KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

Jack up the front passenger side of the car and remove front wheel...


After you take off your wheel, follow the axle all the way into the differential of the car... you will see two bolts... an upper breather/fill plug and a lower drain plug...


Here is a close up of the upper fill bolt...


You will then need to remove the upper filler bolt first... You need to make sure that you can get this bolt off first otherwise you will not be able to fill the new fluid in... so make sure you can get it off before you take off the drain bolt... (The filler bolt is 17mm)


Bottom shot... let the oil drain completely...


I then lowered the car so that it is level and all of the fluid can completely drain... (Make sure that you are able to lower the jack slowly... otherwise you may cause some serious damage...


bottom shot


After all the old oil has finished draining, slide your oil catchpan aside and put the drain bolt back on... it is not required to be completely tighten... IF you cannot squeeze under there, i would jack the car back up, reinstall the drain bolt, then lower the car so that it is level again... you need the car level for when you are filling the oil into the differential...

I used Valvoline Durablend 80W90 as my choice...


Connect a tube to the oil bottle.. and start to fill the oil into the fill hole...


close up shot..


keep filling until oil starts to overflow out of your fill hole.. this is how you determine there is enough fluid in the differential... hence the reason the car needs to sit level when you are filling the oil...

when there is enough oil, reinstall the upper fill bolt, jack the car back up, tighten both upper fill and lower drain bolts, reinstall the wheel and you are done...

Sorry it took me so long to get pics up... i remembered to take them as I just did mine today... let me know if you have any questions...

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

oh yeah i forgot to mention...

torque spec are 29 lb-ft for drain plug and 33 lb-ft for filler plug

and i am pretty sure

Differential filler bolt washer: #94109-20000
Differential drain bolt washer: #94109-14000

meazz1

Great DIY.
Add this to our sticky...
I wish this came a few days ago, I got mine done at the dealer for $80.00,ouch........

Ken1997TL

This is very useful, you shouldnt have to pay 80 bucks to get something so simple.

I'll move this to Problems and Fixes and stick it!

hbreiden

How much Fluid does it take? Do you think I could use Mobil 1 synthetic 75W90?

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

u will need two bottles...

Haikoo

I tried this on a 2.5 and it didn't go well. The bolt is different and the position or angle of it all is slightly different. I basically had no room to either use a nice wrench nor was I able to fit my air torque wrench on straight. I gave up after two hours of work since I couldn't get the bolt to budge.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

i had to use two extensions and a breaker bar the first time i tried to break the bolt free... you will need to jack up the car higher so the breaker bar can clean the floor... if you look in my first pic, you can see the blue pipe i used for leverage... after the first time i changed it i didn't over tighten it so it would be easier for me to take off later... the first time i changed the Diff fluid it was over 100k miles so the bolt hasn't moved in a very long time... the hardest bolt is the top breather/filler bolt...

bat-on

Good Job! I used Valvoline 80w90 synthetic as well. Got it at AutoZone. If you can get Mobil 80w90 Synthetic that would be a better choice. But Valvoline synthetic works pretty good too.

2doe

How often do you have to change the Diff. or do you just need to top off? What are the benfits of changing it? thanks

Go90go

Helps with smoother shifting, and better overall operation of the tranny. Might even save you some gas due to less friction, etc. I didn't have an issue unplugging mine, not even after 236K+ miles. However, the stench of the diff fluid was unbearable, haha.

~Cheers~

NickKendryna

I'm confused. I have a 95 TL and when i called for a diff fluid change at the dealership they said this car does not have a differential. I'm pretty sure we do though because I have seen the pics KaMLuNg has put up. Would it be called a trans-axel? Isn't that what it is? Please ket me know and educate me. Thanks guys

mikeclili

I think you can call it transmission fluid too? I'm not sure on that though...

Go90go

^ NO, it's also called gear oil.

~Cheers~

Mandy

I changed mine when it was 40k, when should I change it again? I have 79K now.....about NOW?

Mandy

I changed mine when it was 40k, when should I change it again? I have 79K now.....about NOW?

KrayzieDxC

i just did this today, very amazing smooth shifting.. but.. i left something out a washer it fell in the oil pan.. i dont know where it goes. how many washers are there?

KrayzieDxC

i found it, it two washer found them in the oil pan hiding. had to redo the diff. and reuse the diff oil.

leventis72

3.2 and 2.5 the same???

andrew070489

quick question.. on my 2.5 how to get the filled bolt off! i tried the pipe for leverage but it wont budge i even tried to loosen with some wd40? its such a tight spot..

KrayzieDxC

no


diy 2.5tl differential

https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tl-problems-fixes-118/2-5-differential-drain-fill-diy-684457/

Mandy

My 3.2 is different, here's the drain and fill hole (I am confused):

andrew070489

^ whats confusing? you drain it, put the drain plug in then remove the fill plug and fill til its at the top.

undyroos

What you have labeled as the drain bolt looks to be the bolt to drain the tranny. The drain bolt for the diff should be higher than that...If you've ever had to have your starter replaced, they should have drained and filled your diff as well, because the left axle has to come out. I know mine was.

Mandy

I have a 98 3.2. Kamlung's DIY show a different drain and fill bolts for his 3.2 DIY. I know the top is fill and bottom is drain. I had a heck of a time unbolting the top, hence I did not proceed....

I remember draining-filling with these bolts years ago at 40K. Now I am running 89K, time to drain and fill...

Mandy

Or you might be right...it must be the tranny....I will check later today. I do not remember removing the tire...but then again that was 4 years ago.

Mandy

Shoot, you are right...it was the freeking tranny drain, I looked at the manual....!!!

Back to work...have to do my differential oil...the manual says, if oil is clean, just top it off, if dirty, drain and fill.

Mandy

Can we do this without removing the wheel? I will try today.

desired_speeds

you want to get the car as level as possible when you fill the diff because if you overfill it, it can blow the seals. Personally, I jack up the car and put it on jack stands evenly on both sides, then I put a level on top of the intake manifold and jack up the rear until it is 100% level before I start filling.

cgray526

Just did mine. I never even knew about this and I don't think it had ever been done because it looked like tar lol(178k miles). I had noticed that if you were going down a steep hill and let off the gas the car would still slow down. now it gains speed on the same hill so thats a big diff in friction. The manual said this is supposed to be done every 30k. Should I do it again sooner because it was so dirty? And yes GO90GO it does smell horrible

Mandy

Doing mine after 40K since the last time. Great DIY here!

Leuth

Alright, so new to Acuras....
On my transmission, there are TWO different fluid types? Differential fluid and THEN transmission fluid?

tmnhs81

Yes, but I have only done Transmission, will do diff at some point in few months..

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

many people also miss this on our cars because differentials are usually on RWD cars... but if you notice the engine layout in the bay, many people wouldn't think our cars are FWD...

the transmission fluid is separate...

ivopivo

I'm helping a friend do a tune-up on his 98 3.2 TL and he has no manual at all.

Just wondering if someone here can take a pic of their manual to show what kind of fluids are recommended for engine, tranny, brake fluid, power steering, diff, etc. and also how much each takes. Other info would be great as well, or even just links to DIYs here for stuff like spark plugs, fuel filter, etc. etc. I searched for a free PDF service manual online but couldn't find it so if someone had that it would be perfect.

Thanks in advance and great DIY writeup KamLuNg.

desired_speeds

engine - 5w-30 motor oil (4.8 quarts for 3.2 engine), preferably high quality.
tranny - Honda or Acura ATF-Z1 (3.5-3.8 quarts). You can use Other brands, but I don't really trust anything else but Amsoil ATF.
brake fluid - Dot 3 or Dot 4 are fine, stay away from Dot 5 (1-2 small bottles should be more than sufficient)
powersteering - OEM Honda and Acura, NOTHING but that. (3-4 bottles of OEM fluid)
Diff - 80w-90 (1.1 liters), preferably high quality because you don't change it out much

ivopivo

Thanks! Is there a power steering fluid DIY out there somewhere?

Mandy

There's instructions from the manual. Drain and fill.

ivopivo

Thanks but... yea

ivopivo

Bump for power steering DIY...

Just did the engine oil, plugs and fuel filter on his 98 TL and went very smoothly. I was so glad for the location of the fuel filter as well as the plug access on the TL as opposed to MANY other cars that makes maintenance difficult. Nice car.