Hey, I went to change out the oil in my rear differential and hit a few snags. I got a felpro gasket from autozone, as well as Mobil 1 75W-90 synthetic LSD oil. I lowered the rear sway bar and attempted to remove what I believe is the Lower Control Arm, but still couldn't get to the differential with enough clearance to remove the bolts. Does anyone with 4th Gen experience have some input? What gets removed/put out of the way in order to do what I need to do? What is the process from start to finish? Do I need anything other than the gasket and oil? will anything come crashing down once I actually remove the cover?

FYI: I have the car on ramps right now, should I instead put it on jack stands so the rear end hangs there?

 

you don't have to move the sway bar(it runs under the cover..). Just take out all the bolts leaving the top one for last. pray the bottom of the cover out to allow the fluid to drain. After it drains pull the cover the rest of the way off. I just use sealant on my diff cover, i hate those crappy gaskets.

All you need for tools is a socket and ratchet. No nothing is going to drop out on your head, just don't go unbolting sway bars etc, no point.

Edit: btw its a LOT more easy to have it up on jack stands over ramps. Hard to get to the bolts with the car weight pushing the rear end upwards.

 

As you can see, the sway bar is in front of the diff, not under it

 

I'm trying to remember how I did it. Take it off the ramps. Jack the car up by the rear end, then put the jack stands on the rear frame (near the front of the rear tire). Then take the jack down. This should let the rear drop and the sway should sit just under the last bolts. I'll check my manual real quick and double check.

Edit: Book says the same. As far as falling on you, nothing should. Quick advice though, run the car around the block a few times to warm up the diff fluid so it'll come out easier. Viscosity 90 flows very, very, very slow if it's not warm. Also, make sure you can get the refill plug out before you drain it. A 3/8 ratchet should get it out.

 

Just unbolt the sway bar at the bushings (the brass looking peaces) and it should hang down enough out of the way. That's not a stock sway bar.

 

He shouldn't have to unbolt anything whether it's stock or not. His rear sway is 22mm vs the stock 19mm. My cousins WS6 never had this issue and if I'm not mistaken those come with 22mm in the rear stock. The only other thing I can think of is with the new bushings, it's allowing the bar ride at it's normal height opposed to the old which would have sagged. Again though, the manual doesn't mention removing the rear sway and I didn't have to either.

Edit: I went back through your thread DDRDiesel and I took a second look at your rear diff cover. That has been changed by a prior owner and may have a drain plug somewhere on it. Also, does that rear diff cover have two extra bolts near the center of the diff cover where the ridges meet?

 

If it was me, i would unbolt the cover and slide it over and pull it out. use a wrench to get the bolts under the sway. I just suggested unbolting the sway bar since it seems he is insisted on wanting to(i could be wrong). Its not like its a major pain to unbolt the sway bar if he wanted to( 5 mins).

 

MK:
The rear end was swapped by the previous owner for a rear end from a Z28. It's a 10-bolt with 3.43 gears. Not sure what the extra two bolts are near the middle, hence why I was asking so many questions, lest I take off the cover and gears just start spilling out. There is a drain plug, but it's near the top, so I wouldn't be able to drain the old oil out first. Also, the new sway for some reason has a bit of a different shape, it's not as angular than the stock bar

 

That's still not a original cover, even for the Z28. They were all smooth. I'm assuming it does have those two center bolts I was talking about? If so, those bolts give extra support for the bearing caps, which is a nice thing to have. That drain plug will actually be your fill plug for the new fluid.

If the rear sway is making it that difficult, just try removing the bushings and see if that gives you enough room to get in their to get the bolts out