I want to know why the change interval is 15k when synthetic is supposed to have a longer life than petrolium based oils. If I am supposed to change every 15k then regular gear oil will suffice. The fuel mileage gained by synthetic is so minute.

 

Drain & inspect Tranfer Case fluid is @ 45k on the 03's. You may want to verify that. I do see that the Front & Rear Diff's are @ 15k???

 

Essentially, if you want to keep the warranty, you need to change diffs every 15k with full synthetic GL-5... Apparently use of non-synthetic can result in failure, and void warranty.

This was a bit of a shock to me, also. At least they come with reuseable seals.

 

It has to happen because of the amount of metal that is being found in these diffs. If you check your diff plug it probelly has alot of metal on it, if not your lucky. I clean mine every 300km or so and still have metal on it in a substantial quantity. good luck and dont use anything other then they specify other wise it may come back to haunt you.

 

The Dodge fill from factory is synthetic....And, they want you to change every 15k. I changed my frt & rear at 7k, with AMSOIL 2000 series 75w-90 and the factory stuff was nasty coming out. Even though AMSOIL says the 2000 series is a fill-for life, I'm still gonna change every 15k, until I'm out of warranty.
Oh, drive train is a lot quieter now too.....

 

I have a diesel-powered boat that requires GL-5 full synthetic in the outdrive gearbox. The maker (Volvo) states that this is the only lubricant that can withstand the extreme pressures in the gearbox. They have a change frequency of one year for the lubricant. Haven't changed lubricant in my truck yet but I can tell you that the stuff drained out of my boat smells real bad.

I suspect that our Dodge trucks have similiar extreme pressures. You can count on the dealer not knowing or fully appreciating this and you may find that they will use a much less costly lubricant. This is what happened at my boat repair dealer.

 

Started looking into this as the manual does say change front and rear at 15K. Using roughly 2 gals of gear oil this can get costly. I am looking at Amsoil 5gal 75W90 that runs about $120-130 that breaks down to about $6 or a little more per qt. Seems I read a thread somewhere where the dealer charged something on the order of $32 a qt.

Do make sure to stay within the fill limits as going over can blow your axle seals or cause other problems.

I still don't follow why they say check and top off the transmission and then say it never needs changed.

 

What is the real fill level? On mine, rear diff cover level indicator mark is about 1" lower than what the manual says. So which is correct? It maybe conflicting due to size of differential, I don't know.

 

There was apparently a change in the recommended level early in the 03 model year. My owner's manual says 1/4" below the bottom of the fill plug + or - 1/4", and there are no marks on my rear cover.

Later my dealer notified me that they now specify 3/4" to 1 1/4" below the plug for the 11.5 axle, and they even pumped some out when I brought it in.

 

Guess I had better do mine.......now for the stupid question. How do you change these oils in the front and rear diffs. ?

 

Just unbolt the covers and have a drain pan ready. Once the bolts are out, pull on the edges of your cover and remove it. Be careful not to damage the gasket, cause it's reusable. I like to let my diffs drain over night and wipe out the inside of the diff with a rag. While you have the covers off, take a good look at your gears and make sure you don't see any damage to the teeth. -Steve

 

I just did my transfer case at 45K miles. The ATF+4 fluid that drained out of it sure was dirty. I intend to shorten up the change interval. I am thinking every 30K miles.

 

Well, I changed the diff fluids this weekend and the oil was perfect. At 15200 there was to no filings on the plug. More like a fine sludge, no where near as bad as a D-44 like in my Bronco.

 

Well, the dealer here changes them for 103.95/differential. So doing both is $207.90 + tax. I might think of doing it myself, never done it. I might learn something, hopefully it does not involve towing