changing lsd oil, few Q's

[slinky2000]

ok had a look at this and its something I think I can attempt myself

Looks like a unscrew the bolts let oil drain out, fit the bottom one again and refill oil to the level of the top bolt and then replace??

ok:

What oil?
What size allen bolt do I need?
Is there a special homemade or cheap device that I can use to get the oil into the top hole?

[Jamese30]

Hi Slinky,

You are right with everything you have said. In terms of oil, you will need to buy specific LSD oil. I have used "Rock oil" in mine, which is a popular oil used in rally car LSDs. There are lots of products out there, just make sure you specify LSD oil.

Regards Allen bolt, sorry can't answer that one off the top of my head, but with filling you can either buy a syringe (Draper make one, it's blue..ironically like most of their stuff - I think I paid about 8 pounds for mine) which is designed for filling gearboxes and diffs with oil. I seem to remember on mine I got buy with the standard tube that comes with most Gearbox oil containers.

Good luck,

James

[siddiqi1]

also do you have a wickes DIY centre near you. they do oil feed cans that are pump actioned, was 10 i think!

i bought castrol SAF fully synthetic for my LSD 140W i think it was; havent yet put it in yet; so please do update on the difficulties or any advice you have have in that depo!

its around 15 a bottle, and youll need 2 litres approx; the lsd normally takes around 1.75

maybe a good time to chekc the condition of your diff bush mount and upgrade it if needs be if you are under there anyway!!!

please though do make sure you open the filler plug before the drain plug; because if its jammed then you will be fcuked!

[slinky2000]

good tip sid! never thought of that lol, I don't have wickes near me, just a motor factors then a halfords down the road.

ok so it looks like I just need the allen bolt type/width. I tried all mine but none are big ewnough so I'll to purchase a new one/set.

[siddiqi1]

then youll be needing a syringe type thingy; im sure halfords have it; but then it will be at a price too!

do let us know what size allen key it is; i find it somewhat annoyingthat haynes cant say.xxmm allen key nut needed!

is your diff gasket leaking, or is it ok?

[slinky2000]

It seems ok, oil just hasn't been changed in a long long time and I'd like to atempt it by myself

[siddiqi1]

good point; its not hard at all, the haynes says its jolly easy! you should have no problem; in fact the hardest thing is; as youve mentioned finding the right size allen!!

spray some wd40 before you hunting for the allen key thingy; give it some time to ease the bolts off!

lsd oil is bloomen expensive though; do make sure you get the right one!! dont ECP it though; theyll give you some valvoline stuff! not for your lsd!!!!!

your alpinas look really good; are they 17"?

[slinky2000]

they are indeed. Thinkin of changin them though, everyone else has got them lol

[Martinaston]

Its either a 10 or 17mm allen bolt i think, LSD oil is £16 a litre from BMW and get a new crush washer as well to save overtightening the old one.
For getting it in I normally use an old bottle that power steering fluid comes in with the extendable spout and just squeeze it in.

[suzie650]

The oil from BMW is Castrol SAF-XJ that you can get cheaper from other sources, and it comes with the extendable spout when in a castrol bottle.

[siddiqi1]

slinky,

i know its comp O/T, but what an amazing car; good scenery too! wheels look amazing i think; thats why i got the BBS, really wanted some Alpins; youve got the height just right too!
40mm?

[slinky2000]

yea just 40mm, more pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slinky2000 ... 794179852/

cheers for the advice folks, I'm away to the motor factors now to try and get the oil, allen key and filler thing if the bottle doesnt have one already on it

[siddiqi1]

nice pics! the car looks stunning; almsot new, i def. prefer the blacked grill compared to the chrome, and the stance is almost as if 50mm at the front with 40mm at the back, very appealing!

One suggestion, get rid of the amber indicators at the back; make them red; should easy peasy for you! i think that will be a great touch on an already fab looking car!

if only mine looked that good!

[harry_p]

it's a 10mm allen bolt, there's not a lot of room between diff and spare wheel well, you might have more luck with a normal allen key with a bit of tube on the end to extend it a bit.

and yes, they can be tight so undo the level plug before the drain just in case!

i used an old fasioned thumb pump oil can to do mine, it took aaages there was no room to get an oil bottle even with long spout under.

i have since spent approx £8 on an oil syringe which holds 1/2 a litre and makes refilling a diff or gearbox a 5 min job. well worth it

[slinky2000]

motorfactors must have had 1/2 a day today cos it was closed and I didn't want to go to halfords lol

It'll have to wait till monday!