is it good to change trans fluid in the aw-4 if you havent done it or dont know when it was ever done? second how do you do it? will it perform the same? i want to change the fluids in the my diff's, how do i do that? what kind of fluid replaces it?

 

A Haynes manual would be a good investment. To drain your differentials just loosen all the bolts holding the cover on, completely remove the bottom three or four. Then hit the cover sideways with a rubber mallet until the oil starts to come out of the bottom. I did not check to see what axles you have, some will have drain plugs, but not all of them. I put 90w gear oil in my diffs, if you have a clutch based LSD you may need to put in LSD additive. Also to refill the diffs you will need to buy a small pump that attaches to a bottle, it only cost about $7. You just fill the diff until it is level with the bottom of the fill hole.

Also you will need to pick up a new gasket for your diff cover, or just use black RTV to make one. Be sure to clean both the cover and the housing mating surfaces so you get a good seal and do not have to do it again.

 

i have the dana 35 and 30 thank you for the help.... have fun jeepin

 

My TJ with 44s has drain plugs, my XJ with the 8.25 does not have one and the D30 on the XJ does not either. I am not sure about your D35.

 

The Fluid specs for your cherokee are as follows:

Front Differential (D30): 3.13 pints of 80w-90 GL-5 Gear Lube
Rear Differential (D35c): 3.5 pints of 80w-90 GL-5 Gear Lube

AW-4 Transmission: 3.5+ quarts of Dexron III/Mercon ATF.


Changing diff fluid is easy, just make sure you have a new gasket and get ALL of the old gasket off.

As far as changing the transmission fluid, it's a very involved process, basically draining and refilling repeatedly until the fluid drains red. Unless it smells burnt, it's probably not necessary. There are guides for this "poor man's flush" if you do a search. However the best way is to find a shop that does tranny flushes using a Pump inlet flush machine. NOT a Cooler line flush machine (eg. BG Flush). This is very important since one does a MUCH better job than the other, and replaces 100% of the fluid. It's also very important to change the filter at the same time

 

thank you for all the help i will check into all of this before i do anything.. i appreciate this very much.