and boy was i PISSED today. maybe i am wrong, but shouldnt a brand new 03 duramax/allison 2500HD truck have more than 2 quarts of rearend fluid in it? also there was a TON of metal on the magnet but i figured it would since GM says you need to replace the rearend fluid in the G80 rear pretty fast. it took just under 5 qts to fill it up. so i know it wasnt as if the rear still had fluid in it. we did it on a slight incline. what the hell is wrong with this truck? QC problems? atleast there is some new royal purple in there. heck, it was cheaper than the mobile 1 synth rearend fluid.

 

guess this shiet is normal.

 

Better check the front diff and power steering fluid as well. It is VERY common for the General to skimp out on the fluids. When I changed mine it was the same way, low oil lots of metal. But the second time around there wasnt any metal on teh magnet.

 

I had no idea that we needed to check the fluid in the rearend from the factory. Is it necessary to change it, or just add if it is old? I guess if I am going to check it I might as well put some synthetic stuf fin there. I can't believe that it would come from the factory low. I guess you cant assume that anyhting is right.

 

The levels are supposed to be about 1/2" below the fill hole, if I remember correctly...

Supposedly if you fill them up until fluid comes out, you've overfilled them...

 

I also didn't realize we have to check the G80 rears soon. I've got 9K on mine, and haven't thought about it. Didn't see it anywhere in the manual...

 

DEFINATELY check your fluid. according to GM (RTFM) you are supposed to dump the fluid at or before your first oil change due to metal in the locker (G80) rearend. also i doubt will check my front differential as it is a 2wd truck there was probably 3/8" of metal on the magnet. a TON for floating around in the differential. i hope a lot of people check this out. i would personally swap the rear fluid withint the first oil change and then just add as needed for 100K miles. it is VERY easy to drain with a plug back there.

 

I work at a dealer and we always seem to be adding fluid to the differentials.

 

Probably because every GM rear end has a wet ring of fliud on the outside of the pumpkin. My old Z71 was 4 years old and was always wet.

 

I changed mine at 500 miles and it had that much metal shavings on it.

P.S. dont buy that expensive grape colored stuff GM wants you to use. Just go to the parts store and snag some quality Mobile 1 synthetic. Its a 1/3 the price.