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How do you fill axle and t-box oils?


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How does everyone fill up their axle oils? I don't change them as often as I should because it's a job I hate, I always end up covered in smelly gear oil. I've tried:

  • siphoning the oil (tastes bad)
  • a 500ml Clarke syringe (leaks out the bottom and back down my arm eventually)
  • squeezy 500ml bottles with a spout on (best option so far but refilling always makes a mess)

Today I had a play with an idea that's been forming in my head. Two holes in the bottle's lid, one with a tight-fitting pipe which runs from the bottom of the bottle to the axle, and one which takes a compressed air supply. I used water to test the principle. The Mk1 edition gave me a short lesson in how to cover every surface of my garage in water, and an indication that old antifreeze bottles won't hold 8 bar.

The

introduced me to the pressure regulator on my compressor, and successfully piddled water out of the tube at a good rate with 0.5 bar into the bottle, so I put the same cap onto the EP90 bottle and pumped oil into my back axle. Unfortunately this time I'd neglected the viscosity of gear oil, and it would have taken hours so I reverted to the 500ml squeezy bottle (and now I smell of sulphur again).

I plan to try a bigger diameter pipe for my pressurised oil cannon (I'm wary of using a higher pressure with the smelly oil) but how are other people managing to put more oil into their diffs than their drain covers?

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I just use an air-pressurised weed-sprayer, it's even been modified to take a tyre valve for those really lazy days.

Something like this

Hudson%20Sprayer.jpg

Fill it up with oil, pressurise it, stick the trigger-controller tube in the 'ole, and off you go! the only drip to watch for is when it's full.

Can't claim the idea for my own, I 'borrowed' it from Roger Barton.

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I get somebody else to do it, never got any on me yet :D

The 1L bottles of EPX80w90 we sell at work have a pull out spout on them as you described, if you get a couple of feet of clear plastic tubing that is a tight fit on the end of the spout, you can hold the bottle upside down and stuff the tube in the hole which avoids much spillage.

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Same as Luke,

Cheap old garden sprayer for me. Unscrew the spray nozzle from the wand, oil in the drum, a few pumps to pump up some pressure in the drum, pull the trigger - oil flows, let go the trigger - oil stops.

Piece of cake, no fuss no mess, and all the components of the sprayer are designed for nasty chemicals, so it lasts for years and years with no deterioration.

Regards,

Diff

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I've got an oil dispenser for gear oil - picked up at a Sortout a good few years ago. It's a proper heavyweight cast thing with a decent winding handle on the side and a long dispensing hose - I would guess it dates back to the 50's....

As for light oils like MTF, I use a hoselock garden sprayer. Both make light work of filing the boxes and you don't get oil everywhere either.

Matt

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hi

I use an old water type fire extigsher with a tyre valve in the top

takes about 4lt of ep90

it will fill the TB up in about 5seconds, but it will over fill it in 6seconds

the only problem is that front hubs have too small a hole for filling but can be got in if i'm carefull

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Cheers Jase - but I'd have kept it for two months :D

Looks like the weed-killer type is popular above the 'proper job', but hopefully with my version I can switch between fluids by just swapping the cap across different types of bottle (or at worst, drilling a few holes). I'll persevere with a large bore pipe and see how I get on. (Then I'll buy a weed sprayer or proper oil pump)

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High pressure Waxoyl can and sprayer works for me... obviously clean out the waxoyl from the can first!

Fill with EP90 and pump the can up. Remove the spray nozzle from the wand and job done- it even fits into the holes to fill the front swivels. Not the fastet way but you stay nice and clean!

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A Funnel

A length of hose pipe

A drip tray

A bungee

Time

Fit the funnel in the hose pipe, hose pipe in the oil level plug with drip tray underneath (be it axle, gearbox or T Case), Bungee to hang the funnel off the car (roll cage, winch etc) pour oil into the funnel and wait, top up funnel and wait, top up funnel again and wait until the oil dribbles out... you get the idea.

It may be slow but its cheap and easy!

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I have the Lidl pump sprayer versions. One for EP 90 and one for ATF. I have found a use for the new type plastic corks. Have drilled a hole into two of them and use them to keep the end of the sprayers clean and free from dirt.

Lidl has currently got the pumps at £8.99 each. Price has gone up from about the £5 mark as they now have a pressure gauge on them. The more common white household sprayer retails at about £20 at B&Q etc.

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Techtone - your method is simple and cheap but has a problem in common with several of the ones above - once you've noticed that the axle's full, you've still got a funnel and pipe's worth of oil on their way in on top.

Option 1 : You pull the pipe out... <_< ... wait for it... put your finger over the end.. :unsure: .... wait for it .... put it back in the oil drum.. :lol: .

or

Option 2 : if you can' be bothered leave it to drain into the drip tray and waste about 20p worth of oil! :o

Either way there is no drama! :rolleyes:

Tony

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