DIY: Rear Differential Oil Change

Dwight Frye · 12-31-2012, 07:50 PM

I changed mine out today. Mileage on the car was about 29,350 and it was the first change. There was some sludge on the drain plug but no metal particles were seen. The original oil was pretty dark. I used the Redline 75W-90.
A couple of tips: I was able to wiggle underneath the car and do it without having to jack it up although I'm not a particularly big guy. I suggest putting one of those large sheet metal drip pans under the car. No problems getting the old oil out, but while pumping the new oil in with a Harbor Freight hand pump, at one point the filler hose popped out of the fill hole and a big spurt of oil splashed down on the drip pan. A piece of duct tape was used to hold the hose in place for the remainder of the job. As others have mentioned, you just pump at least 1 1/2 quarts and when full the excess will drip out. Which is another reason for a drip pan or the used oil container to catch the overflow. Lastly, when done filling the pump needs to be cleaned and pumped a few times to get the excess oil out of the hoses and body. More oil squirting everywhere. Work over the drip pan.
But, about a third of a roll of paper towels and some Simple Green and everything cleaned up well.
One more caveat: Some pumps are designed to screw right on the top of a quart or gallon oil jug. The Redline bottle necks are smaller than a standard quart bottle. And my Harbor Freight pump just has an input hose and an output hose, no screw cap on the input side. To lessen the chance of tipping and/or spilling, next time I will bore a hole in the cap of the oil bottle just big enough for a tight friction fit of the input hose. That should also hold the end of the hose down at the bottom of the bottle and ensure maximum drain when pumping.

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12-31-2012, 07:50 PM	#11 (permalink)
Dwight Frye Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Occupied California Posts: 423 Drives: '09 Tour/Sport/6MT Rep Power: 17	I changed mine out today. Mileage on the car was about 29,350 and it was the first change. There was some sludge on the drain plug but no metal particles were seen. The original oil was pretty dark. I used the Redline 75W-90. A couple of tips: I was able to wiggle underneath the car and do it without having to jack it up although I'm not a particularly big guy. I suggest putting one of those large sheet metal drip pans under the car. No problems getting the old oil out, but while pumping the new oil in with a Harbor Freight hand pump, at one point the filler hose popped out of the fill hole and a big spurt of oil splashed down on the drip pan. A piece of duct tape was used to hold the hose in place for the remainder of the job. As others have mentioned, you just pump at least 1 1/2 quarts and when full the excess will drip out. Which is another reason for a drip pan or the used oil container to catch the overflow. Lastly, when done filling the pump needs to be cleaned and pumped a few times to get the excess oil out of the hoses and body. More oil squirting everywhere. Work over the drip pan. But, about a third of a roll of paper towels and some Simple Green and everything cleaned up well. One more caveat: Some pumps are designed to screw right on the top of a quart or gallon oil jug. The Redline bottle necks are smaller than a standard quart bottle. And my Harbor Freight pump just has an input hose and an output hose, no screw cap on the input side. To lessen the chance of tipping and/or spilling, next time I will bore a hole in the cap of the oil bottle just big enough for a tight friction fit of the input hose. That should also hold the end of the hose down at the bottom of the bottle and ensure maximum drain when pumping.