Jaguar X-Type 2004, 2.5L, AWD, 163.000km:
Certainly time to think about a differential (rear axle) oil change.
I bought the Jag 6 month ago and I do not believe anybody ever did a diff oil change on that Jag before.

And Jaguar did it again: Made access to the filler-plug near impossible, just like they did if for the the filler plug of the transmission on the S-Type.
If you want to see, what they did on the S-Type and what kind of tool you have to make yourself there:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...s-type-264102/

Before I started this diff oil change I had a quick look on youtube, and there was someone, who has reduced the length of a 3/8 ratchet by cutting the front bit of the 3/8 tip off (and thereby he destroyed the tool). And I do not think this is a good idea anyway, as you might damage your filler plug when using a very short 3/8 tip, if the plug is corroded in position - you want the full length of the 3/8 tip in the plug...


Normally I have for cases of limited space access and for cases of firmly corroded bolts my ratchet, where the mechanism is "locked" as it is all welded together. But even that ratchet did not allow access to the filler plug. But I had a broken 3/8 extension, which I modified with a cutting disc.


So I then had a very short bit with 3/8 on one side and with a surface to attach an 8mm spanner on the other side. Using this with a spanner made it easy to remove the filler plug.


This is the filler plug: On the left before cleaning and on the right after cleaning. The magnet on there collects many metal particles.


I created such a useful tool once before, when I did the diff oil change on my S-Type. I could not find it anymore, hence I made a new one. This "suction tip" is a cut-off from an old TV or Radio roof antenna. I cut it in such a way so that the longer side just reaches the bottom inside of the diff after pushing it thru the filler hole - and it just fits in.


To enable the clear tube to slide over the "suction tip" it needed to be widened up a bit. I used long nose pliers, which I pull apart, while holding them in front of a hot air gun, which I hold between my knees.


So this goes into the diff filler-hole. Any attempt to use a flexible hose and to stuff it into that filler hole will be pretty futile, as it will not be possible to convince any flexible hose to "go" to the bottom of the diff inside, and if the suction point is not at that bottom, it will not be possible to remove close to all of the old diff oil.


"Suction tip" inserted.


Most of the old diff oil can be removed with a transfer pump as seen here. After having seemingly removed nearly all of the old diff oil that way, it pays to wait 30 minutes or so until gravity pulls down more oil to the bottom of the diff and then you can pump out a bit more.


But I wanted to be really thorough: I used a glass jar, put 2 holes into the lid, put 2 hoses thru there and used black hot glue to seal the 2 holes with the 2 tubes in there. The tube, which goes to the bottom of the jar is the one coming from the suction tip in the diff. The other tube will remain closely under the lid - and I also placed a hanging bottle cap under this shorter tube to protect it from fluid splashes (it is hanging there on a wire).


So the longer tube in the jar connects to the tube from the diff and the other connects to my old vacuum cleaner, which I keep in the garage, and which has a garden hose as suction end by default. This garden hose fits just nicely over my aluminium tube. Note that I used 2 more cut offs of the antenna as adapters and as shown above I widened up the tubes again with the long nose pliers and the heat gun to make the tubes fit over the aluminium pipes.


Here you see the suction of the vacuum cleaner in action - you can see a bit of oil being sucked into the jar - while the tube going to the vacuum cleaner remains mainly oil-free.


On the right is a 1.5L bottle with the old diff oil, which I had removed with the transfer pump. In the jar is, what I removed with the vacuum cleaner. It may not seem much, but I wanted to get out as much as possible, plus, the was some fine particle debris in the jar as well - good to have that removed from the diff as well... This means I have removed roughly a total of 1.45L of old diff oil.


And while I could have used the transfer pump to fill the new diff oil into the diff, it would have been wasteful due to the long tubes and I would not know exactly, how much new diff oil I had filled in there. But with this 100ml syringe, which I filled 15 times, I know exactly that I have filled 1.5L in there. If you don't trust yourself being able to count to 15 without missing a beat, maybe ask a helper to draw i line into a book for every syringe emptied into the diff... Finally I put the plug back on with my "special tool".

I used 1.5L from a 4L canister of Penrite Transgear semi-synthetic 75W-90 oil.

And here is my link to how I did the diff oil change on the S-Type:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...s-type-264126/

 

I have just questioned myself...
I had a bad feeling, when I filled Penrite semi 75W-90 into the diff, but I thought I had investigated already, which diff oil goes in there and that ordered the diff oil for that purpose a few month earlier.
And when I checked now in my garage, I thought the oil which I found there first was the last gear oil I had bought, although I had a strange feeling with "semi" and "75W-90".
And now I know why: This was not the last gear oil I bought! I checked the 2 shops, where I buy and ebay - luckily all my receipts there are online - and the last gear oil I bought were 20L Penrite Pro Gear full synthetic 80W-140. Then I know: That is what I bought for the diff of the X-Type...

When I questioned myself regarding, which diff oil goes into the X-Type, I found this wonderful list:

https://www.xtype.uk/x-files/33/vehi...and-vin/fluids

And there I found the info that the spec for the diff oil of the 2.5L X-Type has spec M2C192A (Ford spec), and that means full synthetic 75W-140.
I am in Australia, hence, I am fine here with 80W-140 instead.

Since I am mainly driving short distances only, I'll leave the semi 75W-90 in the diff for a while now, but I will soon make another diff oil change (-> 80W-140).