Posted by Traveler on April 12, 03 at 10:37:04:
In Reply to: Re: Gasket sealant needed for diff cover change? posted by KevinW on April 12, 03 at 08:39:34:
Haha. They load it with synthetic so you don't need to change as often and then give you a drain plug.
There is a magnet that has to be cleaned, so is that now integral in the plug?
They must have concluded nobody is changing the diff oil early on to get out the break-in shavings. After rebuilding a few diffs and seeing what goes on in there, I still will be changing diff oil in the 3-5K range the first time and then switching to syn. The sahvings will tear up the bearings, and the pieces get ground to fine particles that eventually form a sediment in the crivices, ignoring the magnet.
As far as when they added the plug, the 8.1L probably commanded an 11.5" ring FF unit that was offered in 99 or 00 for the first time.
A diff oil change is on my list for later this month. I will use a new gasket and AMSOIL 75W-90 series 2000, just to try it out. Will also try using sealant on the carrier side and oil on the cover side to create the reusable gasket as Ben posted.
My 2 cents on RTV-only approaches... let the RTV harden overnight before filling with oil. 24 hours even better. Before applying, clean the surfaces with brake clean to remove the oil film.