Rear Differential Fluid change
 

Hi all. anyone know the DIY step by step for the rear-differential change? Know the price?

I check with dealer. They charging $160 for the Maintenance Minder 6 service over here in Cali. Is that reasonable?

I'm actually going in this Thursday for maintenance B16. I usually do my own oil changes, but I figure I would let them do everything. I don't really want to touch the rear diff. The HELMs looks fairly simple, just remove the filler bolt, and then the drain bolt. Replace the washers, bolt the drain bolt back in, refill with the Acura brand transmission fluid, just under 3 qts, bolt the filler bolt back in place. Now as for what you do after, I don't remember off the top of my head, but in my 4x4 Ram after doing the diffs, you would go to a parking lot immediately and do figure 8s in each direction to get the oil well coated in the gears, not sure if that applies here.

Ye, I just let the professionals handle my maintenance. I use to like doing the DIY's, but then I figured that the small savings was not worth the following things:

1. Getting dirty
2. Disposing of hazardous fluids.
3. Clean Up.
4. The time to research, prepare and clean up.
5. The possibility of getting injured.
6. The possibility of screwing something up.
a. getting stuck somewhere with no one to blame but your self.
b. getting stuck somewhere with the wife and having her yell in your ear.
c. going back to the dealer explaining to them how you screwed up and how they are going to void your warranty.
7. Its not my line of work, let the professionals handle it.

I know I could find a DIY for a root canal procedure but I will let my dentist handle that. (and yes, I have health insurance)

I'm just saying, is it worth that list to save a few dollars from the $160.00 the dealer is saving you?

I'm assuming that the $160 will include an oil change, tire rotation, various inspections and the rear diff service. This sounds reasonable to me.

Oakland, I agree as I'm a firm believer of time is money. But for some people (and I used to be that when I was younger) it's fun doing it yourself and not a matter of saving money. It gives you a good feeling of accomplishment.

That itself is reason enough. :rolling:

I'm a beleiver too! I usually evaluate my free time as having the same value of my hourly rate as a tax lawyer. I'm for the DIY for cleaning the car since it's easy but for the maintenance, I'll let my Acura dealer do it.

B16 service
 

B16 service is more like $280 at the Acura dealer
includes engine oil + tire rotation + diff oil change

they are very basic oil changes.
In my case, Rotation and Balance is provided by Discount Tire for life with a one time fee...

My dealer was $94 OTD for Rear Diff change and I was in and out in under an hour with no appointment.

^Thats a good price, I guess they take good care of you because of all the cars you bought from them :)

That's probably a hard deal to beat, but just as an FYI most dealers will balance wheels if an owner complains while the car is still under warranty.

For anyone with the least (and I do mean LEAST) amount of mechanical ability, changing the rear diff fluid is painfully easy. There are to plugs on the back of the diff, one high, on low. Remove the lower one and let all the fluid drain. Replace the lower plug, take out the upper plug. Fill through the upper hole until fluid comes out. Replace the upper plug. That really is it. Takes about 5 minutes total. I suppose if you really want to pay the dealer for this service you could, but man is it easy!

Yep, mine ran $99 plus free first oil change for A16.

Was A16 the first service you have had? I'm at 5200 miles with 40% left, so haven't had the thing pop up yet.

Actually their posted price for anyone is $95 + tax, so they only knocked a few bucks off ffor me. But I bought several cars their as well as I get my gf's 09 CRV serviced there.

I actually buy a Hazard + life time rotate balance policy for $130 from Discoutn Tires and go there every 6K miles and they rotate and balance the tires. Add to that they do free flat repairs and now I have tires road hazard and it is a good deal. I buy hazard on tires now since my 07 TL took a side wall nail with 3K mile son it and I ate almost $300 for the tire!

The 3 dealers I visited in Houston only rotate, since they don't have the tire balancing machine (nor alignment)

I do the same... it's a good insurance.
Each one of those TL Michellins cost over $200 to replace (according to DT)

BTW: I juse did the B16 service at a local Honda/Acura mechanic shop,
and I bought the washers at the dealer.
The Acura dealer wanted $280 for the B16 service.
The Honda/Acura mechanic charged $79 for differential oil change, plus $26 for the engine oil...
- car wash was only $299 at the local Bubbles
- Tire balancing and rotation was free at Discount Tire (I alredy paid a lifetime fee)

so I'm done with the 1st B16 service ,
next one I think it's due after another 24k miles...

Yes, that was my first A16. It popped at around 11k miles but I drive almost all highway (NJ <-> Boston).

If you worry about all that then it's not for you.. it's easy but If you have no mechanical ability or tools and you make more than $100 hr.. you should take it to the dealer. Most of your points are laughable though, you can take the 'hazardous' diff fluid almost anywhere to dispose of for free. Cleanup requires a few sheets of paper towels, some brake cleaner and a dab of goop.


You drive a short distance, blocks length forward then reverse, top off as needed, then make sure both bolts are torqued to spec. On my X it's super easy.. don't even need a lift but I remember either the filler / drain bolt was a PITA to remove.. jeebers.. bring a breaker bar.


:werd:

^ I agree with Mojofo too. I don't make $100/hour, but this this an easy task if you have the space and a few tools: ramps, torque wrench, breaker bar, etc. Also the hourly rate applies only to people that can actually earn this rate on weekends or off days when presumably you would be doing this service anyway. I don't know any people that can earn 100 an hour 24/7.

But even if I made a $100+/hour it would still be a waste for me because it would be 45 minutes transit to/from dealership + 10 minutes doing Service Advisor stuff + 5 minutes paying the bill + an hour in the customer lounge. That would be $200+ to do something that takes me 45 minutes at home to do. The hazardous fluids claim is a joke because any car parts store will take your liquids for free. I have a 5 gal. container and do maybe one run to Pepboys a year. I also own a Honda Pilot and do this type of service every 15k and it is easy once your initially break the fill bolts loose- make sure you loosen the fill bolt BEFORE you do the lower bolt so you know you'll be good.

Would any be kind of enough to post some pics for a DIY guide?

It sounds pretty simple, but some pics would be worth a thousand words (and some $$ saved) :)

I recommend buying a factory service manual for this and other jobs- it will save you a lot of money in the long run.

I did a search in the RL forum and found this link- no pictures but good information:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...erential+fluid


Here's a link to what I use on a Honda Pilot that has pictures, but is obviously a different vehicle- I would bet that the TL is very very similar though. You may also want to look in the RL forum which I did and didn't find anything.

link: http://www.piloteers.org/forums/show...threadid=15667

I forgot one tool you will need which is the pump- that should cost < $10 and makes the process very easy. You could use a Turkey Baster as a low budget solution too.

(The other thought for the $100+/hour folks fretting about being too busy for this task is that you really need to make $150+/hr because of all the taxes and witholdings you have. You pay a dealer with after-tax dollars and not pre-tax dollars like you're figuring with those statements.)

First Oil Change?
 

I hit 5273 Miles here in San Diego, mostly freeway driving except for a trip to HOT Las Vegas and have 40% oil life. I have had the car now for 6 months! One dealer said wait till it tells you, A16, you need to come in, one dealer said since it has special break in oil, bring it in around 5-6K miles. What are your recommendations? I think that if i bring it in now, to not let them reset the indicator? Or should I have them reset it to show 100% oil life which seems right when you have all new oil and filter?

The first dealer is right in saying that there are special chemicals in the break in oil to help out with mating surfaces and what-not. If you are concerned to change the oil, have them do an oil change. If you want to be sure that they do the oil change, just watch them do it or mark the filter and put a little chalk mark on the oil cap. If they put on a new filter, no more mark! If they remove the cap to put new oil in, then the chalk will rub off the cap when they turn it.

If I remember correctly, the manual was very firm about NOT changing the oil for the first time until the maintenance minder says to do so.

Just wanted to drop by and say that I just paid $160 for my B16 service at Crown Acura (Richmond, VA) and it would've been $150 but I asked for fully synthetic (Penzoil Platinum) and that's why it bumped the price up. This included:

1. Rear Diff oil change
2. Engine Oil change
3. Tire rotation
4. multi-point inspection which was a nice printed out sheet showing if different things were in parameters or not, like my tire tread and brake pads and such.

The "6" of my A16 cost under $80 ($79.59 to be exact). It was done at 9019 miles. The dealer who told you about a special break in oil is just out for some extra $. I'm sure there are some who will accomodate.

The dealer is right. All Honda's come with a special break-in oil. It has a lot of Molybdenum, an anti-friction agent that helps reduce drag during break-in. It also has elevated levels of ZDDP(Zincdithiophosphate), which are anti-wear agents that help reduce cam lobe and surface bearing wear. There are plenty of Used Oil Analysis that prove this. I actually had one posted here a while back. The dealer is NOT lying in this case.

B16 Service Rip Off ?
 

Thanks to the great info on this site, I just saved $100 off a B16 service. Acura in Bedford Hills, NY charges $299.00 for a B16 !! When I asked Tech if I just wanted to do Rear Diff. Fluid change; oil change and Tire Rotate separately, would it be chaeaper, he said "yes it would." How much cheaper ? $199.00 versus $299.00 ! Only difference is they are not doing the so-called "multi-point inspection". This really disturbs me.

Clearly both Married Men who understand that avoiding a fight is they way to go.

I cannot find a maintenance schedule anywhere. Are we only to rely on when the car
s computer tells us to perform these services?

Bump.

There is a very informal one in the back of the thick manual but yes, you rely on the maintenance minder computer to when you need what service.

only problem with the maintenance minder cmptr is - if you change your engine oil more often than the cmptr suggests -> in my case- the dealer cleared all codes when reseting it after each oil change - so at 19k never saw the code for the rear diff change.

I don't like to wait as long as the cmptr to change the engine oil.

so I decided to ask the dealer not to reset the cmptr after every oil change
- maybe every other - so I can see the mx minder codes display?

surely there is schedule outside of the computer...did the 3rd gen tl have a schedule?

The MID will let you know. If you want to be proactive though I would change it every 30k miles, but make sure to keep a good service record. The 3g TL doesn't have a rear diff.

The MID doesn't forget what's on the schedule so if you dealer cleared it when the oil and tire change popped up, as long as the Rear Diff code wasn't there as well, it will appear as scheduled.

I don't wait for the oil change to pop up - I change it about every 4-5k - at 23k I have yet to see any mx items pop up. At 19k still hadn't seen it display for the rear diff. I spoke w/ Acura Client services - And what I understood from them is the mx cmptr works fine - only if you wait to do service (like oil changes) once the mx cmptr displays the code(s) - but not b4.

Mobil 1 5-20W Extended Performance Oil from Walmart: $28

Mobil 1 Extended Performance Oil Filter from Advance Auto Parts: $12

3 quarts Acura (or Honda) ATF Z1 from Amazon $20

Cost for oil, oil filter, and rear diff. fluid change at neighborhood Valvoline oil change center (with my own fully synthetic oil, high-quality filter, and genuine ATF): $75

Avoiding Stealership costs: PRICELESS

to refill the oil into the "fill" hole do I need a special tool? can you just use a cheap funnel to reach it or do you need some kind of a pump / tube setup?

I am due for a rear diff change and don't feel like paying $99 for the dealer to do it if it can be done in 5 minutes! I called my local dealer and the special fluid (3 qts) and the two washers, comes out to about $37. so i'd save myself $60 to do it myself.

part of me sides iwth the OP and just pay to get it done. I get the time is money argument..and I make enogh money that it's technically cheaper to pay them to do it than do myself..but on a sat/sun I"m not making money... ;) so doing it msyelf REALLY means I have an extra $60 to put towards a dinner out, gas, or something else fun.

I'm up for trying it myself. I have most of the tools I would need.

anyone know if there are spsecifid torque specs for these bolts? I have a cheapo torque wrench so I an be sure to retorque them correctly.

how do you know when it's full? does it dribble back out the fillh ole or can you see it?

I assume you can't overfill it b/c it will drip out.

thanks.