Rear Differential Drain Bolt Access

[BootyDo]

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to flush basically all the fluids in my 06 and thanks to you all, have had a good bit of luck - while encountering a million stupid obstacles. Well, I have a new one: Rear Differential Drain Bolt. I know it's a 3/4" so I picked up a 1/2" -> 3/4" adapter. No way I'm getting access between the drain bolt and the rear axle. So I use those "wobble" adapters. No dice. Yesterday I got a cheap 3/4" ratchet from Harbor Freight that will likely only see service for this specific job. Well...no access.

Short of ordering a super expensive low profile 3/4" ratchet, is there a trick to this I'm missing? I'm super tempted to just pump from the fill plug but I'd really like to do this right.

TIA!

 

[Dag06XLT]

Jack it up and support the rear by the frame/jack points so the rearend hangs down.

 

[michael loibl]

No sag, the center section does not move with the wheels

 

[Dag06XLT]

Oh yea, forgot these have IS.

 

[spikedog]

I just did this last night, and had the same problem. 3/4 adapter on my 1/2 breaker bar was just a tad too long, and I ended up with a $40 3/4" breaker bar that I'll use just once. I did get some use out of the adapter, because as you back the drain plug out you run out of clearance pretty fast. At some point you'll end up having to give up on the big breaker bar. I put a vise grip plier on the adapter and used it as a wrench to get the drain plug the last 4 threads out of the hole. I don't see how you'd get a decent drain on the differential with a pump because the low point is straight down from the fill plug. I used a big oil suction syringe to suck out the little puddle that was left below the level of the drain plug, maybe 30 ml.

All the youtube videos I watched pre-job must have been for 2005 Explorers, because the access was way better. Once I had the right tools it turned back into a 30 minute job. The rear end whine is still there, but I don't think anything is worse off by having clean synthetic oil in the differential. I see it as an $85 attempt to fix it myself (2 qts Mobil One 75-140 full syn lube at $20 each, a $5 adapter, and a $40 3/4" breaker bar). The oil I took out was pretty black, and the magnetic fill plug had lots of shavings on it.

 

[BootyDo]

I just did this last night, and had the same problem. 3/4 adapter on my 1/2 breaker bar was just a tad too long, and I ended up with a $40 3/4" breaker bar that I'll use just once. I did get some use out of the adapter, because as you back the drain plug out you run out of clearance pretty fast. At some point you'll end up having to give up on the big breaker bar. I put a vise grip plier on the adapter and used it as a wrench to get the drain plug the last 4 threads out of the hole. I don't see how you'd get a decent drain on the differential with a pump because the low point is straight down from the fill plug. I used a big oil suction syringe to suck out the little puddle that was left below the level of the drain plug, maybe 30 ml.

All the youtube videos I watched pre-job must have been for 2005 Explorers, because the access was way better. Once I had the right tools it turned back into a 30 minute job. The rear end whine is still there, but I don't think anything is worse off by having clean synthetic oil in the differential. I see it as an $85 attempt to fix it myself (2 qts Mobil One 75-140 full syn lube at $20 each, a $5 adapter, and a $40 3/4" breaker bar). The oil I took out was pretty black, and the magnetic fill plug had lots of shavings on it.

Thank you! If you don't mind, what breaker bar fit? I saw one on Amazon but I'm scared I'll run into the same issue and throw more money away.

 

[spikedog]

I bought the 3/4" breaker bar at Ace hardware, not sure of the brand 'cause I'm at work now. It looked almost as wide across the top as the 1/2" breaker bar with the adapter on it, but it fit (just barely). I doubt there'll be a low profile version out there, as a 3/4" breaker bar needs to be burly by design. If there was an inexpensive one out there like Harbor Freight, I'd be all over that, since it's probably a one time use tool.

 

[Scorpion8]

The oil I took out was pretty black, and the magnetic fill plug had lots of shavings on it.

Does this differential require any friction modifier?

 

[spikedog]

Mine didn't, but all the replacement oil on the shelf at Autozone had the friction modifier added in already. It won't hurt the gears if it's in there too. I think you can tell if you have a limited slip differential if the stamped tag on the differential has an "L" in it - should be in the gear ratio area of the tag.

If you are retired USN, curious as to the Scorpion name, as a sub so named was lost at sea in '68. I was a bubblehead on an even older nuke sub.

 

[Scorpion8]

If you are retired USN, curious as to the Scorpion name, as a sub so named was lost at sea in '68. I was a bubblehead on an even older nuke sub.

Thanks, I should probably do my diffs at 122,x.. for my '06.

Nope, the nuke/sub program wasn't taking officers when I entered in 83 from NROTC. So spent 20-years topside hunting "targets" on 963-Class DD and FFG-7 class frigate. The username actually comes more from the rock band Scorpions and my lucky #8.

 

[spikedog]

Cool, I've seen the Scorp's several times, solid rockers who can't seem to figure out retirement. 1983 was the year I got out.