I just crawl under on a sheet of cardboard. Lots of clearance and the cardboard protects my aching knees.

 

The dealership provided me a copy of the notice they got. It says 10 1/5" rear level is 1/2" to 1" below the bottom of the fill plug. 11 1/2 is 3/4" to 1 1/4" below the bottom of the fill opening, and "DO NOT topp off the lubercant level to the bottom of the fill plug".


I'd like to see a copy of that notice. The date of the notice was March 8, 2004, maybe they're behind the times.. And if the owner manuals are incorrect, Dodge should be sending out notices to truck owners.

My 04 calls for 1/4inch +/- 1/4 inch from the fill hole for the 3.73 rear end.

Here are the specs for an 04 2500 4x4, 6 spd, HO Cummins

Transfer Case (up to 5pts/3qts)

Man. Trans. NV 5600 ( 6 Spd 9.5 pts/5 qts)

Frt & Rear Axle (up to 5 pts frt & 8pts rear/8 qts)

 

RE: I'd like to see a copy of that notice.

I scanned it and attached. Reduced to the image size that you can post it is pretty grainy, but readable. The "4:00" written on the form was me, writing down what time they wanted to lower the oil level for me.

There was a pretty extensive thread on this issue, but I took the stance that until I got something from Chrysler I would do what my manual says, even though people were saying that if you fill the oil up to the bottom of the plug you may have a seal fail that wouldn't be covered under warranty.

Naturally, I figured it would be hard for them to deny warranty work if I can show them in black and white in the manual where it shows my oil level is what they specify. It would be tougher to argue that you set the oil level lower than what the owners manual says because of something you read on the internet....

Anyway, then I got a call from the dealership and this notice.

Hope that helps.

Jeff

 

JEFF,

Thanks for the notice post. I don't know how much a recall would cost to fill the rear ends on these trucks, but it makes you wonder if they're just trying to save money by not filling the diff's all the way and writing different specs on a sheet of paper.

I'll keep my filled with the Amsoil Series 2000 75-90W that I put in at 6800 miles and change it every 15k in accordance with Schedule B.