I've done my rear diff at 1kmi and again at 5k. I did the front at 5kmi through the fill plug not a cover service. Just did my t-case and front diff at 10.6kmi. t-case looked real good. Front diff oil looked clean but had lots of moisture mix. You can see the sludge stuck the the surfaces. Some gray texture for metal contaminants which is a normal appearance.

My truck is a 2008 and does its fair share of sitting, so It doesn't surprise me much. This is why you go by time for fluids as well. And why you need to remove your cover for service and not just suck it out and spit it back in through the fill plug!! Gotta clean the surfaces up and all those contaminatns. Took 4 rags to wipe out the diff case. It was loaded with 1/2" of sludge.

Here's me scooping it out of the bottom and then with the residual

 

Eww.....THAT CHIT LOOKS SLIMY.

 

those are very short intervals to change fluid, even if it sits. never heard of anyone having a failure bc of old fluid in diffs.

 

Time for mine to be changed then lol

 

MMMMMMMMMMMM---Yummy, Looks like vanilla Pudding, bet ya didn't taste it!!!!!!

You might double check the vent line to be sure of its integrity and connectedness--

 

yes and no.

I do very short drives and hard drives at best, so I'm hard on the components and the fluid doesn't have a chance to heat up and evap the moisture out properly and not sure if it would even if it was at operating temp either???
The rear diff got serviced at 1kmi. I dont think thats a short interval for a new differential. Sure guys go 30kmi before their 1st change, but I aint ever heard of anyone paying high dollar for a gear change and NOT changing the fluid at 500miles for the "break-in". I look at new vehicles the same way. Plus, I've done a ton of towing those 10kmi. The first diff fluid change with the pan cover removed(5kmi) there was massive amounts of gray sludge from the break-in process.

As for the front, pulling the cover off at 10kmi for it's 1st "real" fluid change isn't unheard of either. That stuff would still be sitting at the bottom if I was one of those guys that went to a Quick lube or even the Dealer for a fluid change. All they do is suck it through the fill hole and squirt fresh stuff back in.

Failures do happen in diffs because of old fluid. It happens in ways such as rust pitting on bearings causes the pinion bearing to start howling...etc
Those type of failures. What I have never heard of is a failure happening to an over zealous fluid changer such as myself

Trans fluid will get done when the seal starts leaking or the truck hits 25kmi.

 

When you take the cover off like this, do you clean it out with anything like brake cleaner, or just wipe it out? I was just looking online at fluids. I didn't want to take the cover off because it looks like a huge mess of RTV, but maybe I should.

 

Clean the cover with brake cleaner. Don't shoot brake cleaner inside the diff itself. Odds are you wont get it all out and it could affect your oil. Wipe it out with a clean rag.

 

That's about what I figured. Thanks.

 

I totally agree on removing the cover. I worked at a lube shop and we offered a cover removal for 100$ or just suck it out and fill it for about 70$ and EVERYONE would just say suck it out. You will never get all of the fluid out that way either.