Can you really not be arsed to look in your manual?
Somebody else has to, to answer your question....
Looked but Doesnt say, only engine oil............
Final drive oil
- Thread starter Billy Buell
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Looked but Doesnt say, only engine oil............
Thank you, that will do for me.
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Warlord's right , it's a piece of piss. I will change it every service as i do with my 9t it's that cheap (even at BM prices) I thought of spraying some acf50 up the swing arm but it was so clean and dry i didn't bother but i will proberbly pull it out again in the winter and check it again.
I use an 'ABBA' static balancer.
I used to do it on my hex heads and used to have to split/tilt it to drain it.
Boxflyer
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Yes, dropping the FD from the Paralever was the method used until the introduction of the bottom drain plug during the 2008 production run. My early build '08RT still didn't have this incorporated.
Here is something I posted on the BMW LT Forum a couple of years ago...even though the FD has flipped from wheel on LH to RH the internals are designed the same.
Final Drive Service Specifics for 05-09 RT/GS
A reminder note about unscheduled/early final drive service. (Normal BMW recommendation is 12000mi)
Hope this helps with your service efforts for those folks that may be unnecessarily changing the FD fluid with every engine oil change at the 6000mi to save a bearing that's not even in the FD oil that is being changed.
On RT/GS final drives on the hex heads (05-09) the FD "big bearing" is placed in the housing on the flange side of the bevel gears and is not running in the 75W90 gear oil. It's only protection against water intrusion/contamination which leads to it's failure is a small O-ring on the splined shaft and the low friction seals which are part of the bearing itself. I had a "big bearing" failure on my 08 RT and rebuilt the FD myself to replace this bearing...same bearing, and still the same basic weakness in the system.
Starting in 2010 up to present on the RT/GS, the "big bearing" is on the inside of the housing WITH the bevel gears and running in the 75W90 gear oil to keep it from being contaminated by water/road debris.
A common misconception is that the early design final drives (05-09) plagued by this failure would somehow be helped by more frequent draining and replacement of the FD lubricant...it does not help with a bearing that is outside the oil bath area of the FD housing!
Another improvement to the 2010-present FD is the addition of a vent that allows pressure to equalize from heating/cooling of the FD. A main reason that the refill quantity was changed from 220ml to 180ml of gear lube so as to allow more air space within the housing and help prevent the oil from being forced out the seals and the appearance of a bearing/seal failure.
Below are the images of my "big bearing" that failed at 32,000mi on my 08RT, and parts breakdowns of the old style FD where the bearing is outside the oil, and the 2010 onwards, with the bearing in the oil (vented).
In this first parts image, the "big bearing" (#5) is on the outside, or wheel flange side of the main seal (#7).
In the second image, you can see the "big bearing" (#9) is on the opposite side of the main seal (#6), or in other words, it's on the fluid side of the seal and running in the gear oil.
If anyone has any schematics of the LC FD relevant to oil changing I’d be grateful.
Boxflyer
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I was looking for what the BMW manual says really, not just an AS cycles type schematic.
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I wasn't actually changing the oil every service to save a bearing
I decided to do it, mainly because.....
a) I want to drop the final drive to see what the heck is going on with my shaft splines, detailed rubber gator inspection, final drive splines and re-grease it all if necessary. To do that I need to evacuate the oil so it doesn't spill out the open speed sensor hole.
b) May as well clean the magnet on the drain plug and refill with new FD oil, only because it's fast and cheap to do so.
The whole job probably only takes an hour and at least you know the shaft connection is water tight and greased up again
Boxflyer
Registered user
I wasn't actually changing the oil every service to save a bearing
I decided to do it, mainly because.....
a) I want to drop the final drive to see what the heck is going on with my shaft splines, detailed rubber gator inspection, final drive splines and re-grease it all if necessary. To do that I need to evacuate the oil so it doesn't spill out the open speed sensor hole.
b) May as well clean the magnet on the drain plug and refill with new FD oil, only because it's fast and cheap to do so.
The whole job probably only takes an hour and at least you know the shaft connection is water tight and greased up again
Oh, exactly...this was written specifically for the early FD's that DON'T benefit from good clean lube.
I too change my FD fluid every 6k, and have been checking my splines and boots about every 3k...getting eyeballs on the insides is the only way to prevent it from getting too bad.
As far as preventing the FD lube from running out of the speed sensor hole, I found that using an old brake banjo bolt as a cork with a couple thicknesses of plastic bag keep all the oil from running out when it's at the bottom of the FD hanging down.
This stuff as it's used by BMW and thicker/stickier than any other grease I've seen.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-...a-2706-4d42-843a-4c2cd173c93a&redirect=mobile
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Just on sealing the final drive rubber boot, I used white lithium grease.... and lots of it !!
Got the diff oil coming today so going to give it a full service the weekend.
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