PAezb Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Just drained and filled the front/rear differentials on my 96 OBW at 193K miles. Must say, the Mobil 1 synthetic 75w-90 was nice and clear and I put it in at 90K. It has me wondering if changing the gear oil is necessary for the life of the car. How many here change their gear oil and how often? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Its one of those things that you should do, because not doing it can bite you in the wallet really hard, especially if you have a leak and dont know it. Especially since the front one is attached to the transmission, can we say OUCH. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney7286 Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Its one of those things that you should do, because not doing it can bite you in the walletnipper but...synthetic doesn't go bad, if the fluid is clean and nice let it be, but by all means check it with the oil changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney7286 Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 a story...i'll try to keep it short.. in the navy, commuting from Wash DC to Mich about once a month... '72 datsun coupe, hot summer day...half way home to Mi heard a whine from the rear, checked it out, rear end is too hot to touch, i figured it was a wheel bearing, drove on to Mi, didn't have time to do a wheel bearing, so i drained the lube (level was good) and filled it back up with synthetic gear lube, said a prayer, headed back to DC, a hotter day, stopped halfway back to check (whine still there) the entire rear end was just warm to the touch...... it was still whining 100K miles later when i finally cut it up and made a dune buggy, never did change the lube... one of the many stories in the past 30 years that have fueled my passion for Amsoil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 so if i say i change mine every 100,000 miles weather it needs it or not? . Remember these are really long life cars, Once in 100,000 miles it should be done. Now when is the last time you changed your blinker fluid http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=6&zenid=3426bed63a78594268d502ae840a3d72 ( i couldnt resist) nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney7286 Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 so if i say i change mine every 100,000 miles weather it needs it or not? . Remember these are really long life cars, Once in 100,000 miles it should be done.Now when is the last time you changed your blinker fluid http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=6&zenid=3426bed63a78594268d502ae840a3d72 ( i couldnt resist) nipper keewwl...and it's synthetic......gotta go look, Amsoil has to make it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Drain and replace along with the oil in the manual tranny, at 30k miles. I like to be on the safe side :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendly_jacek Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Just drained and filled the front/rear differentials on my 96 OBW at 193K miles. Must say, the Mobil 1 synthetic 75w-90 was nice and clear and I put it in at 90K. It has me wondering if changing the gear oil is necessary for the life of the car. How many here change their gear oil and how often? I'm surprized it was clean like that. When I changed front/rear diffs factory fluids at 40000, they were black from metal particles. I thought it was normal from the brake-in. Am I wrong? BTW, I put in Redline 75W90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorch Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Diff oil is not filtered or cooled in any way, so it makes sense to me to be on the safe side. It is cheap insurance. I would do it at 100K and every 50K thereafter, and of course use synthetic oil for this application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAezb Posted May 3, 2006 Author Share Posted May 3, 2006 I'm surprized it was clean like that. When I changed front/rear diffs factory fluids at 40000, they were black from metal particles. I thought it was normal from the brake-in. Am I wrong? BTW, I put in Redline 75W90. Interestingly, when I did the first change at 90K (the original oil), the front was fairly clean, and the rear was darker and more dirty, with some minute glitter in the oil you could see as you swish the oil around in the drain pan. Magnets had some crude on them too. Anyone know if subaru uses synthetic gear oil at the factory? I don't beleive they do, so I'm attributing the 2nd cleaner drain to Mobil's quality and being a synthetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 In 1996, i seriously doubted anyone did. In my owners manual for my 97 it says nothing about synthetic vs dead dino's, but the mileage interval suggests dead dinos. Besides, how many people actually change thier differntial oil, let alone know what a differential is. We are just weird by doing it nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendly_jacek Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 I did it mostly to make the drive train more "heavy duty" before starting to tow and to improve MPG. There was no change in MPG, BTW. I remember that I had some problems with flat tires with stock tires, maybe that put some extra stress on the diffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doktorbill Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I usually change the final drive fluids on Japanese cars after approx 7 years or 90K miles, whether it says to do it or not. Yes, I know many Subies are US Made. The Japanese seem to do many things well, but seem to have a problem with rear axle oil. I have drained several Nissan and Toyota final drives, and the stuff is turning chunky-- has thick and thin parts in it. Also, it smells like sewage-- not the semi-clean smell of sulphur in normal hypoid oil. Even if your Subaru is US Made, I would still change the final drive oil in both front and rear every 50K miles, especially with the power the Subaru has. I have installed Redline 75W90 in several cars, and have noted an approx 1/2 to 1 mile-per-gallon improvement in fuel economy. I am currently testing Valvoline Durablend 75W90-- works great, and fuel economy seems a bit better, so far. Still testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blitz Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 Redline Shockproof Superlight in the rear diff = +MPG. **** ******! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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