Furry Magnetic Drain Plugs

[Snagglefoot]

Just changed fluids on transfer case and front diff on my son's 2010 Silverado 1500 4x4. It was purchased from a business a friend worked at. Currently 147,000 miles. Last change date unknown. The magnets were pretty furry with slivers. The truck would have been used in 4 x 4 a lot. Just for your reference. Enjoy. The fluid in the measuring cup was just a sample of what came out. The transfer case, being a manually activated Magna, got Dex 6. The diff got Pennzoil 75w90 as he uses 4x4 a lot in the winter.

Firstly the transfer case .

 

[Snagglefoot]

Now the front diff.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Here is the cleaned up front diff magnet with two shots of the decently sized fill plug, equipped with an O ring. That's the way to make them!

 

[demarpaint]

Nothing out of the ordinary there. Although my ATF from the transfer case looked like ATF, if that even matters.

 

[ZZman]

Wow, That is the most metal I have seen on a drain plug

 

[edwardh1]

Originally Posted by ZZman
Wow, That is the most metal I have seen on a drain plug


agree. my toyotas dont look like the fuzzy plug

 

[Dino01]

My old F350 looked like that at around the same mileage, IIRC it also had a magnetic plug in the-case, but it worked great until I sold it at 250k, AFAIK it's still out there.

 

[demarpaint]

With an unknown history I'm not surprised. For all we know that could be the factory fill with 147K miles on it.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Originally Posted by demarpaint
With an unknown history I'm not surprised. For all we know that could be the factory fill with 147K miles on it.


That's what I'm thinking.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Normal for mileage without regular maintenance. I would not be concerned in the slightest. This is not a "warning sign" at all.

 

[StevieC]

That is a normal amount of fur from the diff's I have seen in Ford/GM products.

 

[AzFireGuy79]

I just recently serviced my dads Chevy Silverado 2500 HD's transfer case and the drain plug magnet looked exactly like yours. Decided to run a clean up OCI with Supertech ATF, then I filled with TranSynd. I'm pretty sure it's mainly chain wear and seems pretty normal in these transfer cases. I plan on more frequent service to reduce the metal.

 

[BlakeB]

I just changed the transfer case fluid on my dad's 2016 Chevrolet 3500HD Duramax (LML) with 45,922 miles and 3,149.9 engine hours. The 4wd is used off-road regularly and the truck does often tow fairly heavy, sometimes in 4x4 when it's not on pavement. This was the first fluid change, the fluid was starting to get a little dark/brown colored but still looked decent. I refilled the transfer case with Starfire full synthetic Dexron VI ATF. The funnel I used was the funnel that came with a Generac iX2000 generator, it was perfert for refilling the TC. Before I thought of the funnel I tried screwing a gear oil cap onto the ATF bottle and putting a piece of 3/8 ID hose on the end of it, it worked but not great. There are more pics and a couple videos in the linked album: Duramax transfer case fluid change

 

[Kira]

OK. Let me ask this, please.

2005 Ford Ranger XF4 auto with under 48,000 miles.

14 years old! Would you do fluids? I'm thinking transmission due to oxidation first then wear.

The diffs can wait I think. What would you use?

Is "Synthetic" the only battle cry I need to know?

How 'bout CHF-11S instead of Mercon in the power steering?

Thanks, G&K

ps I've posted about this before and I may be over thinking this. I'm sure the coolant is aged. It's getting cleansed and G-05ed.

 

[BlakeB]

Originally Posted by Kira
OK. Let me ask this, please.

2005 Ford Ranger XF4 auto with under 48,000 miles.

14 years old! Would you do fluids? I'm thinking transmission due to oxidation first then wear.

The diffs can wait I think. What would you use?

Is "Synthetic" the only battle cry I need to know?

How 'bout CHF-11S instead of Mercon in the power steering?

Thanks, G&K

ps I've posted about this before and I may be over thinking this. I'm sure the coolant is aged. It's getting cleansed and G-05ed.


Fresh fluids are always a good thing, especially if you don't know the maintenance history.
If it were mine, I'd look into using a transmission fluid like the one I listed below. That should satisfy the transmission, transfer case and PS fluids. I don't know what size gears you have but I'd think 80w90 (75w90 if you want synthetic) changed at a reasonable interval would serve you well. You might go 75w140 if you work the truck hard, but given it's age and miles that doesn't sound like the case. I'm not very familiar with the Ranger, so check and verify fluid types and capacities before you do anything.
https://therangerstation.com/mobile/fluid_and_capacities.shtml

https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=406124&docFormat=PDF

 

[gamefoo21]

Originally Posted by Kira
OK. Let me ask this, please.

2005 Ford Ranger XF4 auto with under 48,000 miles.

14 years old! Would you do fluids? I'm thinking transmission due to oxidation first then wear.

The diffs can wait I think. What would you use?

Is "Synthetic" the only battle cry I need to know?

How 'bout CHF-11S instead of Mercon in the power steering?

Thanks, G&K

ps I've posted about this before and I may be over thinking this. I'm sure the coolant is aged. It's getting cleansed and G-05ed.


CHF-11s is a super thin synthetic, it really hates getting hot. I'd only use it in Europeans that specifically call for it and they are well maintained.

It may or may not work. I would not use it, and instead I would use an Asian PSF that's Honda/Acura friendly. It's the right thickness, it's shear resistant, cleaner and it keeps seals happy.

I've made some very noisy Ford power steering pumps run completely quiet by ditching the Merc/Dex or equivalent domestic rated PSF fluid. But domestic PSF is cheap and works great to flush systems that are dirty or nasty from neglect.

 

[MolaKule]

Well, the magnetic drain plug kept most of the metallic stuff out of the lube.

Not knowing the exact history of the driveline components, I would do another drain 'n fill in about 10k.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted by StevieC
That is a normal amount of fur from the diff's I have seen in Ford/GM products.

I doubt that Fords or GM's has anything to do with it.

 

[AITG]

Personally, I ran a fleet of about 150 Class 8 trucks. I never worried about fur on the magnet. Chunks are a different story.

If you clean the plugs (and you have) pull them in a year or so and let us know what they look like.

 

[BlakeB]

Here is the transfer case drain plug from my 2017 Chevrolet 3500 HD with ~16,000 miles. I drained and refilled with Starfire full syn Dex VI. I'll probably run this fill 10k miles or about a year and see what it looks like then.