Last night I changed the fluid in the rear differential of my TIP. One of the easier DIY I have done.
First, the car must be level on 4 jack stands or a lift.

Next, remove the right rear wheel. You should see the fill plug just right of the half shaft.

I removed the fill plug first. You could be in trouble if you drain the fluid and then could not open the fill plug.
The tools needed are a 10mm hex drive socket and various extensions.
(You can see the removed fill plug on the end of my extensions.)




Edited***Please see Geolab's correction below. Put in the same amount of fluid you drain out.***
Be careful not to drop the aluminum washers on both the fill and drain plugs. They should be replaced.
They are the same washers as used on the engine oil plugs.

The drain is easy to find, at the bottom of the transmission.

I remove the drain plug and caught all the fluid in a clear 2 liter soda bottle.
I had marked fluid measures on the bottle earlier. I drained just nearly a liter from the differential.
I emptied the used fluid and refilled to the mark on the soda bottle with fresh fluid to insure I put the
same amount of fluid back in. I refilled with Mobil1 75W90 oil.

I replaced the drain plug and washer and I tightened the plug firmly.
Here is my fancy fill apparatus. (Notice the abundance of "Shade Trees" for this mechanic. )

This is my fill method. I put the end of the hose into the fill port of the differential.
I taped the hose to the emergency brake line so that it would not pop out during refilling.
I also held the other end of the tube on to the fluid bottle spout so it that would not pop off
as I squeezed the bottle to force the fluid into the differential.

After refilling the differential, I replaced the fill plug and tightened it firmly.
Lastly, a picture of the two plugs. The drain plug has a small magnet to catch metal particals.
I was happy to see my plug caught only a small amount of what look like a very fine metal paste.

 

Awesome write up! I will be doing this saturday now that you put this up here!!!

 

That is great. It took me the longest time to find the fill plug. The most important part is to have the car level. There are torque figures for tighening the plugs, but I like to just "snug them up".

 

Dudley,

Great write up,
Let us know if you discern any difference / improvement (smoother, quieter, less roll resistance etc..). I was thinking of doing mine while I had the wheels off to repaint the 'hats' that are ugly and rusty.

Rb

 

Dave - you rule.

 

Dave, great write up for us tipsters. Which fluid brand did you use and are there different weights ?

 

What type of car lift are you using? That just might be perfect for my unairconditoned suite attached to my house.
Thanks--Ed.

 

Nice write up - thanks for doing this.

 

Thanks, I used Mobil 1 75W90.
Nope, Nada, Nothing. Feel better knowing I have fresh fluid.
I have an Eagle Mid-Rise Lift PMR-6000-48. There are others.
http://eagleequip.com/page/EE/PROD/LI-LM/602-002

Hey, Blaine! My Watkins Glen DVD came in. Now if I only knew of someone with a kickin' media room!

 

Thanks for the writeup - I had not done this yet - in fact until now it was not even on the list.

 

If you have filled your differential 1/4 below the fill plug, go back there now.

Your differential should be topped up at the fill plug until it drips out.
your differential should not run with oil missing, not 1/4, not anything.
Where have you read that?
I have re-read the porsche tech bullitens and proceedures.
Top up at the fill plug till it drips.
You can access the plug from underneath the car, no need to remove wheel.
I am serious, you would damage your differential block with oil missing.
It takes 0.9 litres knowing that 1 litre is 0.946 quarts.

 

Thanks Geolab! I should have written "1/4 INCH" below the opening. But it would be safest to replace exactly the amount of fluid you drained. Let me find the reference. Could you post the Porshe procedure? That would be great.

 

yes indeed.. I can attest that it is one of the easier things to change on a Tippy 993...


Mine gets changed once a year (probably overkill but what the heck)


I use Redline in mine...

I have Redline High Temp ATF fluid in my trans as well...

(I should buy stock in Redline... lol)

 

Chris have you also run Mobil 1? If so, could you tell any difference?

 

I hope you don't mind if I post to this older thread, but the reason I didn't find it in my search was that I used tiptronic and automatic, neither of which was mentioned before. Tip, tippy, tipster. If only I knew how to do a proper search.