thatdude305

My differential was checked and they said I had metal shavings? They said all I need to do is change the fluid. Anybody ever come across this same issue?

Stevo86

Depends on how much metal and how big the shavings were. A little bit is ok, big fat chunks and it's probably time for new gears and bearings.

uberstang1

+1 depends on how much metals in there, rear end is pretty basic you have a carrier, carrier bearings, pinion bearing, a pinion gear and a ring gear, little shaving is common with mileage as u have two gears constantly contacting eachother, if the metal is from a bearing well obviously that is bad.

WJL

A little or a lot of metal is not good, i think you can get a magnetized plug which will collect some of the shavings, this is not the end of the world just start planning on some new 3:73's or 4:10's

TXMach

I wouldn't worry too much on that unless you hear a "whirring" sound from back there. Uber and Stevo are correct, tiny glitterish FLAKES are normal. Tiny PEBBLES are not.

WJL

Metal shavings in your differential, no that's not a problem, "REALLY" it's just an indication something is wearing or is wore out.

Wait here's some more good advise "Drive it until it breaks then you'll know what to fix" the towing bill only add a "C" or so to the repair bill.

If it were up to me i would remove the cover, drain the gear oil, inspect the inside to see if you can see where it is coming from, you can also check backlash at that point, you also want to make sure what you are seeing is not just clutch pack material. if you don't have the experience to do this, I would suggest finding a local guy/shop not a quick change oil store.

The guys are right the rear end is more than likely not going to fallout tomorrow but there is a pending concern which i think you would be better off to start now and plan your repair rather than to take the wait and see what happens approach.

Not looking to argue, Just saying

uberstang1

There hasn't been a single gear oil change on any type of vehicle I've done that didn't have some sort of metal flake in the old oil.

reldla1996

I liked TXMach's "glitterish flakes" description, it's a good one for what you normally see.

WJL

Just to clarify, He said metal shavings.

There is a big difference between Clutch material, which is somewhat expected and acceptable to a point and "metal shavings"

JeffBall

WJL, were talking differential here...why would he have clutch material in his diff?