Final Drive (Shaft) Oil Change

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I just emptied out my final drive oil (shaft oil) and it came out gooey and sticky and smelt pretty bad. It that the texture of it when new? I've never changed or seen that oil before. How often does it have to be changed?

And can someone recommend me a good oil for it?
 

Mark

Gotta make tracks
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1st stuff that came out smelled like old fish on my ST1100 and Chris's ST1300.
I replaced with synthetic 75-90wt gear oil.

Mark
 

Tom Mac 04a

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+1 on the Mobile One 75w-90... First change at 2k and it was black like some moly was in it.
It takes about 5-6 oz so a quart bottle will last a while. I change it when I do my oil, every 5k. (tho every 10k wouldn't make much diff)
BTW...gear oil has it special smell unlike regular oil
 
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The genuine SAE 80 gear oil (that the manual calls for) really smells bad. I was unable to find this on my recent tour d'autoparts. Closest I found was 80W 90. It has a reminder of that smell, but nothing like I remember from 25 years ago. Fortunately.
 
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Honda sells gear lube in a small container that's just a little more than you need for one change. It's handy, and you don't have to remember where the bottle is. Yeah, it does smell funky - maybe moly in the mixture. I've started doing it each time I change the oil. Really quick and simple.
 
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I'm curious why some of you think you need to change the final drive oil so often. Honda recommends 24,000 miles. There is no reason to do it any more often than that IMHO.
 

Tom Mac 04a

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I'm curious why some of you think you need to change the final drive oil so often. Honda recommends 24,000 miles. There is no reason to do it any more often than that IMHO.

Because its real easy when doing an oil change, its cheap, and like 'chicken soup' it can't hurt!...
then agn, I never listened to the 8k oil changes either.
 
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The stuff smells bad going in LOL. :)
I changed it with the 1st oil change noticed some gray gunky stuff in the castellated drain bolt, looked almost like molly maybe fine metal? Changed it at 2nd oil change and at 24,000. Mobile 1 here.
 
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Because its real easy when doing an oil change, its cheap, and like 'chicken soup' it can't hurt!...
then agn, I never listened to the 8k oil changes either.
Well, it certainly won't hurt, but gear oil lasts forever. You could go way over 24K without a problem, but I wouldn't. I would agree changing it first time around 12K with synthetic (to get the initial break-in metal out).... Environmentally, it is a waste at every oil change IMHO.
 

storm

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I'm curious why some of you think you need to change the final drive oil so often. Honda recommends 24,000 miles. There is no reason to do it any more often than that IMHO.

Actually 100k is fine stuff never goes bad and is sealed in - smelling bad is it's nature so that is good. I normally go at 50k but even then it's just like new.
 

wjbertrand

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The smell has to do with the hypoid specific anti wear additives. I change mine whenever I can't remember the last time I did it - which at the moment indicates it's due again. First change is probably the most important after that, with a good synthetic in there you could probably leave it for the life of the bike.

BMW apparently didn't have much luck with the lifetime fill concept on their final drives but I think that's due to some design weakness somewhere. It's interesting to note that they have added back the drain and fill ports on later bikes. Still, there have been FD failures documented among those that changed the final drive lube religiously even though, initially at least, BMW said they didn't have to.
 
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Here is a 75w90 gear oil shootout comparing 14 synthetic and conventional lubes. https://www.amsoil.com/products/gearlubes/WhitePaper.aspx?zo=1181889 . I thought it was interesting that all but 2 failed at least one standard test right out of the bottle. One less expensive conventional gear oil that didn't fail any test out performed 4 synthetic lubes costing up to 3 times more $ that failed up to 5 tests.
It is an interesting read, as well as other papers by Amsoil, the marketing machine. They would have you believe they always have the No. 1 products on the planet. It would be interesting to see similar publications by some of the other oil manufacturers. It would also be nice to know what level of protection we really need.
 
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Well, it certainly won't hurt, but gear oil lasts forever. You could go way over 24K without a problem, but I wouldn't. I would agree changing it first time around 12K with synthetic (to get the initial break-in metal out).... Environmentally, it is a waste at every oil change IMHO.
+1 on the environment.

I changed mine with my first oil change @24K+ (bike had ~24K on it when I got it). The dealer I bought it from may have changed it when they prepped the bike for resale, but all I know is that the stuff that came out when I drained it looked and smelled exactly like the replacement lube fresh out of the bottle that I put in it. I read somewhere that a few new ST owners had discovered thick black, gooey stuff in their final drives when doing the initial 600-mile service, so it would certainly be a good idea to change it then and at the next oil change after that just for insurance, but if the lube drained from the FD the 2nd time still looked good I would recommend either following Honda's recommended schedule, or 10-12K minimum intervals if that provides you greater peace of mind.

I realize that comparing SUVs to motorcycles is like apples to oranges, but I suspect the loads subjected to the final drives in a 5000+ lb SUV may be a little greater than those in our ST final drives. A case in point: I remember the one and only time I took my Expedition to a certain local business (which will remain nameless) for routine maintenance, the service manager brought the differential "drain plug" to show me the contaminates on it and "informed" me that Ford recommends the fluid gets changed every 30K. It was obvious to me he was trying to pull a fast one on an unsuspecting customer (how did he remove the drain plug without draining the diff lube? - DUH!) and I told him thanks, but no thanks. I later looked underneath and confirmed my suspicions - the Expedition's diff DOESN'T EVEN HAVE a drain plug. I then dug out the owner's manual and looked up the recommended maintenance schedule, and learned that Ford doesn't recommend changing the diff lube unless it's been under water.

If I ever discover my ST's FD under water (rain doesn't count) I'll certainly change the gear oil ASAP, but otherwise it will be at least 10-12K between changes, if not the 24K interval recommended by Honda.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :)
 
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When I got my bike it has 14,000 miles on it so I changed the final drive oil and it had some wierd looking stuff on the magnetic part of the drain plug. Looked like fine metal shavings. I wiped it off well and put in some new synthetic final drive oil. Im gonna change it next time I change oil too. May not be necessary, but I wanna see what else comes out of there.

Bob
 
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At the first change you're likely to find blackish residue, which may be some moly and perhaps microscopic dissolved metal from break-in. All of which discolours the fluid. I like the idea of changing it around 12K after a good initial break-in period. Put in some fresh synthetic 75W90 of your choice (see the Amsoil post), and go ride. IMHO after that, following the recommended Honda 24K service interval is very adequate.
 
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Every oil change? I'd say every 10 years or 50k. With my 4 wheel vehicles it's every 100k, so maybe I'm being conservative with the bike.
 
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Digging up an old thread, is it ok to use GL5 80w90 hypoid oil in the final drive, and what is the silver cap fitting at the top of the hub for? is it a breather? I removed it just to check what it is,had to tap it back in with a hammer!! hope I didn't do it any harm, the filler plug nut is getting well rounded, anyone know the part number of a good replacement plug for it,looks like it seals with an 0 ring. thanks.
 
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That is the vent cap, which allows air to expand/contract with temp changes... I'd think you'd get a replacement plug at your Honda dealer or from one of the online OEM parts sources like Ron Ayers, Partzilla, Cheap Cycle Parts, etc.
 
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