Hi all, can someone point me the direction of a procedure and some tips for Changing the Diff Oil on a 95 X300 3.2 Auto?. I've purchased some 80W-90 Penrite Gear oil and understand that it takes 2.1 litres.
I know I have a capacity to over complicate things but is it really as simple as locating the drain and fill plugs, draining the old oil and pumping in the new?

 

Hello Mikey. It is almost as simple as "locating the drain and fill plugs, draining the old oil and pumping in the new!" In theory...

The fill plug is on the back, it takes a square socket driver to undo it. The rear monostrut may be in the way (your car might not have the monostrut). If so, you can get around it with some fiddling. Undo the fill plug first, so you are sure you can get oil back into the diff once it is empty.

The drain plug is on the bottom, visible through the hole in the middle of the flat brace plate. I don't remember the type of plug. Same as the fill plug? The old oil will be nasty, so wear gloves and be ready to catch it in a basin.

Check the plastic round vent cap at the top back of the diff, it should rotate freely. Clean it up, perhaps spray cleaner around it. I don't think removing it is a good idea. Others may provide more advice about that.

Fill the diff until the level reaches the fill hole.

Your differential thanks you!

 

REMOVE THE FILL PLUG FIRST.

Too late when you drain it, and then for some strange Jaguar reason, the fill plug is seized, and you cannot remove it,

Rotating the car onto its roof to fill the diff via the drain hole is NOT the best solution.

BEEN THERE with the MK10.

 

fill plug access is a little tight, especially with a bigger ratchet. my car had a monostrut retrofitted so i used a short 3/8 wobble extension with a 1/2 drive adapter to clear it.


both plugs don’t sit flush with their thread, no cause for concern, all GKN built dana diffs are like that.

 

Right Job Done, It turned out to be almost as Easy as mentioned above,
Thankyou Xalty for the tip re, "both plugs don’t sit flush with their thread, no cause for concern". I'm not sure how much oil it took as I just pumped it in, till it was level with the bottom of the fill hole as advised by SleekJag12. The Penrite web site suggests it takes 2.1lt and advises using a 80W-90 GEAR OIL (Mineral). Which is what I used.
Thank you, Everyone, for the Advice. you know, things are only complicated the first time you do them

Fill Plug On Left, Drain Plug On Right

Used to remove Fill Plug

Used To Remove Drain Plug

 

For the drain plug, I used 1/2 Inch drive short extension + 15mm socket.