Gear oil stunk pretty bad, pretty dark, these are some of the gold flecks



96 xj classic, dana 35 trac lok, rear diff fluid change

Had this XJ about 2 years, unsure of previous maintenance. First time changing read dif fluid. Noticed gold specs in bottom of oil pan after draining. Not sure what else to look for while inspecting. Sprayed out with brake cleaner.

Should I go heavy on cleaning? Brush it all out? It just spray out? What else am I looking for?

Posting pics as well. Any help is appreciated. Looking to close it back up and fill it this evening

Thanks!

 

No need to brush it out. A good spray out is all that is needed. Fine metal particles in the bottom of the diff are normal (within reason), what you are looking for is chipped or damaged teeth, small chunks of teeth in the bottom of the diff, or signs of serious wear in teeth (gouges).

From the pictures, it looks like it is in pretty decent shape. Perhaps someone with more diff experience here will have more to add.

 

Looks fine to me. Gear oil always stinks It takes forever to get the smell out of your hands after working on a diff, and the metal shavings are normal wear.

 

Thank you! I just closed them backup, gonna fill in the morning. Front dif fluid was much darker than the rear.
Transmission filter and fluid is next.

 

There's gold in them there hills!!

 

Next time you have them open, pick up a lubelocker gasket. Say goodbye to scraping the surfaces clean and the possibility of missing a spot when laying down new gasket material. Makes jobs like changing an axle seal a lot quicker. I finally put one on after a recent axle seal replacement, my only regret is not putting it on sooner.

 

 

No need to worry all looks. Ive serviced a lot of rear diffs ( that's what she said ) but the worst I've seen was one of my own . 97 f150 8.8 with 3.73's had two teeth missing on ring gear and 217k but not a single bad symptom .. only open it to remove c-clips to pull axles for axle seal replacement anyways it ran fine another 30k before I sold it . They're fairly forgiving and I'm cheap as hell .

 

Is it normal to smell the gear oil after the first few drives? Last night drove around block, today drove to work, both times got out and could smell it. No leaks.

 

if i'm looking at it right, those gold flecks are just excess RTV that just came off and got chewed up with the gears. nothing damaging.

and yeah, that gear oil is stinky. i'm sure it's just some gear oil that got on the cover and possibly ran down the diff. if it wasn't cleaned off with brake clean, you will likely smell it for a bit.