P eeew.
 

Just changed the rear dif fluid on 85 300D...and I read that it could really stink. WOW.Had to wash hands like 5 times with smelly soap to get that stink out. The garage stinks from the used paper towels from wiping the grease...Can't wait to dump the old stuff at the Mobil station...
btw used Napa Premium Performance gear oil like 80- 85W from the specs at the AP store.

That is why I do work with good quality nitrile gloves.

BTW, you do remember the jokes about the whale sperm that was supposed to be used in lube or was it the additives? :D

Take a whiff of gear lube used for LSD diffs. Stinks like crazy even when new. Some shops only stock the LSD oil since it works well with open diffs also. Once you smell it, you will never forget that odor.

The odor is nearly identical, at least to me, to natural gas. Even the Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear oil! (thats what we use) Perhaps the dino smells differently....but the synthetic stuff is definatley close to a natural gas smell....

Yeah not only does it stink it always runs down my arms, yuck. That job along with the trans fluid will be farmed out next time around. :D

This was actually pretty easy. The Napa comes in a 1 qt soft plastic bottle with a long tip that fits in the fill hole. Just squeeze the bottle until it fills up.

Both bolts came out pretty easy with a shot of liquid wrench, and my new 14mm allen wrench from HF.

Never serviced the tranny. I plan to take it to an A1 tranny shop I know for a service call....

i got my 14mm wrench from HF too. I just tapped the bolts with a hammer (gently) then they came out nicely. I used Mobil 1..i dont recall it smelling it then again i remembered the tranny fluid smelling burnt and i didnt want to smell this stuff

I'd much rather do the diff fluid than the tranny....wow does that job stink. Its like taking a bath in tranny fluid. :eek: However, I am still too cheap to pay the stealer to do it. :D When I do the diff's I rarely even get a drop on me though.

I have a rather large diameter catch pan...no drops on me!

Sulfur
 

I believe what you are smelling is Sulfur just like in dino diesel it is a lubricant for gears too

the diff fluid will smell bad even when new. as for the tranny, its easy. ive done it three or four times now.mb was nice enough to include a drain plug on the pan and tq. makes it much easier. another nice thing mb did was make a rubber gasket standard. no messing with cork, and no worrying about the po using a silcone sealer.

I always thought the MB diffs and gear boxes were supposed to be filled with ATF.

The Napa store I was at looked up the proper diff fluid for 85 300D and that's what I got.

And yes it does smell really bad fresh too. I used some this AM to lube my new garage door spring and rollers and found that out real quick. Hoping the smell disiapates soon.

one benefit
 

After repeated events, the smell of the differential lube convinced my friend's wife it was time for him to build a shop - separate from the house. He was happy about that.

The smell still sucks. We swapped the rear end on a 92 Mustang I had a while back and had to pull the axles. A very rotten smell, particularly the morning after a few too many beverages...

Chuck

Gearboxes with ATF

Rear Diffs with 85 90w or 80 85w gear oil. :)