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Warning: quit checking diff fluid with your finger, I learned this the messy way
Had a customer bring in a 2012 Ram 2500 to my bay in Amarillo complaining about a whine from the rear end, and the first thing I did was pull the fill plug and stick my pinky in there like I always did. Fluid looked full and clean, so I figured the gears were shot and quoted him $1,800 for a rebuild. Turned out the fluid was clean because he had topped it off with a quart of fresh stuff himself the day before, and the real problem was a dry pinion bearing sitting about half an inch lower where my finger never reached. Now I use a bent piece of coat hanger wire and mark it with a Sharpie so I can actually see the level instead of guessing. Two other guys in my bay were doing the same finger thing, so how do you all check diff level without pulling the cover?
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logantaylor1mo ago
That pinky method has probably cost more shops money than a bad torque wrench. I had a 2012 myself and the fill plug sits right where you can touch the top of the fluid and feel all warm and fuzzy about it, then the pinion bearing starves because it lives lower in the housing. Guy topping it off the day before is the perfect trap too, because now you're reading fresh fluid and feeling like a genius right up until the rear end howls on the test drive. Your coat hanger with a Sharpie mark is basically the poor man's dipstick and I'd trust it over my finger any day. Last diff I checked I just drained a little into a cup and looked at the level on the plug hole, less guessing and no burned knuckles.
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