metal shavings in trany & diff

[MainFrame]

just changed my transmission and rear differential oil and there was a considerable amount of metal shavings on the drain plug for both. Is this normal from break in? The differential oil looked pretty murky too... car has 12,000 miles on it

[WRXed]

Originally posted by MainFrame
just changed my transmission and rear differential oil and there was a considerable amount of metal shavings on the drain plug for both. Is this normal from break in? The differential oil looked pretty murky too... car has 12,000 miles on it

I'd say it's pretty normal, however I don't know what your definition of "considerable" is. It is quite normal to have metal shavings show up in the oil. At least you know it's not in there anymore!

[MainFrame]

well.. the whole magnet was covered, maybe 1/4" deep, with shavings sticking off the end... I tried to take pics, but I couldn't get a good perspective

my first thought that it was just from break in, but I wanted to make sure, since I bought the car used.

[NJSubieTech]

Fear not - these shavings are normal for break in period. They come off of the ends of the synchros. They will continue to show up at every change of the gear oil.

BTW - youre probably aware of this, but you really only need to change the oil in the tranny and dif every 30k.

Speed safely,

Joe
merlin916@aol.com

[MainFrame]

Originally posted by NJSubieTech
BTW - youre probably aware of this, but you really only need to change the oil in the tranny and dif every 30k.

yea, I just wanted to get some good synthetics in there as soon as it was broken in