I got a ? about Diff oil change
Took mine in for the 15,000 mile service today
yes 15,000 low miles
they charged me $279 for both front and rear
Is that about right??

I took it there as to keep away from a warranty issue later on down the road

$154 in labor
$89 in lube
$13 in cleaner
$22 in sealer

Now that being said,, it appears that they didnt even remove the diff covers from the axle
They may have sucked the old oil out through the filler
The fillers had oil on them

Is this normal diff lube proceedure with these trucks??

What was the sealer for?

Any help ya ll could give me / past experience, I would appreciate.
before I make an A** of myself at the dealer.

This Dealer has a very good reputation
They have always been good to me
soo far


Thanks

 

if you are questioning whether they did it or not, remove the fill plug, stick a q tip or tongue depresser into the oil, look at what comes out. if it has been in there 15k miles it will be slightly silvery. then you can go back and ask what they did for $280.

if they sucked it out through the fill plug, they did not get anything that settles on the bottom. you always have to wipe out the bottom of the housing.

 

I think most dealerships suck the oil out. Since they do a lot of them, the equipment pays for it's self and it saves time.

Even if they did pull the cover, they come with a rubber reuseable gasket that requires no sealer.

I would guess $80 for full synthetic in front and rear is close, but that's a lot for labor. I don't know what they would have used for sealer and cleaner?

Anyhow, if I were you, I'd just do it myself next time. It isn't a hard job.

 

I just called another dealership in the area and they said it was factory proceedure to just suck out the old andi n with the new

and they were $299
they are a good dealership too
very good

so maybe it is the way the do it nowadays
i dont really like it

I never did it that way years ago

what threw me was the sealer charge
22 bucks
I am thinking silicon gasket seal
then i saw the covers werent removed
is the sealer some sort of lube sealer additive?

I am sure they put in new lube
They a very reputible in their service dept
i was just questioning their method

thanks

 

I will next time

but i wanted the first scheduled service to be on my warranty record

i mabey worried about nothing

 

Hey 04.5 I've been warned about my Foul attitude with dealers so I will be nice...At least the Dealer didn't charge you an extra $40.00 bucks for disposal!
Since the gaskets are reusable I would guess the sealer is just another way of extracting another $22.00 bucks from the customer. The $13.00 would sure buy a lot of cleaner. Considering the hose'in they gave you on the cleaner & sealer I'd say the Parts & Labor looks a little cheap!

 

As long as you keep a written record of milage, date, and work performed, and keep a stack of receipts for oil and other supplies that meet warranty requirements, the dealership shouldn't give you any grief about doing your own work.

I also question the sealant charge, and the cleaner. Even if they did pull the cover, no sealant should be used. The labor also sounds like quite a bit.

You could politely ask them to explain, and see what they say?

 

I paid more for my suck job at a dealer in Calif than you did. Um..that doesnt sound right. Their garage doors were open so I was able to watch them. They appeared to suck stuff out of everything except the tranny. Anyway, thanks to this forum, Im doing it all myself and they were right..It isnt hard at all.

 

does anyone make a quick change tube type pump like the dealer so one can change it every so often or is the magtech cover the only option?

the front magtech on my dodge is not something i want to deal with
cleearance problems

 

No fancy covers or pumps are required to do a quality job. Park it in a level spot, take out all the screws except one towards the top, let the fluid drain into a container, take out the last screw, clean any remaining fluid and residue from the inside of the housing and cover, inspect the gears for any damage, clean gasket, replace cover, torque the screws, refill. That's all there is to it. If the job takes more than 1/2 hour per axle, you should drink less beer during the process.

 

new gasket must be required
and
2 beers per axle

 

if all they did was suck the fluied out and put new in, then that should have taken them about 10 mins to finish the job. okay maybe a 1/2 hour.......man these dealers sure do make some money on labor.

1/2 hour = $154

1 hour = $308

i'm in the wrong line of work!

just do it your self next time and you can do the change for just the cost of the fluid

 

im sure this has been going over time and time again, but what gear oil is everyone using?

brett

 

i'm using redline.

 

The seals are rubberized, and it says right in the manual that they can be reused. I've changed my oil twice now, and they don't even show a hint of seep.

Two beers are required, though, but jack daniels will get the job done faster.

I also run redline, in 75W140 since we have hot summers here and I tow. As long as it is full synthetic rated GL5 in 75W90 or 75W140 it meets warranty requirements.