Front differential question

[dsburg00]

I have a 2000 Explorer XLT and I want to change the fluid in the front differential. I want to remove the cover to inspect the gears, but it looks
like I'll have to drop the differential out of the rig due to lack of clearance
with the front crossmember. Is this right, or is there another way?

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Yes,

You have to drop the front diff.

 

[dsburg00]

Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for the quick reply.

 

[kitra]

Here's what I did.

I bought a suction tube and dropped the small plastic tube down the fill hole. Sucked out the fluid that way. I bet I got 90% +. If you are concerned, you could get what you can out, fill, drive a while and do it again.

 

[techieman33]

I bought a suction tube and dropped the small plastic tube down the fill hole. Sucked out the fluid that way. I bet I got 90% +. If you are concerned, you could get what you can out, fill, drive a while and do it again.

That will work most of the time, but not if he wants to look at the gears. And by sucking it out you don't know if there is any metal floating around in there.

 

[Half-cocked]

Resurrecting this, if I may...

I have a '99 Mountaineer AWD with 135K on it. The drivetrain fluids were last changed around 5 years ago, and I decided I'd do it myself this time to save $$$.

I changed the transfer case fluid the other day, and all went well.

BUT, it appears I've got a leak from the front differential... it's not dripping, but it's wet all around the bottom half of the cover. It looks like the fluid is leaking between the cover and housing.

So, sucking and replacing the fluid through the fill hole isn't going to be enough... I'm going to need to remove the cover, clean off any gasket and/or sealer residue from the last change, and reinstall with no leaks hopefully this time.

MY QUESTION, thus... since there's a cross member 1" in front of it, and I apparently need to drop something, to get proper access to the differential cover, is this something a weekend mechanic like me can do, with only ramps, a couple of jackstands and/or a single floor jack? I have the Haynes book, but I can't seem to find anything related to this procedure in it.

Or am I better off having my shop do it?

 

[my98nnj]

I changed my front diff in about 2 hrs with the truck up on a lift. It's not that hard to do, just make sure you have the right tools and a friend or shop with a lift will make the job a whole hell of a lot easier. I don't think I'd want to do that laying down in my driveway. An impact gun will be your best friend.

 

[Turdle]

If you follow the " cv axle " how to by mountaineergreen, it will help to get the front diff dropped.

 

[Carguy3J]

Hey, I have an idea. The front diff is aluminum, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal to drill and tap a drain hole in the bottom surface, so it will get all the fluid, including the "junk" that settles down there.

I did something similar on the 12-bolt rear in my dirt track car. Although it was for access, to drive the cross-shaft out of the bottom,(5.14 gears and a mini-spool=near impossible to remove/install the cross-shaft the normal way. It won't clear the ring gear.) but I ended up welding a piece of threaded pipe over the hole, and closing it with a pipe plug. It never leaked, as far as I could tell.

 

[Half-cocked]

If you follow the " cv axle " how to by mountaineergreen, it will help to get the front diff dropped.

Thanks... I had a look at that thread, but a job like that is way over my head. Looks like a trip to the shop!