Quote:
Originally Posted by MacManDan
okay so i bought my mustang about a year ago. i had the oil changed and he said that the diff. oil was still okay, but it would need to be changed soon. today i checked it and im not sure what to look for. i believe he said it was still pink (6-7 months ago) looking at it today it was a blackish grey color. thats clearly BAD. but waht im most concerned about was the ammount of metal flakes and the fact that they looked gold. i know flakes are bad but this was almost as if the entire fluid was just flakes. please help and let me know what exactly i was looking at.
dan
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Hi Dan. I'll see if we can help you out here.
If the gear lube has metal particles in it, that's not a good sign, although not unusual. As long as the rear axle isn't making any unusual noises, the metal particles in the gear lube are normal for a lower performing gear lube. The metal particles indicate wear and tear going on of course. I would recommend changing the gear lube to a good performing synthetic gear lube soon.
It would be a wise idea to buy a spray can of brake cleaner, or a degreaser of some kind to spray into the differential to clean out the gunk that you are bound to find inside. Inside most differential you will find a small magnet that is installed by the factory to attract and hold the damaging metal particles from the wear and tear, from circulating further, causing more damage, so be sure to clean that off thoroughly. Do you have an auto repair manual for your car that shows you how to do this job? If not, I can send you instructions. If you don't do the job yourself, but pay someone else to, make sure they do a good job of cleaning out the differential housing from the old gear lube and gook that you will find inside.
Here is a link to another thread here were I discussed this very issue and it also has a link to the Gear Lube White Paper, "A Study of Automotive Gear Lubes", which I think you will find very interesting and helpful. It is a test of about 15 different brand gear lubes subjected to a battery of industry standard tests and an evaluation of those test results. Some very big name gear lubes failed some of the tests they were subjected to and placed very poorly in the final evaluation. There is also is a link that will take you to an online guide showing you the correct viscosity and quantity of gear lube for your car. Just scroll down until you see my post and you will find the links I posted. Below is the link to this thread, "Differential oil change"-
http://mustangforums.com/forum/6-cyl...il-change.html
I hope this helps you out. If you need anymore assistance, give me a holler.
rear end differential lube
