What do your service managers say is the proper time to do this? I asked the one at the dealer I've been going to and he said Nissan does not recommend changing and that he has some customers who have 100,000 on their rear diffs without ever changing. I don't have the manual handy but I seem to recall every 30,000 miles unless you drive in harsh conditions and then every 15,000. I was planning to change at 15,000 on the better-be-safe-than-sorry theory and was very surprised to hear him say this.

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And I thought service managers were supposed to SELL service.

According to my service manual the interval ranges from a mere inspection every 15k miles (no LSD, grocery-getter duty) to changing it every 30,000 miles (LSD).

Your dealership must get most of their customers from the grocery-getter category.



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I would do it around 15K miles and then maybe every 30K. During breakin, a lot of metal shavings build up on the magnetic plug, and if for no other reason, I would pull the plug to clean it off. Also, if you drive through deep water a lot, your front diff. is susceptible to getting water inside, as it has a vent hose under there. I did my gearbox, transfer case, and both diffs around 15K and all of them had plenty of shavings. Others I know who have changed had the same findings.

I can't remember which variation off the top of my head, but the transfer case takes ATF. i used Redline D4 ATF in mine. Gearbox (assuming you have a manual tranny) takes GL4 75W-90 oil, and both diffs. take GL5 80W-90 oil. If you have limited slip in back, make sure you add LSD additive also.

BTW, changing these is easy to do by yourself with your truck on the ground. You just need a 1/2" drive and extension (no socket; just the drive) and a pump of some sort to pump the oil in.

HTH!

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[This message has been edited by ChuckH (edited 02-28-2001).]