Metal shavings in D30

First off: 99 XJ, 4.0., AW4, 4x4, stock gears and open carriers.

I was out checking all of my fluids on my semi-new-to-me XJ that I have been too busy to do until now. I pulled the fill plug to check the fluid level on my front D30 and the plug had a layer of fine metal shavings on it. I know the plug is magnetic which is why it was covered with shavings, but it this "normal" for the D30? How much, if any, shavings should be expected?

I haven't pulled the cover yet, I will be pulling it to change the fluid tomorrow or the next day after work, so a more thorough inspection will follow.

Does the over all condition of the XJ look like it was serviced regularly ?
You may be the first one in there....... I wouldn,t be too concerned without a more thorough inspection....

Pretty much all of the fluids in this thing were pretty bad, and the front diff is no exception. It very well looks like it could be the original fluid in there, which at 155,xxx miles, makes me cringe a bit.

Seems typical for vehicles in my care, they get serviced for the first time when I first get the vehicle

When you say "shavings" do you mean very very fine grey powdery stuff that the main reason that you know it's metal is that it's sticking to the magnet? (and when you wipe it off with your fingertip it almost feels like a paste?) I've seen that on pretty much every diff I've ever opened, although to be fair, the lowest mile one was my XJ which I got at about 80K... I don't believe anyone ever services these things at 50K like they're supposed to

what he said ^^

shavings are bad, if it's a fine dust that's just normal wear from the bearings. i would empty it, flush it out really well with brake cleaner, spin the carrier by hand to see if you feel any rough spots in the bearings, and fill'er up and go.

It was very fine that was like a paste. If I remember, there were a few longer "slivers" that were very fine, but were standing on end on the magnet. I didn't get to the front diff today, just finished up the rear, which was a pain due to having to drill out a broken bolt and retap the hole. I'm going to pull the front cover tomorrow, so I'll update then. I plan to pull cover, drain, clean thoroughly with brake cleaner, and re-fill.

This is the last fluid I have to change, and it disgusts me to see the condition of the fluids people are happy with.

I purchased my 2001 cherokee sport december of 2011. Last winter. I changed every single fluid in the vehicle. I used lub locker gaskets on the diffs. Wicked awesome stuff man. S easy to use.

The vehicle had 94k on it when i got it. The front diff was like new. Clear and fresh with some residual discoloration towards the bottom. The previous owner maybe put it in 4 wheel drive three times.
The oil in th rear diff ( chrysler 8.25 ) was dark like hersheys syrup. It was disgusting. I spent an hour digging out the sludge from the bottom of the diff and cleaning and wiping out with brake cleaner. I assume some of the darkness was from the clutches in the limited slip. Still, it was bad. No shavings though. Thankfully.
I agree. Seems every time i get a vehicle, i'm the one doing the first changes on fluids that should have been done LONG AGO. Wtf ?

wait till you pull the valve cover to change the gasket and find out the PO didn't keep up with oil changes like they should have, i've seen one so caked with sludge that you almost couldn't see the rocker arms.

Bjorn86 said:

This is the last fluid I have to change, and it disgusts me to see the condition of the fluids people are happy with.

Click to expand...

I'm with you there! But to be fair, most people don't even *look* at any of the fluids. The one that was shocking to me was the ATF in my T-case. I figured that the T-case was not that hard on fluids, but the crap that came out was brown and smelly... Which reminds me, I should probably suck out some more PS fluid and refill. All my other fluids are money...

I still haven't gotten to pulling the cover, I got sick and then the past few days it's been raining.

Surprisingly, I did look through the oil fill hole on the valve cover prior to buying it and everything looked very clean, the motor is from a 2000 w/approx 80,000 miles on it. The trans fluid was terrible, what little fluid was in the transfer case was horrible too, and the coolant was very rusty and looked like pond water.

The only fluids I will have left are the PS and brake fluid, probably do the brakes when I do a disc swap and PS when I change out the gear box.