# 2002 Differential

**URL:** https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738
**Category:** GEM Forum
**Created:** [September 3, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738 "2013-09-03T14:32:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![manofmt1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@manofmt1](https://community.electricforum.com/u/manofmt1)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/1 "2013-09-03T14:32:52Z")

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Hi Folks, new here. Have 2002 E825, been running great for past 7 years. Noticed more noise up front recently. It certainly isn’t obvious where I can add oil. Anyone know if it can be done and how? Many thanks.

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### Author: ![manofmt1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@manofmt1](https://community.electricforum.com/u/manofmt1)
#### Post date: [September 3, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/2 "2013-09-03T19:45:45Z")

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Okay, found the location on another site thread. One would have thought the GEM car manual would have had it indicated…Thanks all.

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### Author: ![tomarys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@tomarys](https://community.electricforum.com/u/tomarys)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/3 "2013-09-30T14:15:29Z")

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Where did you find the info on the diff–I want to check mine as well and haven’t found the instructions yet. Thanks.

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### Author: ![GEMmechanic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@GEMmechanic](https://community.electricforum.com/u/GEMmechanic)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/4 "2013-10-17T07:11:44Z")

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Its a good idea to drain the more than 10 year old oil and refill. It is likely dirty. There is no drain plug. Suck the old oil out through the fill plug. Most of us agree that 80W90 gear oil is the best to use. Fill back up to the plug on level ground. The factory manuals give no information about the differential.

Daniel

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### Author: ![grantwest](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/grantwest/32/15_2.png) [@grantwest](https://community.electricforum.com/u/grantwest)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/5 "2013-12-01T07:59:27Z")

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Stupid question. I haven’t found the differential cover or the oil drain plug. Couldn’t one use an oil extractor to remove the oil? I’m quite familiar with boats and extracting the oil through the dip stick. This is often the only way to remove the oil. Same goes for the transmission, you have to suck it out via the tiny fill hole. Couldn’t this technique be used for the GEM differential?

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### Author: ![GEMmechanic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@GEMmechanic](https://community.electricforum.com/u/GEMmechanic)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/6 "2013-12-01T17:44:58Z")

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The differential oil in the GEM is removed by extracting it through the fill plug. SAE 30 is recommended by the factory, however, many use 80W90 gear oil instead. I use 80W90 in all four of our GEM cars.

Daniel

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### Author: ![Old\_Houseboater](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/old_houseboater/32/544_2.png) [@Old\_Houseboater](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Old_Houseboater)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/2002-differential/3738/7 "2014-01-18T10:57:12Z")

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The fill plug is the Rubber plug in the differential cover (Stamped sheet metal cover in the bottom of the differential) Lift the edge of the plug and pull it off with a pair of pliers.

My differential was very noisy so I use 140 gear oil with a heavy dose of cork. Lots quieter.
