How do I go about draining and topping off the gear lube in the differential?

ATOMICDR

MEMBER
1996 DODGE DAKOTA
174,000 MILES

It's a 2-wheel drive and I'm hearing a low roaring sound at all speeds. I just replaced an old set of all-terrain type tires which weren't good anyway. I thought the tires might have been responsible for the noise. With the new set I now know that wasn't the issue. I also tried the proven method of checking the front wheel bearings. Hard turning to each side. No noticeable difference at any speed or amount of turn. I'm suspicious of the differential being low on fluid as I noticed the front of the diff housing is wet on the lower half. Maybe I'm too blind to see but I cannot locate the drain plug or the filler bolt/plug on this differential. Any Ideas?

Thanks.

2 Replies

RASMATAZ

MECHANIC
75,992 POSTS

Maybe you have to cracked the Diff cover to drain it and a filler plug on top of it to fill it-

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Monday, November 28th, 2011 AT 9:15 PM

ATOMICDR

MEMBER
34 POSTS

Thanks guy. I did find the rubber plug for filling the diff. It was buried under a 1/2 inch of built up road dirt, etc. And up close it wasn't visible. From a distance you could just barely see the outline of the plug.

New question: I drained, cleaned, and refilled with new 80/90 gear lube. I observed all the gear teeth and their movement when it was empty. All looked clean and with no noticeable irregular wear. Once refilled I still have a growling noise coming from the diff while allowing the rear wheel to spin when the vehicle is up on jack stands. How does one go about adjusting the position of the gears to make them mesh more perfectly? The gears look to possibly be replacements and I'm wondering if by chance they weren't synchronized properly. Ideas?