinda like the idea of a dip stick [emoji106]

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[JB1]

Last question....TQ for new bolts?

 

[Hemi395]

Last question....TQ for new bolts?

The MH instructions say 16ft/lbs which is 192in/lbs. My big torque wrench doesn't go below 20ft/lbs so I used my small in/lbs torque wrench at 192in/lbs.

 

[Hemi395]

That looks great Hemi !
I kinda like the idea of a dip stick [emoji106]

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I do and I don't.

It's really nice to be able to fill it from the top without a pump. The Redline quart bottle almost fits inside the dipstick port so that's really nice. Plus the dipstick has a small magnet on it.

But it makes it idiot proof to fill it until the fluid comes out of the fill hole on the factory cover. With the dipstick it makes it a little more trial and error until it's at the right level. For me it was 4 quarts exactly.

I checked the dipstick this morning and it was exactly in the middle of the two marks on the dipstick. Last night it was above the full mark. I'll probably check it again tomorrow to be safe.

 

[Hemi395]

A closer look at how close the bar is to the MH cover

 

[R.L.K.]

I do and I don't.

It's really nice to be able to fill it from the top without a pump. The Redline quart bottle almost fits inside the dipstick port so that's really nice. Plus the dipstick has a small magnet on it.

But it makes it idiot proof to fill it until the fluid comes out of the fill hole on the factory cover. With the dipstick it makes it a little more trial and error until it's at the right level. For me it was 4 quarts exactly.

I checked the dipstick this morning and it was exactly in the middle of the two marks on the dipstick. Last night it was above the full mark. I'll probably check it again tomorrow to be safe.

The level will fluctuate a bit as some of the fluid ends up down the left & right side axles to the axle shaft seals . I'd say anywhere above the minimum line and your fine ....me personally I might would drive it 10+ miles to heat the oil a bit ( expand ) , then park on level ground then check it and adjust as required .

This may seem extream LOL because my experience with most vehicle owner's ...they never For the life of their vehicles check , change or even think about differential gear oil .

When I was a kid on the farm we had a gravel bed across the Creek to get to the back 80 acres of our property , normal depth about 2' sometimes 3+' which didn't stop us [emoji16] , daddy had a hand me down early 60 something ford farm truck from my pepaw with over 200k on the odometer ( turned over twice ) , probably 30 + on the farm and to the feed store only .

The differentials oils had never been changed according to my Pepaw , when I took the covers off it looked like thick light brown stained cow's milk poured out of both diffs ...gears looked good and I serviced it up with bulk ( who knows the weight) gear oil from a drum at the feed store . I know that truck was in the family for at least another 25 years and probably never had a differential problem ...oh the good O'l days .

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[Hemi395]

The level will fluctuate a bit as some of the fluid ends up down the left & right side axles to the axle shaft seals . I'd say anywhere above the minimum line and your fine ....me personally I might would drive it 10+ miles to heat the oil a bit ( expand ) , then park on level ground then check it and adjust as required .

This may seem extream LOL because my experience with most vehicle owner's ...they never For the life of their vehicles check , change or even think about differential gear oil .

When I was a kid on the farm we had a gravel bed across the Creek to get to the back 80 acres of our property , normal depth about 2' sometimes 3+' which didn't stop us [emoji16] , daddy had a hand me down early 60 something ford farm truck from my pepaw with over 200k on the odometer ( turned over twice ) , probably 30 + on the farm and to the feed store only .

The differentials oils had never been changed according to my Pepaw , when I took the covers off it looked like thick light brown stained cow's milk poured out of both diffs ...gears looked good and I serviced it up with bulk ( who knows the weight) gear oil from a drum at the feed store . I know that truck was in the family for at least another 25 years and probably never had a differential problem ...oh the good O'l days .

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Yeah that's probably what happened, it flowed into the axle tubes. I checked it again this afternoon after driving it for 25 miles on the highway. It was about the same level on the dipstick as this morning.

On a side note the magnet on the dipstick is strong as hell! I was pulling it out the check the level and stuck to the panhard bar.

I know I miss the old days when things were built to last and you could perform simple maintenance with simple fluids and things just lasted.

 

[U&A]

That's correct they are just bored into the case of the axle and are not through holes. I opted not to put antiseize on the threads because the bolts that come with the MH cover are stainless.

Stainless bolts actually “mar” much easier than carbon. It is way more common when the bolt and nut are both stainless but can still happen when it is stainless and carbon together. We fabricated 90% of our stuff out of 304 and 316 stainless and use stainless hardware for everything. It happens all the time at work. Someone uses stainelss bolts without antiseize and they mar the **** out of eachother.

JMO though

 

[Hemi395]

Stainless bolts actually “mar” much easier than carbon. It is way more common when the bolt and nut are both stainless but can still happen when it is stainless and carbon together. We fabricated 90% of our stuff out of 304 and 316 stainless and use stainless hardware for everything. It happens all the time at work. Someone uses stainelss bolts without antiseize and they mar the **** out of eachother.

JMO though

So should I pull them out at put antiseize on them?

 

[R.L.K.]

Stainless bolts actually “mar” much easier than carbon. It is way more common when the bolt and nut are both stainless but can still happen when it is stainless and carbon together. We fabricated 90% of our stuff out of 304 and 316 stainless and use stainless hardware for everything. It happens all the time at work. Someone uses stainelss bolts without antiseize and they mar the **** out of eachother.

JMO though

Very true , high quality stainless steel does Mar/ Gauld very easily ... especially against another quality stainless Componet .
It's a good idea to use a small amount of anti-sieze compound on any high quality stainless , even when going into carbon steel .. imo...

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[R.L.K.]

One at a time , and only put a small amount of anti seize

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[U&A]

So should I pull them out at put antiseize on them?

Since that pan just has an oring and not RTV i would take them out one at a time and put a small amount on. Re install that one and move to the next. It wont hurt.

 

[U&A]

One at a time , and only put a small amount of anti seize

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LOL.

Beat me to it.

 

[Hemi395]

Ok cool will do. Never knew that about stainless bolts. Thanks guys!

 

[R.L.K.]

Just remember this as a rule of thumb , if the hardware is supposed to be stainless , try and pick it up with a high strength magnet ....if it does not respond to the magnet , then it's high % and quality stainless , if it lifts with the magnet but not strongly then it's a lesser quality % stainless , if it picks up like a normal steel bolt , then it's very low % / quality stainless and has a 40% or more carbon steel .... The more stainless , the higher possibility of this hardware gaulding up.

If the main component or the hardware going in is high or medium quality stainless steel , then a bit of anti-sieze is a good idea . Especially if it's something that does not come apart often , or something that experiences a large temperature change ...meaning does it get hot at times ? If so then definitely put anti-sieze on it . If it gets really hot ..say above 400°f regularly then regardless of the metal Type install it with a light coat of high temp anti-sieze compound.

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