Black Differential lube after 800 miles or Crooked Dealer?

xlr8tion

Turbocharged
Joined
Jan 13, 2016
Messages
509
Location
Aiken, South Carolina
Ride
2016 BMW S1000XR
WHATS THE DIFF? Not trusting my dealer to this day I drained the diff after he allegededly changed the fluid 800 miles ago...IT CAME OUT JET BLACK......I drained her out good and flushed her out with some mineral spirits and blew some compressed air in and then filled her up...Per the Manual( on a paddock stand) till the honey colored Syntrax came spilling out the fill port.

Before I go get my panties in a jam...Is it normal for Syntrax or Mobil 1 to turn this dark after 800 miles when the shaft was supposedly greased? Does the grease seep into the Syntrax?

Just want to ask so I can decide to kick my self in the ass or the dealer.

Check the picture and set me straight guys!

I can not imagine any circumstance where the diff oil would turn black-even after 19K.

But one thing SEEMS certain is I was charged for services not rendered........That is highly unethical.
 
I changed mine at 500 miles and again at 5,000 when I changed the engine oil. It was still clean, not black. Did the same at 10,000 miles still clean. I use royal purple only because I use the same in the Harley transmission.
 
I have always changed the diff. lube myself and it has never come out black. I change it every time I change the rear tire. The last time it had 7500 miles on it and it looked as clean as the new oil I put back in. { 75w90 Mobil 1} There is no way for the shaft spline grease to contaminate the gear lube. It is a sealed unit from the drive shaft.
 
I use BelRay Sythetic which is red in color. The first time I swapped mine out at 5K miles, it was black from the dealership. I put in some BelRay and then changed it again after about a 1000 more miles. It still came out a little dark, but I'm hoping it will be better and completely flushed after the next change.

All I'm saying is....it could be the color of whatever the dealer is using.
 
xlr8tion said:
BTW if it is a final drive why do we call it a diff.
Click to expand...
A differential allows two wheels to do at different speeds. This is needed on cars and trucks as the wheels go at different speeds when going around bends, or with uneven pavement. As the bike does not have this problem it doesn't need a differential, but the final drive has to change the rotation of the drive shaft 90 degrees to the wheel.

Therefore the RIII has a final drive unit, but it is often (erroneously) called a diff.
 
Greg unless the dealer used some kind of oil that is already tinted black, I cant see how it could be that black. I recommend you ask the mechanic what lube he used when he "changed" it for you. FYI: I change my gear lube every spring and it looks almost as good as it went in the year before. I do 5 to 7 K annually.
 

This M1 75w90 is all LS now...Think we are overthinking this....THIS STUFF LOOKS INDESTRUCTIBLE HERE!

http://candge.com/lubes/alisyn/pdf/PROGEA~1.PDF

What do you guys think?
 
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