Front and rear diffs - oil full of metal flake

The leg/gearbox on an outboard motor is pretty much a diff that runs nice and cool (Much cooler than a car/truck diff) and the oils used in them are also high tech But if you don't change the oil in these regularly it will end up in tears.
I can't believe anyone would be foolish enough to think that 10years or 100k is a reasonable timeframe to service a diff regardless of who made it or what oil was in it.

How fragile are these diffs in reality? They are only just making a tiny bit of noise. Have to be a trained operator to pick it, windows up, no audio on, etc. Could just be tyre pattern noise to hear it. Is it about to lunch itself or still good for a few tens of thousand of kms no worries?
My experience is with my trusty D1 with monster bearings that could go another 100,000kms easily after starting to disintegrate. Very robust.

Although the oil was filled with sparkly metal there were no chunks or anything you could really feel per-se. And filled with top quality synth lube now. What says the brain trust?

*As Justinc has already mentioned, its all too common on D3/D4, small oil capacity, long change intervals.
*As already mentioned, long service intervals equals better environmental compliance and is to the detriment of the vehicle and owner.
*To believe that manufacturers have consumers best interests in mind is laughable.
*Dealer servicing in general is poor at best, the larger the dealer, the less likely your vehicle will get the required service it needs. (personal opinion)
*At one point I was posting pics on the work facebook page of air filters from vehicles that had corporate servicing done, I gave up as the black solid contaminated filters were the norm.

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Originally Posted by trout1105

God help any poor bugger that buys a D4/D5 when the odometer turns over 250K if the advised service intervals have been adhered to during that time.

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Mine? Just turned over 250K. When I purchased at 200K it had followed factory servicing. I did the front, rear, transfer, and gearbox at that point.
Last weekend did a fluid level check and checked the oil quality, perfect. Crystal clear, no smell, 50K done.
So proof is in the pudding?

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Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

*As Justinc has already mentioned, its all too common on D3/D4, small oil capacity, long change intervals.
*As already mentioned, long service intervals equals better environmental compliance and is to the detriment of the vehicle and owner.
*To believe that manufacturers have consumers best interests in mind is laughable.
*Dealer servicing in general is poor at best, the larger the dealer, the less likely your vehicle will get the required service it needs. (personal opinion)
*At one point I was posting pics on the work facebook page of air filters from vehicles that had corporate servicing done, I gave up as the black solid contaminated filters were the norm.

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^^this. I would add that from my personal experience that even servicing from independent mechanics can be hit and miss as well. You need to inspect for yourself that the work has been carried out.

Forget the oil. I would have thought that environmental compliance would be better if the diffs didnt need replacing, let alone all the resources required to generate the spin, including the relidiculiusly expensive Land Rover dealership fitouts. The level of customer disrespect and hoodwinking by governments, manufacturers and some mechanics is laughable.

We’re lucky the collective wisdom on this great forum is so strong.

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Originally Posted by Zeros

Forget the oil. I would have thought that environmental compliance would be better if the diffs didnt need replacing, let alone all the resources required to generate the spin, including the relidiculiusly expensive Land Rover dealership fitouts. The level of customer disrespect and hoodwinking by governments, manufacturers and some mechanics is laughable.

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100% agree. This miss-guided approach to 'environmentalism' falls over the moment you scratch the surface. Binning large, expensive, energy-intensive assemblies because of avoiding a small amount of oil use (and recycling) is totally ridiculous. All of my oil use is recycled anyway, and the resources to clean and 'refurbish' used oil is minuscule in comparison to the original refinery and blending anyway.

There are a multitude of D1's still getting around and many of these are nearly 30 years old now along with the series landrovers and defenders of similar vintage (1991 I think was the first defender).
I wonder IF these vehicles were subjected to the same extended service intervals that the new cars are now would they still be on the road and IF in 30 years time we will see the same percentages of D4/D5's still on the road.

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Originally Posted by trout1105

There are a multitude of D1's still getting around and many of these are nearly 30 years old now along with the series landrovers and defenders of similar vintage (1991 I think was the first defender).
I wonder IF these vehicles were subjected to the same extended service intervals that the new cars are now would they still be on the road and IF in 30 years time we will see the same percentages of D4/D5's still on the road.

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Just because they’re running around does not presume they haven’t had engine rebuilds, rust repaired, new diffs etc? Yes I’m sure there are some “untouched” cars but I cannot see what this actually means? Of course there will be D4’s running around, but that doesn’t mean that they have or haven’t spent money on them keeping them going.
And yes I know many people who pour good money after bad into a car when it’s a poor financial outcome.

So what is the consensus then? What should the service intervals for diffs, transfer case & gearbox be for a D4?
Mine just reached 60k km with lots of towing & the engine has been done every 12K km. I am thinking that I need to at least change the gearbox oil now.