Winyah

Help guys- I just changed the rear diff fluid. About 50 miles later, I noticed a popping noise every time I am slowing down with the clutch in. Everything runs smooth and quiet while the engine is pulling. Got home and drained the fluid and put in some 80w90 back in. I found a few slivers of metal in the drained fluid. Any thoughts? What could have caused this? 2009 with 180,000 miles.

Winyah

Lots of views, no comments/thoughts?

resharp001

Take a couple minutes and fill out your profile with details on the jeep (year, model, etc.). It is helpful for those of us that look to see what you're working with. Only thing I could think of someone could do wrong when changing gear oil is not having an additive for an LSD if one had an LSD in there. Even though we don't know what axle/carrier you're working with, Royal Purple is good stuff and has an additive in it, so that is a moot point. I have to think changing the viscosity for that short a period was not a factor and just a fluke coincidence, but that is just my opinion.....I am no oil specialist. When I change gear oil, I always break open the cover and visually inspect the insides. If that were my jeep, I'd be opening it up to see if everything looks ok. To me, "sliver" sounds like a significant piece of metal. Do you have a locker in there, an LSD, or just fully open? Nothing else has changed on the jeep recently?

Mark Doiron

If you're draining the fluid without pulling the cover, pull the cover. And inspect the gears. Don't be surprised if you find some that are damaged. That will require replacement. And likely new bearings since metal shavings in bearings isn't very compatible. Especially since you're at 180,000 miles, anyway. I keep this on my desk as a reminder of how vulnerable those gears are ...



Meanwhile, as pointed out, you can expect better answers if we know what you have and how it's been modified. Your profile info provides that.

Dat

I never have been a fan of royal purple, 27 years working at a GM dealership, everybody that swore by royal purple we ended up doing engine work at lower than normal miles.
I still like lubricating metal with dead dinasour goop.
ASE master tech , GM master tech and all that BS that doesn't amount to anything except a personal opinion on the subject

Winyah

I got home from the dealer and pulled the cover. See the fat “pin” and the pinion gear. I took it back and they said the pin has a retaining bolt that was missing.