Best gear oil for a diff with a slight whine

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Hello all. I recently noticed a slight whine from the diff on my Dodge Ram with a Standard Chrysler 9.25 Differential and about 130,000 on the clock. I have sadly neglected this diff. I can only remember gear oil change on it. Weird, Because I change engine oil for fun sometimes. But is there a gear oil that might quiet it down for a while? Basically I'm looking into getting a new 2500 Diesel Ram in the next year or so and would rather not put a grand into the rear end of this truck.

I'm considering the following options.

1.) Amsoil
2.) Schaffer's
3.) Good Ole Dino with a quart of Lucas

Any input would be most appricated. If I have to rebuild this Diff I will, But at this point I feel I have nothing to loose.
 
I think your best bet is to try one of the synthetics that you listed. I'm familiar with Amsoil and very pleased with it. They have different types now such as Severe Gear, etc. Not sure which one you would use. Hopefully one of the Amsoil reps will chime in.

Also I hear Redline is a good one to go with. That's not a good thing to have that whine. If it doesn't get any louder, you might be ok.

My brother had that problem as well on a Dodge Ram and it turned out to be the pinion gear. And I think the cost was no more than $500. I believe he said that the gear oil change interval was 30,000 miles which he did on schedule. But his is set up as a tow truck, so lots of heavy duty use.
 
Well, The Amsoil Severe Gear 75W140 seems have gotten rid of most of the whine. While I was under there I also noticed a U-Joint that is going bad and I believe that to be whats lest of the noise.
 
why go dodge again?? just curious... their quality is ----.. i hate to talk bad about your vehicle of choice but its pretty common knowledge that they do not hold up like they should.. ---- good lookin' trucks though..... the newer ones do have the lifetime drivetrain warranty but i am deff sure there are lots of kicks to that. i bet you have to get a dodge dealer to do ALL of your maint... anyone know?
 
Also, I have no illusions that this will be some wonder cure. I just would perfer if I didn't have to drop a grand into this diff. The pumpkin was clean with little to no metal (Much less than I have seen on other diff's) on the magnet so I am very hopefully. My mechanic buddy who let me use a lift at his shop said everything he could see looked really good and it was probably mostly just a noise that Chrysler 9.25 diffs make as they age. He was a Dodge Dealership mechanic for 15 years so I'm sure he knew what to look for. He basically told me if it where his he would fill it up and quit worring about it. We are going to also replace the u-joint tomorrow and hopefully that makes my Ram nice and silent.
 
cross your fingers.. keep that truck well maintained or you are going to have a lot of problems on your hands.. i have owned a few chrystler products ( i wont buy anymore).. i hope you have better luck that i do brotha!
 
Cummins Turbo Diesel. There isn't a better diesel made period.

Plus I have had no other problems with either of the Rams I have now. Both 1995's. One with 260,000 and this one with 130,000 on them. They have done okay by me. Both trucks are original Engine, Trans, Diff. I have had to do some suspension work on both but that's pretty normal at the kind of mileage I put on these trucks.
 
Don't do what I did. My rear end was whining and I put this "Energy Release" garbage in it. Wow, that salesman sounded like it was the worlds greatest stuff. Pinion finally went out. Not sure what the Energy Release did, but sure didn't help.
 
I would try one of the Red Line Oil "Shockproof" gear oils. Probably not the Super Heavyweight (~250wt) oil, but maybe the one below it ... equ to 140wt (they have 3 weights of Shockproof altogether).

In addition to being thickly formulated synthetic oils, Shockproof oils are LOADED with molybdenum. You may be able to find out more about them (a lab analysis) in the gear oil analysis section of this forum.

I too am no fan of Lucas ... but have a friend of a friend who swears by the stuff in basket-case applications (old, Land Rover overdrive units).
 
Try using a 90 wt. or 140 wt. petrolium gear oil. I believe it won't shear out like some multi vis. synthetics, which IMO suck behind!
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When my whine got worse I was all but certain it was the pinion bearing. I even used a stephascope to try and isolate where the noise was orginating from within the pumpkin. I tried using Shaffer's fluid but it didn't make any difference.

After about a year, I finally had a shop pull the differential and it turned out to be the carrier bearings.
 
Do not use Lucas it causes air entrainment.. I like Royal Purple 75w-140. Amsoil will do the same..
 
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