Lex,
For the front differential,you said it holds about .5 liters.About how much of a quart is that?

 

.52 or so quarts.

Keep in mind front differential is different from the transfer case.

.5 is about what comes out in terms of ATF out of the front differential if you have drain the tranny pan completely first.

 

Ah yes, almost that time of the year again for me, but decided to do my so-called annual changeout of the transfer case and rear differential.

First, let's recap the chain of events over the past year. Last April we changed out both the rear differential and transfer case to another round of Royal Purple. Over the past year I have had to add some BMW 75W140 to the transfer case due to a leak, the leak has been stopped not just due to that but also due to replacement of both seals. So we have had a mix in the front so to speak. The rear differential has remained the same.

Right now I have just about 128K miles, or 8K more than last year when I changed it out.

I have no Royal Purple 75W90 left, so this made for some interesting decisions, do I go for the .500 ml $30 USD 75W140 from BMW, the GM 75W90 1 liter also for $30 USD or something else. I was planning on stopping by Subaru to get some of their gear oil, but the only way they would sell it to me is in a huge drum.

Well by fortunate chance, right near my uncle's place on the highway is a little place called KM20 and they sold out of a drum, Pennzoil Synthetic 75W90 gear oil, http://www.pennzoil.com/products/gea..._gear7590.html

Now the particular bottle below is one they used to bottle it, but at just under $14 USD a liter, this was a nice bargain, and it is a good quality gear oil. I actually saw the drum they had there and I have known this group for all of my six years in Mexico.

For the tools one can use a 3/8th inch or 10 mm hex wrench for the rear differential and a 15/16th or 24mm bolt/wrench for the transfer case in the front. I used inch wrenches in this one, but metric will work, too.

All right now, let's get to the pretty pictures.

 

We flipped a coin and the rear differential went first. We put my RX up on the lift we had at the shop and proceeded to loosen the drain plug with a 3/8ths hex wrench extension

 

Another shot

 

Let her drain.

 

Another shot, notice the purple color has kept its consistency, but not surprising for the amount of time.

 

Shot of the drain hole.

 

Another shot and notice the drain plug.

 

Here we see the drain plug again, it does have accumulation unlike last time, but not anything that unusual like the first time we did this where there was a lot of junk.

 

Another shot

 

Side shot of the plug

 

Top view of the plug.

 

Here are my hands after dipping my hands in the stuff.

 

And the bucket of the stuff