Great Idea
Will definitely add this to the “to do” list as I think I still have a bit of time on my side atm
Nice to see someone having a go! MY15
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Richard Willetts wrote:

Hi Jules

Nice job excellent idea, how hard and how much time did it take to drill obviously using a good quality drill bit.
I was thinking about sucking it out with a pump as to not get any muck inside the diff casing.

Richard

Thanks Jules,
My friendly spanner man did this for me last week.
old oil was clean!
but we'll have another change soon and see what's on the magnet. Cheers
Dave DAVE.

My diff oil is due a change, well to be honest all the oils need changing, I will most certainly be doing this mod before hand thank you for sharing.

Did this mod today, went fine. The drill grabbed and bottomed out as it broke through, I was afraid I'd hit something internal but it looked like it just hit the side of the case where it necks down.

Tapped carefully, then flushed it out with a L of fluid before filling with another L.

I used a Goldplug MP-02 magnetic plug for the new drain.

I switched to AMSOIL Severe Gear synthetic oil, not really comfortable with OEM dino juice given the problems with that diff. Will change every 40K.

About 600 ml drained out, and then I used a hand pump to see how much more I could get which was another 100 ml. So basically got most of it through the drain hole. The old fluid was pretty dark but not pitch black (30k on a new Diff with OEM oil). It wasn't very hard to pump it out (unlike some cases) so it might be better to just do that rather than drill and tap.

I tried to install a Goldplug AP-05 for the fill hole, so I could check for metal periodically without draining the diff but the head on AP-05 was too wide. Might be able to make it work with several washers but the washer that came with it was too wide as well. Caveat, Goldplug did not advertise AP-05 for this application, I was experimenting. I'll try to come up with something magnetic for the fill hole. Could not find the AP-05S.

Last edited by merlinj79 on 10th Sep 2019 1:39 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I am a big fan of Amsoil and I use the Severe Gear 75W110 in the diffs.

EDIT: followed a link and made this post in the linked thread instead,

merlinj79 wrote:

I switched to AMSOIL Severe Gear synthetic oil, not really comfortable with OEM dino juice given the problems with that diff. Will change every 40K.

About 600 ml drained out, and then I used a hand pump to see how much more I could get which was another 100 ml. So basically got most of it through the drain hole. The old fluid was pretty dark but not pitch black (30k on a new Diff with OEM oil). It wasn't very hard to pump it out (unlike some cases) so it might be better to just do that rather than drill and tap.

Merlin,

nice mod well done!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Is the 600ml from the drain with the LR2 level or did you lift it from the fill plug side to maximize what drained out?

Severe Gear is an interesting choice, I thought about going that route but I settled for Mobil 1 Delvac and I am happy with my choice.

I was driving my Tambora Flame LR2 in Temecula about a week ago but I didn't see another LR2 (Tambora Flame) perhaps I didn't go far enough south.

Take care

Paul

merlinj79 wrote:

I tried to install a Goldplug AP-05 for the fill hole, so I could check for metal periodically without draining the diff but the head on AP-05 was too wide. Might be able to make it work with several washers but the washer that came with it was too wide as well. Caveat, Goldplug did not advertise AP-05 for this application, I was experimenting. I'll try to come up with something magnetic for the fill hole. Could not find the AP-05S.

p_gill wrote:

merlinj79 wrote:

I switched to AMSOIL Severe Gear synthetic oil, not really comfortable with OEM dino juice given the problems with that diff. Will change every 40K.

About 600 ml drained out, and then I used a hand pump to see how much more I could get which was another 100 ml. So basically got most of it through the drain hole. The old fluid was pretty dark but not pitch black (30k on a new Diff with OEM oil). It wasn't very hard to pump it out (unlike some cases) so it might be better to just do that rather than drill and tap.

Merlin,

nice mod well done!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Is the 600ml from the drain with the LR2 level or did you lift it from the fill plug side to maximize what drained out?

Severe Gear is an interesting choice, I thought about going that route but I settled for Mobil 1 Delvac and I am happy with my choice.

I was driving my Tambora Flame LR2 in Temecula about a week ago but I didn't see another LR2 (Tambora Flame) perhaps I didn't go far enough south.

Take care

Paul

I have just replaced the outer pinion bearing in a spare rear diff using MRRover's excellent write up and took the opportunity to follow Jules' example and fit a drain plug while I had it all apart. The raised boss on my diff was elongated compared to Jules' diff so I was able to drill further in and avoid the raised bit.



I used a Goldplug MP-01 M12x1.25 and filed the raised boss flat to suit the plug (same as Jules)



It protrudes a bit further than I expected but doesn't foul anything so I will leave as is for now. I believe there is a shorter version of this plug which I may consider fitting later.



Now I just have to swap it with my noisy diff and see how it runs

This is a great mod that I'm planning to do as well, having changed the Haldex oil last weekend, Im going to do the autobox next then the diff and PTU and have all the oils changed well in advance of the 10 year recommendation.
Slightly concerned that a wrong move could be costly, broken tap etc would be a disaster but I guess a quality tap going into alloy casing shouldnt be too difficult? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

I found the most difficult thing was drilling perpendicular to the flattened boss (I failed!) and then filing the boss to suit the head of the plug. The alloy casing taps fine as long as you take your time and regularly back the tap off to keep things clean. Whether you use M12 as I did or M14 like Jules (I think he used the blanked off hole which you may need to do as well as yours is MY14) you shouldn't manage to break it. Make sure that you get the correct pitch thread for the plug that you choose - they tend to be a finer pitch than standard metric threads of those diameters.
Best of luck

Just wondering...........Has anyone drilled and tapped the bolt hole.?

Quote:

Just wondering...........Has anyone drilled and tapped the bolt hole.?

No.I am looking at the post on this thread by Alex Pescaru of 18/10/18. Drilling through an existing bolt hole.