28,000 mile Rear Diff Fluid Change

[Jobofly]

This is just informational. I changed my rear diff fluid today in my Mojave and man I am glad I did it. The oil was very dark. Definitely had some shavings on the fill plug. “My 2022 Mojave doesn’t have a drain plug” I filled it until it started coming out of the drain hole. Let it sit there and drip for a while before I buttoned it back up. I did a lot of towing last summer and I have been off road a few times. Highly recommend doing it before 30k miles.

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[whiteglad]

I changed mine early when I put on an aftermarket steel cover. I used Motobilt and CavFab, one brand on the 2020 and the other on the 2022, in each case before 5000 miles.

 

[Lunentucker]

OEM fluid or something else?

 

[Jobofly]

I went with Valvoline because of the flexible bags. Those make it a lot easier. 75w90

 

[Hootbro]

Funny thing is if you buy new whole DANA aftermarket diff assembly or do a gear set change, DANA recommends a 500 mile first fluid dump. DANA OEM units installed by Jeep and it is just a fluid level inspect unless a "Severe Service" and then it is a 40K mile change interval.

 

[Jobofly]

Funny thing is if you buy new whole DANA aftermarket diff assembly or do a gear set change, DANA recommends a 500 mile first fluid dump. DANA OEM units installed by Jeep and it is just a fluid level inspect unless a "Severe Service" and then it is a 40K mile change interval.

Well that seems like a problem.

 

[Volt0]

I did ours between 7k and 15k. Wanted to get any initial shavings out of there. It’s a lot cheaper for me to keep fluids changed, than it is to pay someone for something more severe. Did you clean off the magnet/sensor around the elocker ( or even pot it )?

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

This is just informational. I changed my rear diff fluid today in my Mojave and man I am glad I did it. The oil was very dark. Definitely had some shavings on the fill plug. “My 2022 Mojave doesn’t have a drain plug” I filled it until it started coming out of the drain hole. Let it sit there and drip for a while before I buttoned it back up. I did a lot of towing last summer and I have been off road a few times. Highly recommend doing it before 30k miles.

Use can be a big variable for breakdown of diff fluid. Sustaining highway speed 80mph for a few hours, towing, etc all factors that someone who just city drives or hits the interstate and cruise control on 60mph for 30 min….

I change our rear diff every 15k and front every 30k on every Jeep we have owned…. Literally hundreds of thousands of miles not one issue yet.

 

[Jobofly]

I did ours between 7k and 15k. Wanted to get any initial shavings out of there. It’s a lot cheaper for me to keep fluids changed, than it is to pay someone for something more severe. Did you clean off the magnet/sensor around the elocker ( or even pot it )?

I did not. Is that recommended?

 

[Volt0]

I did not. Is that recommended?

Some of the folks with the elockers ( JTR/JTM ) had some issues with the sensor collecting small metallic bits over time ( like the drain plug would ). I didn't do it, but some folks would pot it ( look it up ) to prevent anything from ever getting into that sensor ( and screwing it up ) ever again. The next time that I do mine, I'll take off the diff cover and see what I can find. The gasket for the diff should be reusable, and some of the members are saying to NOT clean inside the diff w/ break cleaner, or else it'll cause your diff fluid to foam up. Look through some of the similar threads ( bottom of this page ) and you may find some of this discussed already.

 

[Medical_Bartender]

Will be changing mine when I'm back stateside. It's got ~15k on it so not a terrible time to change. Did you happen to peak at the front fluid? I imagine it's quite a bit cleaner, but I'm considering changing that one at the same time as well.

 

[Jobofly]

Will be changing mine when I'm back stateside. It's got ~15k on it so not a terrible time to change. Did you happen to peak at the front fluid? I imagine it's quite a bit cleaner, but I'm considering changing that one at the same time as well.

Not yet. It’s next on my list and will probably get done in a couple of weeks. I plan on doing the transfer case as well.

 

[Volt0]

Will be changing mine when I'm back stateside. It's got ~15k on it so not a terrible time to change. Did you happen to peak at the front fluid? I imagine it's quite a bit cleaner, but I'm considering changing that one at the same time as well.

On our 2, the front fluid was in really good shape, but there was some small amount of stuff on the plug. About mid 21, they stopped putting a drain plug on the front. The fronts, especially on non rubicon JTs, just don’t see the same wear. When you do want to take the front diff off, there’s a trick to just jack up the passenger side front wheel, to gain clearance for the diff cover from the steering components.

in the rear, it’s more important if you have a LSD, tow, or to keep that elocker sensor clean. For max tow, or those that tow a lot, I think there’s a different weight of fluid for the back; most drivers would be able to use the same weight front/back.

last, check your fluids frequently if you get the axles under water ( like when you get home ). Some of the folks are saying that the axle seals generally do a good job of keeping the diff fluid in, but they don’t do as good on keeping water/debri out.

good luck, and that diff fluid stinks something fierce, stay safe, stay ventilated and consider disposable rubber gloves.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

and some of the members are saying to NOT clean inside the diff w/ break cleaner, or else it'll cause your diff fluid to foam up.

Using chlorinated brake cleaner is not a problem and once all the spraying and draining is done (don’t spray the electrical connector) and diffs are left to dry out (brake cleaner flashes off fast), there’s nothing there to cause the new oil to foam. If it’s still a super concern, contact a diff regear shop and ask or just take my story that I pulled both covers on my 21 JTR, January 2023 and used chlorinated brake cleaner to wash them both out, potted the locker sensors and 40k kms later, no leaks, no foaming, lockers engage and disengage fast. There’s nothing to fear here except when drilling the holes into the sensors to pot them but that’s it.

My diff oil changes were done at 10k, 30k then noticed lockers having issues taking too long to engage and disengage so at 49k kms is when the covers came off, cleaning done and potted the sensors. I went from using the Mopar 75/90 to Motul Gear 75/90.

edit: my changes are -
10k, 30k, 49k, and 75k. Odometer is now at 90k kms.

 

[Jobofly]

I realized that I forgot to add thread sealant so I picked some up this morning and pulled the fill plug again to apply. I wasn’t concerned about it leaking but I like to got the trails and drive through water when I can. Gotta keep the water out.

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