colour of diff oil

I thought I'd better change the oil in the rear diff, so, I used a syringe toil to suck out as much as I could. The oil that came out wasn't clear at all, it was a dark brown shade , a bit like a bad cup of coffee. Is this to be expected on a 15 yr old Hippo with 112000 on the clock

luxinterior67 said:

I thought I'd better change the oil in the rear diff, so, I used a syringe toil to suck out as much as I could. The oil that came out wasn't clear at all, it was a dark brown shade , a bit like a bad cup of coffee. Is this to be expected on a 15 yr old Hippo with 112000 on the clock

Click to expand...

it is if oil has been left in far to long,you should be draining relatively clean oil out if its serviced regularly enough

Mmm, I've got no service history with the Hippo, that why I thought I'd change the oil rather than just top up. The syringe tool didn't get it all out though, got about 450ml out and I replaced with about 500ml. I guess if I do the same in 6 month intervals it'll be mostly new oil in it a year.

its a reddish colour when fresh & new,hard to
tell when its been in too long,like you say mucky
coffee.

Diff oil is mildly hygroscopic so it will absorb an amount of water over the years. This is why very oil diff oil has a coffee like appearance. When I did the diff oils in my Discovery last year, the front came out black with metal flakes in it. The rear came out looking like milky tea.
I've since changed the front diff bearings. The rear I've decided to leave for now as it's not making much noise.