Rear diff drain plug, forgot washer

[freeflight]

So I put the rear diff drain plug back without a washer. :redface: What could be the harm? Test drove the truck and it didn't leak.

What would you do in this case? Do another drain and refill just to put in a new washer? :decision:

This is how it happened: It looked like the drain plug washer was stuck on the bolt...so I put the drain plug back as is, fill oil, and replaced fill plug washer before torque them down. But when I clean out the oil drain pan, there is the drain plug washer...I guess it fell in the pan when I took drain plug off...

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[freeflight]

BTW: the old diff oil was dark green color. Looks very strange to me.

 

[hoodoo]

What would you do in this case? Do another drain and refill just to put in a new washer? :decision:
Thanks,
Kevin

You know what you must do for peace of mind.

Do another refill and make sure a washer is there.

They are there for a reason.

We all have done it.

Good luck.

 

[Morphyne]

So I put the rear diff drain plug back without a washer. :redface: What could be the harm? Test drove the truck and it didn't leak.

What would you do in this case? Do another drain and refill just to put in a new washer? :decision:

This is how it happened: It looked like the drain plug washer was stuck on the bolt...so I put the drain plug back as is, fill oil, and replaced fill plug washer before torque them down. But when I clean out the oil drain pan, there is the drain plug washer...I guess it fell in the pan when I took drain plug off...

Thanks,
Kevin

If its not leaking, I am not sure what the problem is. Just watch it. if it starts to leak, fix it then.

 

[techno]

Get a few buddies to help you gently roll your vehicle onto it's roof. The diff oil won't drain out now and you can put the washer back without any fuss.

 

[ZebRuaj]

I've done it in the past, but for oil drain plugs which are used more often. I'd put it back on the next drain .. but that might be a while for the diff.

Keep an eye on it and maintain as needed. Or redo it if you are bored/worried.

 

[blackoutt]

Pull it, quickly cover the hole with a thumb or rubber plug of appropriate size, put your new washer on, and reinstall. Then top off the fluid. It'll be messy but you won't lose too much fluid and will have piece of mind that there's a sealing washer on there. You may be able to leave the fill plug installed and cap the breather to create an air lock to slow the flow out the drain plug too but not sure how well that would work.

 

[jfry008]

So I put the rear diff drain plug back without a washer. :redface: What could be the harm? Test drove the truck and it didn't leak.

What would you do in this case? Do another drain and refill just to put in a new washer? :decision:

This is how it happened: It looked like the drain plug washer was stuck on the bolt...so I put the drain plug back as is, fill oil, and replaced fill plug washer before torque them down. But when I clean out the oil drain pan, there is the drain plug washer...I guess it fell in the pan when I took drain plug off...

Thanks,
Kevin

I would just drain and refill with the same fluid when I got the notion/time to do it. As long as it's not leaking you have a few weeks...maybe months to get around to it.

 

[RonJR]

You're way overthinking this. If it was me, I'd wait until the first of two things happened.
1) It started leaking (unlikely if it hasn't done so already)
2) the next drain/fill interval occurred.

If it doesn't leak, nothing else bad is going to happen.

If you just can't stand it, there's no need to drain the whole diff. Just get a friend and hand him/her the washer. Crawl under the truck and loosen the plug. Carefully take it out and quickly put your thumb over the hole, and hand the plug to your friend so they can install the washer. With the plug and washer in your free hand quickly remove your thumb and immediately insert the plug. Start the threads and tighten it up. Replace the 1/2 pint or so of fluid you lost, wipe the oil off your arm and floor, and call it done.

 

[07V8]

You're fine. The washer is not there to seal. It's to help prevent over tightening.

 

[Morphyne]

if you are really worried about this, catch the diff fluid in a clean container and then pump it back in. Whatever you do, don't dump it and put in fresh. But like I and others have said, no leak, no problem. if you really want to get rid of $35, don't spend it on fluid. send it to me. I'll PM you my address.

 

[foragg]

I would just drain and refill with the same fluid when I got the notion/time to do it. As long as it's not leaking you have a few weeks...maybe months to get around to it.

Just did the same thing.... captured oil and put it right back in.

 

[freeflight]

You're way overthinking this. If it was me, I'd wait until the first of two things happened.
1) It started leaking (unlikely if it hasn't done so already)
2) the next drain/fill interval occurred.

If it doesn't leak, nothing else bad is going to happen.

If you just can't stand it, there's no need to drain the whole diff. Just get a friend and hand him/her the washer. Crawl under the truck and loosen the plug. Carefully take it out and quickly put your thumb over the hole, and hand the plug to your friend so they can install the washer. With the plug and washer in your free hand quickly remove your thumb and immediately insert the plug. Start the threads and tighten it up. Replace the 1/2 pint or so of fluid you lost, wipe the oil off your arm and floor, and call it done.

Good point. The next drain will be 30K miles from now, may take 5 years. My main concern was the drain plug will be stuck to the diff case without a washer.

 

[freeflight]

Greenish differential fluid?

Thanks for so many replies. Really love this community.

My other concern is that drained differential fluid is dark green color. When I look into the fill hole after filling with clear Mobile 1 75w-90, still see a greenish hue in the oil. Has anyone seen this before or know why?

The truck has 79K miles, never forded serious water in its life.

 

[jow]

Dang! How did I miss this Inspection on my 2007 SR5 2WD, 6 Cyl Certification Maintenance during the 2010 purchase? I double checked all the maintenance performed I saw listed to certify the T4R. Not changing the spark plugs was all that I caught and they were changed “needed or not”. I saw this post and could not believe I missed the bottom drain plug when I checked the oil levels. From what I can see, at 43,000 miles when I purchased, there was no required read oil services. At 54,000 now I should be OK!

From my experiences and neck injury, from pulling the fill plug on my wife’s 2001 Camry. This is a maintenance that could require high ramps or a lift to be safe working with the tight plugs and required torque. My neck has not recovered a year after this past winter (from a snap motion IMO). Some fill plugs can be a total pain in restricted space.

Am I correct in saying my oil should be changed at 60,000 or am I missing something again? Thanks In Advance!

 

[Morphyne]

Replace at 60k if you are big fan of working on your truck. But 100k interval should be acceptable.

 

[nevada]

Replace at 60k if you are big fan of working on your truck. But 100k interval should be acceptable.

i see lot of vehicles that most likely have never had it changed. not until they have a leaky axle seal or something else that requires access to the rear differential. so 60-100k should be fine.

 

[Bob22222]

OP- gears and grit don't mix (yes it's everywhere and specks of Quartz or Corundum you can barely detect are way on the hardness scale from bearing materials) don't mix. Maintance wizzards over the course of automotive history have probably done more damage to gearboxes by introducing grit (not cleaning the plug and case properly, letting their of pump hose dangle against the ground or dirty frame or gloves or coverall you've been crawling in because you don't have a lift, you're sweating like a (heavens for bid drunk at that) pig, and you knuckles, your shoulder hurts like hell because you either don't have a section of pipe/breaker bar or don't know how to use one. Not you personally (or anyone else on this board) due I mean to infer to here but you get the point: it's hard hard enough to keep things clean enough with fresh fluid out the jug and a new 8 dollar pump (Those thing like to go south for me so a make sure a have a new or clean backup). Quick lubes or even "good" shops are a crap shoot when it comes to this that's why at this point I still drop my arthritic old ass under there to due it myself. If I where you and planned on keeping the vehicle around (cared about the next owner) I'd do it again with fresh gear libe and a NEW sealing crush washer. I'd worry more about the drain plug working its way loose without the proper washer than getting frozen in there. It's much easier to R&R a stuck drain plug than replace one that falls out at 65 mph. That's just me though. That way you can show us the green tinge too.
JOW-do you have a breaker bar and or pipe you use could to extend your wrench/ractchet handle next time? leverage, Leverage aka one of "the seven simple machines" has been known to work wonders and spare many a busted knuckle (neck?).

 

[freeflight]

Dang! How did I miss this Inspection on my 2007 SR5 2WD, 6 Cyl Certification Maintenance during the 2010 purchase? I double checked all the maintenance performed I saw listed to certify the T4R. Not changing the spark plugs was all that I caught and they were changed “needed or not”. I saw this post and could not believe I missed the bottom drain plug when I checked the oil levels. From what I can see, at 43,000 miles when I purchased, there was no required read oil services. At 54,000 now I should be OK!

From my experiences and neck injury, from pulling the fill plug on my wife’s 2001 Camry. This is a maintenance that could require high ramps or a lift to be safe working with the tight plugs and required torque. My neck has not recovered a year after this past winter (from a snap motion IMO). Some fill plugs can be a total pain in restricted space.

Am I correct in saying my oil should be changed at 60,000 or am I missing something again? Thanks In Advance!

I didn't replace rear diff oil till 12 years and 79k mile. The drained fluid is dark green color. Going by the tool marks on your fill and drain plugs, someone might have worked on the them. I couldn't take the fill plug off with a 24" breaker bar and PB, finally busted it off with a electric impact wrench. The rear diff housing and plug is steel on steel, thus I didn't worry about stripping the thread.

The central diff housing is aluminum alloy. It is okay to use impact wrench to take the plugs off?

 

[freeflight]

OP- gears and grit don't mix (yes it's everywhere and specks of Quartz or Corundum you can barely detect are way on the hardness scale from bearing materials) don't mix. Maintance wizzards over the course of automotive history have probably done more damage to gearboxes by introducing grit (not cleaning the plug and case properly, letting their of pump hose dangle against the ground or dirty frame or gloves or coverall you've been crawling in because you don't have a lift, you're sweating like a (heavens for bid drunk at that) pig, and you knuckles, your shoulder hurts like hell because you either don't have a section of pipe/breaker bar or don't know how to use one. Not you personally (or anyone else on this board) due I mean to infer to here but you get the point: it's hard hard enough to keep things clean enough with fresh fluid out the jug and a new 8 dollar pump (Those thing like to go south for me so a make sure a have a new or clean backup). Quick lubes or even "good" shops are a crap shoot when it comes to this that's why at this point I still drop my arthritic old ass under there to due it myself. If I where you and planned on keeping the vehicle around (cared about the next owner) I'd do it again with fresh gear libe and a NEW sealing crush washer. I'd worry more about the drain plug working its way loose without the proper washer than getting frozen in there. It's much easier to R&R a stuck drain plug than replace one that falls out at 65 mph. That's just me though. That way you can show us the green tinge too.
JOW-do you have a breaker bar and or pipe you use could to extend your wrench/ractchet handle next time? leverage, Leverage aka one of "the seven simple machines" has been known to work wonders and spare many a busted knuckle (neck?).

The green hue in the rear diff oil does concern me. But I will do the central and front diff next. Drain & refill the rear diff at the next oil change. BTW, I plan to keep the truck forever...:biggrin1: