I changed my gear oil to Amsoil Series 2000 75W-90 today. Great, but I couldn't get the filler plug undone at first. Well, I found a handy use for the factory jack. I was able to put it underneath the ratchet handle and raise it until the plug broke loose. This worked very well, I might add! :D

The rest of the process was pretty standard. Drain, plug, fill, plug!

Oh, I almost flooded the valley with the Redline River! :eek: I forgot to undo the air release on the oil pan and when the oil ran out it filled the top of the pan and almost ran over into the driveway. Luckily, the pan I have holds quite a bit of oil on top.

Good idea. I used my jack to punch out my rear corner cap after I dimpled it back in on itself backing off an obstacle. Put the cap between the jack and the spare (while still under the X) and cranked til it popped back out. Seems the jack is more useful as a tool than as a means of lifting the X.

Brent

Hey Chuck,

I hope you're not running an air locker. I learned the hard way at Tellico when I put high quality synthetic Valvoline gear lube in when I installed the air locker. When the solenoid releases, it blows some of the fluid out of the solenoid releasing it to the air. Needless to say, at $8/qt for synthetic, I ain't usin' it no mo'! Kind of expensive to toss up on the hood of my truck! :) I figure if I am going to smell gear lube, it better be the lower cost stuff!

I usually get a very small amount of leakage out of my rear locker when released. The word (second hand) I get from ARB that this is not unusual. They also said that an occasional large release can be due to leaving the locker on for long periods.

When we were at GOX, I would get a gush of oil from the rear locker valve when the front locker was released. Haven't figured that one out unless it was due to the altitude somehow. Haven't seen it since getting back to the low lands.

The shop took a piece of metal tubing, die cut some threads in one end, screwed it into the top of the rear locker valve and bent it 90 degrees.
I attached some 3/16" vacuum tubing to the metal tubing and routed down to frame level - just in case this happens again. No more oil on the hood.

This was with 'standard' gear lube.

Originally posted by warmonger
Hey Chuck,

I hope you're not running an air locker. I learned the hard way at Tellico when I put high quality synthetic Valvoline gear lube in when I installed the air locker. When the solenoid releases, it blows some of the fluid out of the solenoid releasing it to the air. Needless to say, at $8/qt for synthetic, I ain't usin' it no mo'! Kind of expensive to toss up on the hood of my truck! :) I figure if I am going to smell gear lube, it better be the lower cost stuff!

I wish! I use standard oil in the diffs anyway because I already learned the expense lesson there when driving through water. I just change it often. If the Amoil works well in the transmission I'll leave it there for a long time. I have Redline in the Transfer case and it's fine, but the Xterra didn't at all like the Redline MT-90 in the transmission...that's the only reason I drained it. Actually, the rear diff. didn't like the Redline either so I used that and some water play as my excuse to drain it out awhile back.

Originally posted by Toy Man
The shop took a piece of metal tubing, die cut some threads in one end, screwed it into the top of the rear locker valve and bent it 90 degrees.
I attached some 3/16" vacuum tubing to the metal tubing and routed down to frame level - just in case this happens again. No more oil on the hood.

This was with 'standard' gear lube.

I haven't worried about it too much since I clean the motor after I get back. I just have to live with it until then. Since I know a number of off-roaders here in Florida who use air lockers, it didn't take me too long to discover the same thing you did. You are the only one I have heard of who actually came up with a neat fix though. Since it smells no worse than mud on the catalytic converters, most of us don't worry too much about it. It does require paying attention to the gear lube levels though.

Warmonger - I forgot to mention that several people have told me that oil 'gushing' from the valve is a sign that the seals where the air line enters the axle are bad.

Toyman,

It isn't really a gush. It is a light mist that coats each time the locker is engaged and disengaged. It really isn't much, but it is more pronounced on mine due to the location of the air valve. As it mists, it hits the right side of the motor and a small amount lands on the exhaust manifold. If it gushes out, I am going to worry. If you lay your hand over it on release, it leaves a small coat of gear lube, but no drippage. It only begins to drip if the locker is used (on & off) on a regular basis. Sound like yours?

If you lay your hand over it on release, it leaves a small coat of gear lube, but no drippage. It only begins to drip if the locker is used (on & off) on a regular basis. Sound like

That sounds fairly normal to me. My front locker valve does not leak at all, the rear locker just a very slight mist (normally).

Originally posted by Toy Man
The shop took a piece of metal tubing, die cut some threads in one end, screwed it into the top of the rear locker valve and bent it 90 degrees.
I attached some 3/16" vacuum tubing to the metal tubing and routed down to frame level - just in case this happens again. No more oil on the hood.

Hey Toy Man,

What would be the chances of getting two of those elbows you made for your truck? I would like to be able to route mine away from the truck as well. You can PM me if you want and let me know how much it would cost me to acquire a set of those.

Chuck, maybe you should get a good, long breaker bar then you wouldn't need to use the jack at all.

If you still can't get it off with the breaker bar its time to start pumping more iron.:p