Thread: LT230 used oil colour?

I have just changed the rear oil seal and flange on the t/case of my 02my defender xtreme.
The oil that came out of the t/case was black and also had a metallic sheen in it.
The oil was only changed about 5000k ago.
The oil was fully synthetic 75/90 nulon, on their recommended chart for the t/case
Full Synthetic 75W-90 Performance Smooth Shift Manual Gearbox and Transaxle Oil - Nulon Products Australia
In short, do I have a problem or is this acceptable?

The vehicle drives fine and no (unusual) noises coming from the t/case.
And about 80,000 klm's on it.

Cheers,
Paul.

Originally Posted by rick130

How did it smell ?

The only time I've seen LT230 gear oil black was with mismatched tyre sizes front to rear (7:50/16's-235/85's) so the t/case was constantly differentiating (and it'd probably copped a flogging prior to my ownership with the difflock possibly not engaged often enough offroad)

I changed it and the t/case has been fine for the last 200,000km (except for the oil leaks).

Change fluid and re-check in 1000km.

Thanks Rick,
It did smell a bit burnt and I may be guilty of not locking the centre diff often enough.
Tyres are the same size all round so not an issue.

So I may be the cause of the BLACK 'burnt' oil!
Is the metallic sheen in the oil a product of my mistreatment and am I looking at a potential failure?
I am thinking of going for the Disco gearing as the vehicle has been remapped ect.
so this may speed up my decision.

Cheers,
Paul.