Gear oil glitter (metallic color in rear Dana 44)

[JoeThomas]

Hi All - Thanks as always for all the help. I’m changing the gear oil in the rear of my LJ (Dana 44) and noticed that some of the oil had a metallic color to it. I’ve never heard any grinding or see anything wrong when inspecting the gears (pics attached). There was no glittery / metallic substance in the front dana when I changed the oil. This is also the first time I’m doing the change. The Jeep has 93k and I’ve owned it since 70k.
Is this normal? Or something I should be concerned about?

 

[TheBoogieman]

Not enough pictures and they're too far away. I need to see more. Looks normal to me.

 

[JoeThomas]

Thanks Boogie man. Do you recommend cleaning it out with brake cleaner? Does that hurt the diff in any way?

 

[Mike_H]

You shouldn't be seeing any "glitter" in gear oil. What does it look like puddled up on your catch pan?

 

[JoeThomas]

Hard to show I drained everything into a canister already. If you take a look at the bottom right of this photo you see a metallic gray substance - that’s what it looks like in the fluid.

 

[JoeThomas]

Almost like gray soot.

 

[Mike_H]

Still to hard for me to see. If it looked like metallic paint in the drain pan, you probably have a bearing going. Has it been making any noise?

 

[06lj]

Could it just be clutch material from the Trac-lok limited slip?

 

[Oklahomacheapjeep]

I had the same glitter in my Dana 44s gear oil and my spider gears were toast.

 

[williambmac]

You are always going to has a certain amount of metalic debris in your gear oil. This is due to normal wear and tear. Why do you think they use metalic drain plugs.

and it could also be clutch material from the limited slip

Although I will admit I do not like the looks of the spider gears. Is the diff making any noise?

 

[JoeThomas]

No noise whatsoever.

 

[WesTex TJ]

May have had the wrong oil in it, ( has to be GL5 hypoid) what does the oil look like in the front differential? Anything in the oil that a magnet will pick up?

 

[sierradmax]

You are always going to has a certain amount of metalic debris in your gear oil. This is due to normal wear and tear. Why do you think they use metalic drain plugs.

and it could also be clutch material from the limited slip

Although I will admit I do not like the looks of the spider gears. Is the diff making any noise?

From what I've seen, the Dana 44 (non-rubi) doesn't have a magnetic drain plug.

 

[Jeffseven777]

#1 have you taken apart that axles gears specifically the ring and pinion? if not good! But if you know it has been done recent then that amount of wear is no bueno for a recent change. You may want to take it somewhere and they can check the wear pattern those gears you can actually measure the wear and tell if there is an issue. Put you transfer case in neutral and turn the drive shaft left and right see if your spider gears are twisting almost like they are going to fall out. any major left or right shifting of the gears will tell you if they are to worn. Another late sign is if stopping and going you hear a pop in the rearend that means you are almost to catastrophic failure!

 

[Jeffseven777]

Also make sure when you go to put it back together you clean as much of the babbit out as possible!

 

[JoeThomas]

No magnetic drain plugs on mine. I've never taken apart the axle gears - I cleaned out as much as I could and refilled the oil.
I don't hear a grinding noise. But since you mentioned a Pop, I do hear a pop noise when I go from a parked position and back up. Its only once I start off and I don't really hear it again. I thought it might be from worn bushings on the control arms or the rear track bar may not be torqued fully. Still trying to figure that one out.

 

[JoeThomas]

May have had the wrong oil in it, ( has to be GL5 hypoid) what does the oil look like in the front differential? Anything in the oil that a magnet will pick up?

The front Diff looked fine. Only had this in the rear.

 

[Jeffseven777]

I heard the popping during take of and stopping hard and thats when my dana 35 rear shredded its gears. Could be bushing put a super easy way to tell is by jacking it up and getting it to simulate the movements. Or checking your wear pattern and backlash.

 

[bromel]

The clutch packs often make the gear oil pretty dirty looking, at least they do in my non-Rubicon dana 44.

 

[JoeThomas]

I heard the popping during take of and stopping hard and thats when my dana 35 rear shredded its gears. Could be bushing put a super easy way to tell is by jacking it up and getting it to simulate the movements. Or checking your wear pattern and backlash.

I'll have to spend some time on it this week. I hope it's not coming from the gears