So I did a diff fluid change yesterday after about 12k miles. The dealership I bought the car from did the change before I actually purchased the car. This was done right at the 27-28k mi mark, while the current mileage its just over 40k mi.

When I drained the fluid, it had a yellow-grey tinge to it, with the drain plug being caked in a grease like substance:



The 'grease' really didn't have any metallic sheen to it at all, which makes me think its something else.

But on the other hand, is this a sign that the diff is about to give out? It hasn't made any strange noises at all, no significant gear whine, and I really don't beat on the diff and have never launched the car.

If the diff is about to give out, what is the next step? The car still is under an extended warranty.

 

Certainly not unusual to have some sludge on the drain plug. Indicator for failure highly doubt it. Do you know what fluid was used Honda dealerships have been known to use the incorrect fluid from time to time was it a Honda stealership. Also going with a synthetic gear oil such as Amsoil Severe Gear 75/110 would be a good alternative it falls within the Honda spec for straight 90 wt. Very good gear oil, pricey but you only need a qt.

Swiftoy

 

Sounds like what you observed is pretty normal. Sometimes there are metal shavings as well as the sludge on the drain plug. As long as they aren't chunks, you are fine. Gear oil can start to sludge at steady temperatures above 180F. 10-15K miles is about the right OCI for gear oil on the S2000.

 

Metal shavings is normal, as long as you don't get large chunks of metal you should be ok

 

I got that stuff on my plug too before I switched to synthetic

 

That sludgy thing is metal dissolved into the oil. Normal unless you can see actual flakes or shavings.

 

totally normal.

 

that is metallic wear particles, the particles are so small they feel like a paste rather than sharp particles. They adhere to the magnetic drain plug. The less of this paste the better which would mean less wear. I'd try moving up to a better fluid like Amsoil 75w-110, I can almost guarantee there would be less wear particles running that fluid.

 

Sweet. Definitely quite a relief. The oil I put in was the Amsoil Severe 75w-110 as I saw it was highly recommended across the forums. Thanks guys!

 

Good choice, it will be good to compare the drain plug on the next change and see if there has been any improvement. I'm doing my diff change this week on my first run of Amsoil 75w-110, sending it in for a fluid analysis as well for the heck of it. Should be interesting.