Blue<br><br>What rear end do you have? The 11 1/2 comes standard with synthetic and I believe most all the others do too?<br><br>*** is your dealer trying to do here anyway?<br><br>Maybe he is not knowledgeable?<br><br>Hunter

 

FWIW..mine was also low...finally got to checking it today. Added 1/2 a quart of Mobile 1 putting it at about 1/4&quot; below the hole. It was also frothy in there...like old oil gets to looking... ???

 

If you can believe the Owner's Manual, it specifies only Synthetic GL-5 for both front and rear axles of the CTD. ??? ??? Doesn't matter whether 10.5 or 11.5 axle.

 

Sierra<br><br>I want to see something in print, from DC, that says &quot;The level of the rear differential should be&quot; 1&quot; below, 1/2&quot; below or whatever!<br><br>Nowhere that I can find do they say how low or high it should be, just how much gear oil to add to a fully empty differntial<br><br>Does DC even know where it should be?<br><br>Hunter

 

Hunter - Don't know what rear I have except that it's the 3:78? or is that 3:73? Too early in the morning for the brain to function right. Don't know what it came with dino or synthetic as it's been a week or so since I read the manual - BUT, what the dealer showed me the other day was a Dodge Service Bulletin that said that if you're going to be towing you should change the rear diff. fluid to a synthetic after 500 miles. Perhaps the original fluid is synthetic and they want it changed as a break-in oil. Don't know. In any case mine was changed. Did make a mistake in yesterday's post. I run the Red Line red rear end fluid. My friend runs the blue. His right hub bearings went out last year, mine were good. He won four &quot;A&quot; mains - I didn't win any. Then again, he's 20 and sharp, and I'm a 67-year old fart.

 

Bluedresser, Remember the fable of &quot;The Hare and the Tortise&quot;. Also, 3.78 is in the Yugo not the Ram. Where do you get your Redline? <br><br>Quote of the day, &quot;Old Farts Never Die, They Just Smell That Way.&quot;

 

For the past few days I've been following along on this forum and had to see for my self what my 100.00 dollar service manual had to say. And so far I have not found that it tells just where the level should be in relation to the fill hole, but what it does say is: OVERFILLING WILL CAUSE AERATION AND FOAMING. And when that happends it causes overheating at the point where the gears touch each other.<br>Thus pitting the hard facing on the gear teeth.<br><br>I'm sure we all can understand that point of view. Sorry to say the question still remains; What is over full? Could it mean that someone could possable pump lube into the case till it is above the hole and then when they remove the filler tube screw the plug in before it has drained down to the hole.<br><br>I wonder if that is possable? Robert

 

In service bays at many dealers they have a gear oil gun which is fed by air pressure. The sizer of the fill tube is large enough to mostly fill the opening. High viscosity lube flows slowly. I have seen techs fill these axles fast and under pressure over fill. Instead of allowing excess to drain out, they quickly screw the plug in. It is possible to introduce an extra pint into an axle this way. Service stations at one time were notorious for this as this was an easy to make money on the lube job.

Can anyone remember when an oil change and lube was $1.50 plus cost of oil, filter, gear lube? Pennzoil or Quaker State was $0.35/qt., Filter (Chebbys and Ferds didn't have em) $1.25 and Gear Lube was $0.75/ pt. What year was that? Regular gasoline was $0.229/gal.

 

Here is my theory (if it is worth anything):<br><br>The fill hole is the only place to measure from and GM has been using the AAM for some time and I guess DC used to use it. I talked with a GM mechanic and he says that the proper level is at the bottom of the fill hole according to their training and the books. To achieve this properly you have to fill it to the bottom of the hole, close it up and then run it around a bit before rechecking and bring it up again to the bottom of the hole. The reason for running it around is that the oil has to run its way out to the end of the axle and lube up everything there thus bringing the overall fresh fill level down below the fill hole. I am guessing this is why we are seeing varying levels in our new trucks, plus what Phil said about the air pump used to fill, even if they let it run out, by the time it works its way around in there for awhile it could be well below the fill hole.<br><br>Most shops don't do the extra step and run the vehicle around to get the oil spread out in the axle and then top it off, therefore it was suggested that DC put it in their book as the absolute minimum level. <br><br>When I topped mine off the other day it was pretty easy using a small flashlight to see in there to bring it right to the bottom of the fill hole and I think the hole is low enough on the cover that it is nowhere near over full.<br><br>I will be changing out all the fluids under my truck in the next couple of weeks (when I hit 1000 miles) and will be able to give some pretty close idea of the volume/quantity of oil for each component (diffs, trans, tcase). I will be using Redline synthetic GL5 75w-90 in the Diffs and GL4 in the Trans. Chrysler ATF IV in the Tcase.<br><br>I'll post up with these measurements when I get it and I will be filling to the bottom of the fill hole for all components!<br><br>CTDCAL

 

So, the question remains valid.<br><br>How does one know what is the &quot;correct level&quot; of fluid!<br><br>Paid $120 for the service manual and no place can I find what the &quot;correct level&quot; of fluid is<br><br>And it appears no one else can either?<br><br>Wondering Hunter

 

I look at the situation this way. If D-C intended the proper level to be something different from what it has been for eons, they would put it everywhere in bold print. Since they are silent on the matter in their Service Manual, they assume that every dumb &quot;back yard grease monkey&quot; already knows where it should be. These TSBs that supposedly said correct level was 1 inch below the fill hole have never been seen by me and I doubt any of you can produce a copy of one on this forum or anywhere else. <br><br>I would add to that if anyone promotes the proposition that lube level in rear axle should be 1&quot; below the fill hole, they better put up the photocopy of such proof or they are motivated with malicious intent.<br><br>The web can be a wonderful tool for information, communication, and research. There are those who's intent is to do mischief on the internet, spam, spreading rumors. Let's hope this site will be free this kind of misinformation in the future.

 

I kinda wondered where the 1&quot; information was coming from, I too have never seen it in writing other than on the internet and I just don't buy it!!!!!!<br><br>Hunter,<br><br>Where did you obtain your service manual? Are they available on compact disc yet?<br><br>In your service manual does it give the capacities for the transmission (NV4500) tcase, front diff and 11.5&quot; rear diff? If it does could you post it up, I don't want to over buy expensive stuff when I do the dump next week. Also it will give us some idea when I do where DC's capacities fall as I will check to see how close they come up with the fill holes.<br><br>CTDCAL

 

By the way, anyone else wonder why they did not put all the capacity information in the owners manual? The only ones I see is the Engine Oil Capacity and Cooling System Capacity.<br><br>Thanks again to you all for all of your insite,<br><br>CTDCAL

 

Went back into the &quot;Ram Truck service manual&quot; and came up with this info.

Sect 21-3 For transmissions and trasfer cases:
&quot;The correct lubricant level is to the botton edge of the fill plug hole.&quot;

Sect 3-51 For rearends:
&quot;Model 60 4X2 6.26 pts.
&quot; &quot; 4X4 7.25 &quot;
&quot; 70 4X2 7 &quot;
&quot; &quot; 4X4 7.75 &quot;
&quot; 80 4X2 6.8 &quot; Note- this is not a mistake 6.8 pts.
&quot; &quot; 4X4 10.1 &quot;

And after all my looking the manual still did not say anything about &quot; where the level should be in relation to the hole, just gave the amounts.

what a bummer.

Robert

 

OH Sick, I'm afraid your information on models 60, 70, &amp; 80, isn't any help, these model designations are for Dana axles. Dana axles are not on the 2003 Rams. 2003 Rams have American Axle Manufacturing Axles. What is the publication date of your Service Manual? By your signature I see yopu have a 95 Ram. ??? ???