Changing Rear diff fluid, tips? (nico search sucks)

[Qxxx4]

looked though the FSM, not really much info on changing the fluid, just wondering if its as simple as a drain plug, and fill with specified lube and thats it? how much is needed/what oil is best? this is probably in the manual ill check tommorow

thanks

[JonathanPrem]

Just changed mine few weeks ago. Bought 3 bottles(1L each) of oil from Nissan for $25. its was Pennzoil 80/90 LSD gear oil. I took it to a shop and paid 30 since the bolts where stuck on pretty hard.

My 02 took about 2.8L but the 3.3L might be different so just check before buying. Hope that helps

Cheers,

[Pwnin O'Brien]

The drain/fill plugs can be pretty stuck but they can be easily removed using a breaker bar. Just go to your local hardware store and buy a 1/2" (I think that's the correct size) breaker bar and the end should fit perfectly into the plugs. Just get under there and give it a good pull and it'll come right off. You can use this breaker bar for both diff. and the transfer case. It's always good to have a breaker bar on hand to loosen stubborn bolts.

The easier to find fully synthetic gear oil is 75w90. Your local auto parts store probably only has this weight available in fully synthetic as 80w90 (fully synthetic) can be somewhat difficult to find. I highly recommend Royal Purple 75w90 in both diffs.

Also, before you drain it I would drive the car around a bit to warm up the oil in the diffs.

[Andrew224]

Even with a breaker bar, my plugs wouldn't come out and I didn't want to distort them. I heated them with a propane torch (only about 6 seconds on each). They came right out after that (just be careful, they'll be hot).

I used Mobil 1 75W-90. Just fill 'er up until the fluid starts to come out of the filler plug.

Fairly easy. You'll be surprised with what's stuck to the magnetic drain plug if it's never been drained before.

Andrew

[Qxxx4]

Perfect, thanks for all the tips guys. Unfortunately we dont have royal purple in canada. I had a breaker bar in my hand the other day was about to get it, i knew id need it! ill be trying this in a few weeks
Modified by Qxxx4 at 6:31 AM 9/23/2009

[Pathy35SE]

One tip I'll give 'ya (take it for what it's worth):

Remove the fill plug first. Remove the drain bolt second. If you remove the drain bolt first, and then find out you can't remove the fill plug, there's no way to refill the differential.

Otherwise it's a breeze. Did it once, and other than using PB Blaster to loosen the plugs up, it went smoothly.

Good Luck!

[W O T]

Im pretty sure we do carry royal purple in Canada, 2 of my offroading buddies swear by it and its in there oils /transfer cases/ diffs etc. Ill ask em where they get it

Its spendy, but aparently worth it large

[Qxxx4]

yeah when i change my oil i remove the filler cap before i do drain plug too, it just sounds like it helps the drain process. Whats a PB Blaster? You guys are pro using a torch down there, the gas tank isnt too far from the diff!

id like to see royal purple, maybe im wrong but i have never seen it before in canada and i used to live across the border from detroit

[02pathy]

look up performanceimprovements.com they sell royal purple, but personally i use amsoil, i used to used royal purple but stopped, still don't really know if there is a diffference betwwen the two, but big difference over the regular stuff or maybe because the oils were aged not sure the quest continues

[Pwnin O'Brien]

yeah when i change my oil i remove the filler cap before i do drain plug too, it just sounds like it helps the drain process. Whats a PB Blaster? You guys are pro using a torch down there, the gas tank isnt too far from the diff!

id like to see royal purple, maybe im wrong but i have never seen it before in canada and i used to live across the border from detroit

PB Blaster is a penetrating fluid like WD-40 but it's supposed to work much better. Royal Purple is somewhat new to being mainstream, now I see the stuff everywhere. The stuff is amazing tho, the dyno tests they run have proven that over conventional oils you can get some pretty decent gains if you switch to all Royal Purple.

[fueler]

i used pennzoil 80w-90 same as dealership. Only dont buy it at the dealer cause it was like $10 a bottle they sell the same stuff at auto partsstore $3 a bottle

[AZhitman]

^ This.

Also, synthetic is a nice upgrade - I use Mobil 1 full-syn gear oil on everything I drive.

Easy and quick project, and something a lot of people neglect to do.

[W O T]

I asked my bud, he says they go to Performance Improvements (locations are pretty scatterred) for Royal Purple. Dont stay in the stores for to long though, youll get corrupted with all there ricer gear!!

[Qxxx4]

yeah ill definately go synthetic this time, last time i changed it was 40k kms ago, and the mofo's charged me $65...psht rather do it myself or at least try..hopefully i can get the drain bolt off

[fueler]

i noticed that my 1/2" breaker was loose on the drain bolt. Like stripping it. wrapped some duct tape around the head and fit snug.

[Empty V]

Probably a dumb question but what's a breaker bar? And does anyone have pics of how to do this? Brian when you do this could you do a "How To" for our non existent "How To" sticky?

Billy

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Probably a dumb question but what's a breaker bar? And does anyone have pics of how to do this? Brian when you do this could you do a "How To" for our non existent "How To" sticky?

Billy

That's not a dumb question, not many people know what a breaker bar is. A breaker bar is a long non-ratcheting bar that is used with socket wrench style sockets. The additional length of a breaker bar allows the same amount of applied force to generate significantly more torque than a standard length ratchet wrench. Here's a pic:

[Empty V]

That's not a dumb question, not many people know what a breaker bar is. A breaker bar is a long non-ratcheting bar that is used with socket wrench style sockets. The additional length of a breaker bar allows the same amount of applied force to generate significantly more torque than a standard length ratchet wrench. Here's a pic:

I picked this up 2 weeks ago and I'm guessing that it will do just as good of a job. If not please let me know, I like to be well stocked with tools.



Billy

[fueler]

hahaha thats a torque wrench. Dont ever use a torque wrench for anything besides measuring torque of a bolt. Thats a very sensitive tool and you will break it if you try to loosen the drain plug which is usually in VERY tight on our differentials.

If it was a craftsman ratchet (not torque wrench), i'd say use it anyways since they have lifetime warranty. But a non-ratcheting breaker bar is ideal.

[Empty V]

hahaha thats a torque wrench. Dont ever use a torque wrench for anything besides measuring torque of a bolt. Thats a very sensitive tool and you will break it if you try to loosen the drain plug which is usually in VERY tight on our differentials.

If it was a craftsman ratchet, i'd say use it anyways since they have lifetime warranty. But breaker bar is ideal.

I was figuring that if I put it on 250lbs(highest setting) and just ripped it, it would come off. But I'd rather not damage the tool, obviously they're not cheap. Where can you get breaker bars at? What's a cheater bar, something like a pipe you put over the shaft for better leverage? Why not just use an impact gun? I've got pretty much all of that stuff I'm just missing the lift.

Billy

[fueler]

a breaker bar would maybe get the job done (i doubt it) but using it to break things loose at 250ft/lbs is gonna make it lose its accuracy.

im just repeating what i was told the first time i ever used a torque wrench. The neighbor i borrowed it from made it a point, he told me dont ever use a breaker bar for anything other than setting / checking torque. Then again he had a snap-on torque wrench (before the electronic ones came out) probably worth a few hundred. My current breaker bar is a cheap $30 one from harbor freight.

a few years ago, snap-on came out with a bad a** torque wrench that has a digital readout, and when you hit your set torque, it beeps as well as vibrates. Its a bad a** tool. Like $300

[W O T]

Ya empty v that tool you have is a torque wrench, meant for tightenning only, dont ever take bolts off with it, itll lose its calibration pretty quick and become useless

A breaker bar is just a cheap bar, the long the better as long as you can fit it in/around the area your working in, a longer bar gives you more leverage and makes those hard to break bolts ALOT easier to crack off

You can buy a quality one for under $20

A simple hollow pipe overtop your 3/8 or 1/2" ratchet handle to lengthen its handle works GREAT though

[Empty V]

Ya empty v that tool you have is a torque wrench, meant for tightenning only, dont ever take bolts off with it, itll lose its calibration pretty quick and become useless

Dude are you serious? I had no idea I bought a torque wrench!

Billy

EDIT:So are there any issues with using an impact wrench? I'm planning on doing this Sunday.

Billy
Modified by Empty V at 5:02 PM 9/25/2009

[Empty V]

Even with a breaker bar, my plugs wouldn't come out and I didn't want to distort them. I heated them with a propane torch (only about 6 seconds on each). They came right out after that (just be careful, they'll be hot).

I used Mobil 1 75W-90. Just fill 'er up until the fluid starts to come out of the filler plug.

Fairly easy. You'll be surprised with what's stuck to the magnetic drain plug if it's never been drained before.

Andrew

And how many quarts were enough?

Billy

[02pathy]

about 3 qt for the rear and about 2 for the front, now a tourqe bar is a very important tool, all bolt taken off should tourqed back on if you don't want to buy a breaker bar use a 1/2 ratchet with a 3/4 by 4ft iron pipe that you can get at home depot for about 10-12 bucks i would use a good quality ratchet with lifetime

[Qxxx4]

after seeing what happened to empty V i went and ordered a new drain/fill plug for the rear diff at Nissan today, $17 taxes and all for the two, should be in by the next few days so hopefully within the next week ill get this done, just need to go grab a breaker bar and the gear oil thanks again for the tips, hopefully i dont have to hunt down a torch, im going with the duct tape on the end of the breaker bar first

[rlp]

Good tip on fill plug first. Way to do it.