Differential Service.

[Vash]

Boo. Taking the front diff off is 90% of the fun on front differential service. Also, with a pump I don't really see how you'll get all the fluid sitting underneath the diff gears. I also used a little brake cleaner and wiped all the old fluid off everything and then dried it off and let it air dry thoroughly. The job sucks, but if you're going at least 50,000 miles until doing it again you might as well go all the way.

Also, I had the same experience with fluid weeping out the fill hole but only when filling as I took the cover off and didn't try to remove the fill plug prior. I just stopped at the point the fluid started weeping and put the plug in. It helped a lot that I'd done the rear diff first since the process is almost identical.

 

[Ruger]

Vash, sir, one man's "fun" is another man's trip to the confessional!

 

[Ruger]

Well, I think I can say that using a fluid pump to remove the old fluid from the front differential is a mediocre way to go. I was able to insert a 1/2 inch polyethylene hose pretty deeply into the differential, but it did not go all the way to the bottom of the case. As a result I was able to pump in about 39 ounces of fresh fluid - 1.2 quarts or 2.4 pints. As the manual says the capacity is either 3.5 or 3.6 pints, it's only about a 70 percent fluid replacement.
FYI

 

[Vash]

Yeah, it's very telling that the front diff cover has an outdent that goes around the part of the gearing that sticks out the farthest. Not much room to work with. It was worth a try though.

 

[Krab]

Ok, I'm attempting to drain/fill the front diff right now.. A little bit of a pain. How did you guys fill it back up? Funnel? Pump?

 

[OrangeAddict]

Pump. You will not be able to get a funnel to fill up the front diff. You can pick up a cheep one for 10 bucks or so.

 

[Vash]

I used a long tube adapter that screws onto the oil bottle. Then, you can simply turn the bottle over and squeeze the fluid into the diff. Also, if you drop the spare tire and have a small funnel I believe there's room to dump the oil directly from the bottle into the funnel.

Edit: Just realized you said front diff. I used a pump. It was tedious, but it worked. I just kept going until oil started dripping back out of the fill hole.

 

[Krab]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll be picking up a manual limp from harbor freight later this afternoon for this.

 

[farman]

This is my front diff oil, I know everyone says it looked milky when they changed it but I thought it would look grey or silver like in the OP's pic not brown, is this normal or a result of me going through some deep water. Which makes me ask, does anybody know how high up the front diff vent tube is located.thanks

 

[13raptorcrew]

@farman, thats exactly what mine looked like a few weeks ago and mine hasn't been in deep water. The vent is up by the brake booster so it is not likely that water came in through there (at least thats where I traced it to on my '13).

The picture is from when the oil spilled on the rack as it rapidly flowed from the fill hole when opened. I used a pump to suck out the old fluid and added friction modifier and fluid using the same pump. A little messy, but it was nice not taking the diff cover off.

(I guess it looks a little different than yours with the pictures side by side and the fact that it is on the red rack vs in a plastic container)