Well that was Pointless

[PuddleJumper]

So I cracked open my diffs. Assuming I was about to get that rank smell and some really dark fluid. As I have heard from others. SMH the oil was barely darker than the oil I put in. Wtf?! It didn’t even smell. It felt like it was also under filled factory but it looked great. Just a little grayish film that wiped/ sprayed off easy. (I used chlorinated brake cleaner and then made sure it dried with a hair dryer, my neighbors think I’m bat shit, lol.)
Anyway my T-case oil was also immaculate. I immediately just put the plug back in and topped it off. Hopefully my Trans fluid looks just as good when I crack her open at 30k. Brake fluid also past test strip. About 15ppm. I’ll still flush it tho sometime this week when I got a friend to sit behind the wheel. I’m super impressed with this truck. I keep thinking it’s gonna need a lot of work to keep it tip top. But so far she’s only needed oil changes and tire rotation. I’ve just been doin a lot of “preemptive maintenance “ at this point. ?

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[PW45]

how many miles are you at? I'm at 50k, haven't changed any of the fluids yet.

 

[PuddleJumper]

how many miles are you at? I'm at 50k, haven't changed any of the fluids yet.

20k. It’s my first new truck. I got her at 7 odo lol. I’m so used to 200k plus ran through rust buckets that always have the worst everything everywhere and it takes 10x as long to deal with it. I got both diffs done in under 45 mins. No broke bolts or nothing. I’m in love again lol.

 

[Josh00333]

I changed my diffs at 5k

looked new

But still felt good to do.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Assuming I was about to get that rank smell and some really dark fluid. As I have heard from others.

LOL - yeah, there's a lot of that out there. Most of us will go double your mileage and still not have stinky or bad fluid. Still not bad to change it, but this 20 or 30K bit is almost a bragging right more than anything.
I guess if it feels good, do it, but it's not like other things - ordinary use can go well up above 50K and still see good lube.
If you abuse these and run them really hard, tow in hills, heavy loads and so on, frequent changes are good........ but for people like me there's little use at anything less than 50K
I think the books say something like 60-some thousand if towing or using them hard.

 

[PuddleJumper]

LOL - yeah, there's a lot of that out there. Most of us will go double your mileage and still not have stinky or bad fluid. Still not bad to change it, but this 20 or 30K bit is almost a bragging right more than anything.
I guess if it feels good, do it, but it's not like other things - ordinary use can go well up above 50K and still see good lube.
If you abuse these and run them really hard, tow in hills, heavy loads and so on, frequent changes are good........ but for people like me there's little use at anything less than 50K
I think the books say something like 60-some thousand if towing or using them hard.

I was expecting to find some type of consequence for all the, abuse, to put it lightly. I’m not gentle with it and I have pushed well past whatever the stickers limit is. For all the hate Jeep engineers get. They did a damn good job on this one.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I traded my 2020 Overland in at 4.5 years and 57k miles. It sounded and ran great. Only did tire rotations and oil changes, all but two oil changes done by the dealer.

 

[ecidiego]

I think it's a good idea to pot the locker sensor before it inevitably fails

 

[PuddleJumper]

I think it's a good idea to pot the locker sensor before it inevitably fails

pot what?

 

[TheDerb]

I have a little pro-tip for this that my wife's service manager in the middle of nowhere, TN, told my wife to use many, many years ago when she got her first Wrangler. It involves a little white lie, but that won't hurt anybody:

If you are under warranty and get a regular oil change, let the dealer know that you think you saw dripping under the diffs, and ask them to check the diff oil level. They'll check it, and tell you it's absolutely fine, or tell you it needs changing. If they say it needs changing, just do it at the house. If they say it's perfectly fine, you got nothing to worry about.

You can also do this a few hundred miles or months before your warranty goes away as well, and it might save you some time.

 

[TheDerb]

pot what?

Injecting potting compound into your locker sensors. It's a polarizing discussion. Some people swear by it, others role their eyes when people mention it.

 

[PuddleJumper]

I have a little pro-tip for this that my wife's service manager in the middle of nowhere, TN, told my wife to use many, many years ago when she got her first Wrangler. It involves a little white lie, but that won't hurt anybody:

If you are under warranty and get a regular oil change, let the dealer know that you think you saw dripping under the diffs, and ask them to check the diff oil level. They'll check it, and tell you it's absolutely fine, or tell you it needs changing. If they say it needs changing, just do it at the house. If they say it's perfectly fine, you got nothing to worry about.

You can also do this a few hundred miles or months before your warranty goes away as well, and it might save you some time.

my dealer charges 200 buck to look at any customer concerns. But still a good tip.

 

[PuddleJumper]

Injecting potting compound into your locker sensors. It's a polarizing discussion. Some people swear by it, others role their eyes when people mention it.

It should be potted from the factory if it lives in Diff oil. If its not I can see why. But if the sensor goes I'll probably just Z bypass it or get a new sensor. Plenty of M220 with e lockers diffs takeouts lying around now.

 

[ecidiego]

It should be potted from the factory if it lives in Diff oil. If its not I can see why. But if the sensor goes I'll probably just Z bypass it or get a new sensor. Plenty of M220 with e lockers diffs takeouts lying around now.

It isn't potted. It fills up with gear oil and once sufficient metal content is in the oil, it shorts.

Problem with grabbing a 'spare' is it may not work. There are 5 different sensors and you never know which one will work. When Jeep fixes under warranty they literally have a kit of 5 and try each one until they find a match. The 'spare kit' costs $350. Prior to this kit becoming available Jeep would replace the entire axle assembly when the locker sensor failed.

 

[ecidiego]

Best thread ever on the subject

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/locker-position-sensor-potting-dana-44.59581/

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