- Joined
- May 13, 2000
- Messages
- 4,651
- Reaction score
- 104
- City, State
- Cape Girardeau, MO
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 94 Sport 4x4
I put AMSOIL 75W-90 synthetic gear lube in there today, and some pointers if you're thinking about it:
1) I had to pull the diff cover to drain the old fluid. I did buy a suction gun, but it had too wide and stiff of a tube to reach down into the tiny fill hole--I couldn't use the suction gun to remove the old fluid.
2) The Haynes manual didn't mention a gasket, it said to just use RTV silicone. I went ahead and used a gasket + silicone, and cross-tightened the bolts.
3) I sanded and painted the diff cover (black, of course! No street queen green for me) while I was at it.
4) Once the cover was off, I cleaned up the gears with alcohol and solvent. They looked good at 102,000 miles; no scuffing, etc. And there was no apparent big pieces of crap in the old diff fluid either. But it was time to change it.
5) if you do this, you will spill some diff fluid, it's a messy job.
6) don't over-torque the diff cover bolts (they are 1/2" bolts). Torque to about 35 ft/lbs.
7) refilled the diff using the suction gun thru the fill hole.
Put in approx 2.65 quarts, which is the spec amount
for the 8.8" rear diff on a 94 Explorer. For some reason the Haynes said 95+ Ex's rear diffs hold a little more.
8) took about 4 hours but that includes watching football and messing around a lot.
I hope I get a little more mpg out of it.
1) I had to pull the diff cover to drain the old fluid. I did buy a suction gun, but it had too wide and stiff of a tube to reach down into the tiny fill hole--I couldn't use the suction gun to remove the old fluid.
2) The Haynes manual didn't mention a gasket, it said to just use RTV silicone. I went ahead and used a gasket + silicone, and cross-tightened the bolts.
3) I sanded and painted the diff cover (black, of course! No street queen green for me) while I was at it.
4) Once the cover was off, I cleaned up the gears with alcohol and solvent. They looked good at 102,000 miles; no scuffing, etc. And there was no apparent big pieces of crap in the old diff fluid either. But it was time to change it.
5) if you do this, you will spill some diff fluid, it's a messy job.
6) don't over-torque the diff cover bolts (they are 1/2" bolts). Torque to about 35 ft/lbs.
7) refilled the diff using the suction gun thru the fill hole.
Put in approx 2.65 quarts, which is the spec amount
for the 8.8" rear diff on a 94 Explorer. For some reason the Haynes said 95+ Ex's rear diffs hold a little more.
8) took about 4 hours but that includes watching football and messing around a lot.
I hope I get a little more mpg out of it.