Thread: Diff oil

Originally Posted by ahebron

When I recently changed the oil in the front diff on my 1997 300TDi auto the oil was black while the rear diff oil colour was as new. Previous change was 25,000 kilometres ago. Any idea why the front diff oil is like this?



Thanks

Adrian

It's the One Shot grease blown through the diff seal from the swivel housings.
When the CV's and swivels get hot and pressurise, the oil/One Shot grease blows through into the axle tubes/diff.
It's very common, just check you swivels for level, they may even have been overfilled.

<edit> If you Disco doesn't have level and drain plugs on the swivel housings, it would have been factory filled with 'One Shot' grease, a very fluid (NLGI 00 ) grease with 3% MoS2, hence the grey/dark colour.

Originally Posted by rick130

It's the One Shot grease blown through the diff seal from the swivel housings.
When the CV's and swivels get hot and pressurise, the oil/One Shot grease blows through into the axle tubes/diff.
It's very common, just check you swivels for level, they may even have been overfilled.

<edit> If you Disco doesn't have level and drain plugs on the swivel housings, it would have been factory filled with 'One Shot' grease, a very fluid (NLGI 00 ) grease with 3% MoS2, hence the grey/dark colour.

Well that explains the mess I found in my front diff this weekend. If it has leaked should we refill our swivel housing?

Originally Posted by black betty

Well that explains the mess I found in my front diff this weekend. If it has leaked should we refill our swivel housing?

Yep, or at least check them for level. You'll have to turn the wheel away from the side you are checking to 'dip' past the swivel ball if you don't have level plugs.

OK now for the silly question.

What should the level be at?

None of my manuals tell me, they all say put in the one shot grease and leave alone

tiny little plug are the filler level, but I think from memory its 250ml each side. I dont use the oneshot stuff tho.