Front Diff, Transfer Case, how to change fluid.

[oldworld]

I have an 03 escalade.
When I checked the level in the transfer case the other day, at least a half quart came out the fill hole......
As mentioned here before, how is it possible to overfill? Can that be bad?
Also I read here as well to use Dextron 3 or 6 when changing the fluid, that the escaldes did not use the blue stuff. My fluid is blue.
Does that mean I need to use the blue to replace it?
Thanks

[Patrick7997]

Oldworld - You don't say how many miles you have on the truck... Is there a chance it was changed once already??

My understanding is that your 03 should be the same as my 04. My 04 had a factory fill of regular red Dexron 3. However, I *thought* it was supposed to be the blue stuff, so since I bought it already, I did go ahead and put the blue stuff in....

I am wondering if someone did that to yours???

If unsure, it will cost around $28 to go to a GM dealer and get 2 quarts of the blue stuff, which is a small price to pay for your peace of mind...

As far as overfilling, mine was slightly overful. That may have been due to the truck not being dead level while in the air... I'm not sure a slight overfill is a bad thing.

[jwtjwt]

On the rear diff. do you have to remove the plate to change the fluid? I know the lube places pump them out. What do you advise?

[Patrick7997]

I have another thread on that, devoted entirely to the rear diff, which I think is also one of the stickies...

The short answer is no, loosen up half the bolts, on the lower half, put a drain pan under it, and pry it open slightly with something... big screwdriver, small prybar, whatever....

The fluid will drain nicely, and then you can just retighten the bolts you loosened, and fill it back up.

[Patrick7997]

Sorry, I misspoke... it is not a sticky.

The rear diff instructions with pictures are HERE:

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...nge-fluid.html (Escalade Rear Diff, how to change fluid tips)

Enjoy.

[chadande]

Nice write up! My front diff and transfer case have been re-lubed. Thanks for spending the time to put this together.

[Patrick7997]

Okay, it's been almost a year since I did the Front Diff in the first place...

Some of you may recall from other threads that after I did it, it was still whining, and I took it back to the dealer, and they stood behind it and rebuilt the front diff... That was at roughly 45k miles, diff shot.

So now, it is 16k miles later. 16k miles on a basically new front diff.

First, let me say that you don't need the truck up in the air to do the front diff. I just did it no problem from on the ground.

Now, I pull the drain plug.... the fluid is toast. It's black, it's scuzzy. Only 16k miles on it.

The magnetic drain plug is covered with metal. Covered. Just like the picture earlier in this thread. After only 16k miles....

Hopefully this will help, this time I replaced the fluid with Mobil One 75w140 light truck/suv formula... I hope.

My new interval for front diff service is 15k miles. Obviously, this diff is eating itself, in daily driving... I think changing it more often can't be a bad idea.

So, if you have an Escalade AWD, drop what you're doing and change the front diff fluid now. The wallet you save may be your own...

[CAD-E!]

i changed out the fluids out about a month after you made this post and i put around 4,000 miles on my car since the change and im changing it now out cause in going on a rally in june. the drain bolt for the front diff was covered in metal shavings, my fluid was black. so i agree w/ patrick7997 on changing it out more often.

my 03 has 26,900 miles should i be worried about the front going out?

[g9s8r]

so like oil should be changed every x,xxx miles. dif fluids should be changed every xx,xxx miles. what would you say those miles should be?

[CEPMAN]

This is definitely a money saving thread. I personally would like to see for myself how much metal has collected on the plug.

[sk7]

Excellent information. Here is a pic of the front diff drain plug. 128K miles on the truck, no way of knowing if the oil had previously been replaced.



After much reading on this forum, I will dump the lower quality synthetic oil I put in and go with Amsoil severe gear oil 75W90 before winter. No noize or whine from the front diff so far...

[spinedoc]

Thanks for the great post. Is friction modifier necessary in any of the diffs?

[sk7]

I remember having to add a small bottle of GM special additive for the G80 limited slip rear diff in older trucks. Nobody here seems to be using it, I didnt and if you are using good quality synthetic lube you should be fine without.

[Dirty Chris]

I can only speak for the Mobil1 75w90 Synthetic LS Gear Lubricant1. The LS stands for Limited Slip and it already has the additives in it. From what I've seen, most SYNTHETIC gear oils are this way.

[OTHCustoms]

Does anyone know if this right up goes the same for a 2000 escalade? My escalade does not have awd but is 4wd.