14-02-2019, 09:10 PM
I inspect the drained oil for metal particles, a bit like panning for gold, because that is the first sign of trouble. About 14 years ago we visited the Hebrides and had no sooner arrived in the islands and the diff started making it's presence heard. A local garage let me use their drainage tray and along with the oil was a load of scrap metal. I refilled the diff drove round the block drained and refilled it a couple of times until the oil was clean. Then refilled the diff and continued the holiday covering a further 500 miles with a silent diff, it was drained on arrival home to find only a few metal particles in the oil. A strip down revealed part of a crown wheel tooth missing. I don't think we'd have made it home under our own steam without those precautionary measures.