How To Change Your Rear Axle Fluid

[American Muscle]

If you can change your oil you can do this!

You'll need this:

H14 Hex bit: (Picked up a three pack at Autozone for$12)


A fluid transfer pump: (Autozone has this one for $7)


2 Quarts (2 bottles) of 75-140 synthetic gear lube: (I used Mobile 1)


Now your ready to start the job, drive the car for a while to warm up the rear axle fluid so that it will drain more easily then raise the car and make it level. I used ramps for the front wheels and jack stand for the back.

Loosen the top bolt on the driver side. This will allow air to flow when you start draining. You can remove the bolt, but fluid might start to leak out. Mine had junk in the bolt and made it seem like the 14mm was too big. I took a mallet and tapped the drive in the fitting. You might need to do the same or scrap some of the junk out.


Get a bucket and remove the lower bolt on the pass. side and let it drain (in the meantime, remove the upper bolt, if not already done):


While it is draining get your pump ready. With the pump I purchased I had to cut the top off the fluid bottle so it would fit in:


Put the lower bolt back in and snug it up. I have heard people using Teflon tape of the bolts but I didn't and didn't have any issues.

Stick the pump in the bottle and make sure you attach one of the smaller tubes to the bottom of the pump so it reached the bottom of the bottle. Stick the fill tube in the axle upper hole (The one I used had a clip like part attached to the fill tube. This works great because I needed two hands to pump and didn't have to worry about the fill tube falling out of the hole (insert funny joke here). Now start pumping, you'll need almost 2 bottles to fill it up.

You'll know it's full when fluid starts coming out of the upper hole, where the tube is, at that time go ahead and put the bolt back in tight and you're done.

[wangus]

nice write up....beans to you

i didn't need the transfer pump...i just used the bottles as is and was able to get it up there and squeeze the oil out. you couldn't get all the oil out of the first bottle but you will need both anyway.

i just ended up with a little oil left in both bottles that i just combined for the next time.

btw, i got the entire metric hex set from harbor freight....about 7-8 bits with the rack for about $10

[EMMJAY]

very nice write up...seems real easy to do

[rtr0id]

This looks easy enough but I prefer to do it the hard way. I just take it over to AMP'd and have them do it. The hard part is having them make fun of me while i'm there.

[MuscleMan305]

nice writeup! I was curious if anyone knows if its ok to substitute silicone paste for tape, dont see a reason why not, but u never know

[rctjoe24]

post removed, sorry.

[slvrcharger]

seems fairly easy.. how many miles were you at when you did this service?

[Stormshadow757]

Great write up. I know its time for me to chnge the rear fluid. Been b.s.n on it for the longest. Seems verrry easy to do. If u dont have ramps and jack stands, like me..lol, then might be a different story. I had a good feeling it was simple and ur write up proved it is. What changes do u notice with changing the rear differential fluid?

[American Muscle]

Great write up. I know its time for me to chnge the rear fluid. Been b.s.n on it for the longest. Seems verrry easy to do. If u dont have ramps and jack stands, like me..lol, then might be a different story. I had a good feeling it was simple and ur write up proved it is. What changes do u notice with changing the rear differential fluid?

Didn't notice any change after the service.

[Cibalo]

nice write up. I plan to do this in the next week or so

[SKI WAGON]

I just got back from the parts store with all the pieces to do the rear differential fluid.
My question is that will I be able to drain completely by having the rear or front end on ramps and therefore the vehicle not level?

[ZMagnum]

I just got back from the parts store with all the pieces to do the rear differential fluid.
My question is that will I be able to drain completely by having the rear or front end on ramps and therefore the vehicle not level?

The drain and fill holes are on the side of the diff so front to back won't matter as much as side to side being level.

I used the slope of my driveway and ramps on the back and got mine level for this procedure. I also used some compressed air to get a little more oil out.

I bought Mobile 1 for the fill. I did it at 18,000 miles and will do it again at 36,000 miles. The owner's manual says to "inspect" at 18,000 and 36,000 miles. Well if I'm going to "inspect" the oil I might as well just change it. Then the manual says to change it at 48,000 miles if you have been using it for offroad, taxi, police use.

[SKI WAGON]

I just got done doing the rear differential fluid change and for once, everything went as planned. Like a previous poster stated, there is no need for the pump if you are willing to sacrifice some oil from both of the bottles as there is still plenty of oil to use if you bend and squeeze the bottle to top off the rear differential. Highly recommend this as a DIY and save yourself some money.

[Cazca]

Would ya'll recommend one oil over another? Royal Purple or whatever.

[Slave One]

Would ya'll recommend one oil over another? Royal Purple or whatever.

While in all honesty it more than likely does not make much difference what brand of oil you use, for as infrequently as your going to change it why not just spend the extra coin for something good Piece of mind is priceless.