AYC oil ran out

[Colin Wiltshire]

My rear diff has been making noises, so I checked the oil level at the weekend, looked all ok on the gear side. Because I thought that's where the slight leak was. Then I thought, lets just check the AYC oil. Nothing on the dip stick at all.
So I have a generic ATF from halfords, says DIII on the bottle. Will this be ok until the Amsoil stuff arrive?

[elnevio]

The dipstick is for the hydraulic circuit only. And that fluid will be fine for that part.

What noises have you been experiencing? It's probably the AYC pump, rather than the rear diff itself. Was the AYC light on?

[Colin Wiltshire]

The red ayc light has been on since I had the car, It has never worked. The noises are similar to what I had when the diff was about to go on my Legnum, or like a wheel bearing groan. It is always there, doesn't change when cornering, just goes quieter when loosing speed.

[Davezj]

Check the AYC oil in the diff is actually in there, because even if the AYC is not working you still have to have the current oil and the correct quantity in there otherwise it can trash the AYC clutch packs and cause the diff to make a noise.

I have heard of some people draining the AYC diff because it is not working and they have pulled the fuse out and assumed the diff is nolonger doing anything. This is so wrong, you need the ayc fluid in the diff even if the fuse is pulled.

[Colin Wiltshire]

Fingers crossed the oil turns up tomorrow, but prob be more like thurs. I made the mistake of getting rid of all my atf when I lost the auto box, thinking I no longer needed it, guess I was wrong lol.

Why would they take out the oil in the diff? Even if it's not working, it's still moving inside.

[Davezj]

yes i know, it is a stupid thing to do.

[Colin Wiltshire]

GGRRRR, Can't undo either drain or refill bolt, and also if I did manage to loosen the refill bolt, there is the matter of a cross member in the way. I don't have the tools to remove/move this out of the way, or even take out the bolts holding the diff.

[SEAN-NZ]

There's a hole in the subframe to get the bolt out, not need to move anything to get it out and back in

[MPBVr4]

GGRRRR, Can't undo either drain or refill bolt, and also if I did manage to loosen the refill bolt, there is the matter of a cross member in the way. I don't have the tools to remove/move this out of the way, or even take out the bolts holding the diff.

Tip.... always make sure the refill plug is loose before the drain plug. Common sense I know but a simple mistake.
Get yourself some decent sump plug tools from a motor factor. Cheap enough but saves rounding the holes.
The refill plug is accessible (as said above) through the subframe with a socket extender.

[SEAN-NZ]

In regards to drain plug, I assume that's what MPBVr4 was talking about with the tools, use a jack to force the socket to stay on the bolt, as it tends to come off otherwise

[wintertidenz]

Or use a magnet or something sticky to make sure it stays there.

[Colin Wiltshire]

To make it hard, I have SAYC from an Evo, so that bolt and the hole doesn't line up.

[SEAN-NZ]

Ahh, dam evos, would make it hard to get the level right if you took diff out to :/

[wintertidenz]

Drop the diff a bit to get to the filler, fill it up and put it back up in there - same way that it was done when you installed the S-AYC.