Strange oil color in the front diff.

Hi,
Im new here, and i'm recently purchased jimny 08.

Yesterday I changed the oil in the diff's, and the oil color from the front diff looks different from the rear diff oil.
The front diff oil in a color like a army green/ olive green with bubbles, and the rear like a normal old used oil - dark honey.

I'ts a normal oil from factory? or did water enter to diff? 
If i'ts water i need to drain/refill several times?

The front oil diff: 

 

This is what happens when diff. oil mixes with grease from the hubs. There is an oil/grease seal that is located just inboard of the hub and separates the diff. oil from the hub grease and this is obviously past it's sell by date or it may be absent altogether. Has the hub been leaking past the semi circular face of the hub? Are there signs of wear in the caster bearings?
The Big Jimny Store supplies a kit to change the bearings and the kit includes the worn out seal. Also there is a video showing the steps needed to do the job including the tools you will need.

Roger

Water contamination. Replace it, no need to go crazy rinsing it out. Bare in mind that the front diff is only turning when in 4wd so unless you spend long periods of time in 4wd it's unlikely to ever cause an issue.

Roger, what are you on about? Grease in the diff oil? Hub grease? Caster(sp) bearings? Not on a Jimny my friend.

Roger:
When I purchased the vehicle(two months ago) there was a leak from the swivel (driver side).
the mechanic replace king-pin and seal on both sides.after that was still a really small leak and was replaced again seal, Now I'm currently on probation to see if it happens again.
I myself chose to change oil because I was not offered to change in the garage.

Busta:
I thought that the front diff turning all the time but without "load", Because 4WD integration is done by the locker in the wheels , am i wrong?

Thank you.

There is a seal that separates the diff. oil from the swivel housing. Inside the housing are the king pin bearings and these are lubricated with grease. KitKat has confirmed the leak from the swivel and this will be the diff. oil that has contaminated the grease and then created a leak whilst also returning past the seal and contaminated the oil in the diff. The correct seal should be capable of flex to allow for slight variations in shaft position as the car steers. I would suggest that a standard seal was used and these are not capable of coping with this variation and this results in the seal lip being distorted and this allows the leak. Also I suggest the venting valve on the axle casing should be inspected. This may be jammed closed and this will create excess pressure from the hot diff. oil and this will exacerbate the situation. When the car is in 2 wheel drive the front axle is static ie the internals are not moving and selecting 4wd operates the locking hubs. I realise that to get the diff. oil hot would require the axle to be working, but KitKat has not advised us as to what work the car was subjected to in its past life.

Roger

Thank you Roger.
According to the parts written the receipt the mechanic used with OEM suzuki parts. so the seal is oem part.
Yesterday when i replaced the diff.oil I have checked the breather by insert pipe in the same size of the filler plug and I pushed air with my mouth,The air came out through the breather and when I pressed it the air did not come out anymore.

the past life of the car is the first and second car owners were women in small city,I believe they only drove on the road, home->work->home.
The third owner a young guy who did take him to the off road a bit ... easy trails and some mud.

The car only with 100k kilometer. (I purchased at 99K) the model is 2008.

That diff oil has had water contamination at some point though not lots and lots. As you have had the kingpin bearings done because of leaking swivel seals and the previous owner has been out playing with it then these two things in conjunction will give contamination of the oil. It's easy enough to run another bottle of oil through it to clean it, oil is still cheap despite recent world event especially compared to a full diff rebuild. One question, when you took the oil out first time did it sparkle and glint like there was any metal in it? I doubt there would be but if there was that's not good.

My opinion just to add to the conversation.
Just change the oil, no need to clean the axle out etc. But of course fix any leaks first, after all it's letting your oil out and contamination in.
As Roger said check the breath caps are operating, if they are blocked they can cause leaks.

Simply, in use the axle warms up and should vent to atmosphere as the air expands. If it can't vent via the caps it pushes oil past the oil seal to achieve the same. If your seals are worn dunking a hot axle in water (as u off-road) can also cause the air to contract, the vacuum in the axle then sucks oil / water / grease back past the seals from your probably shot swivels. They are usually rusty and full of water 

Just for the vote I also think it's water in the oil, with just a hint of grease.

If and it's a big if, the front swivel has been correctly assembled and maintained the only grease will be that small amount in the kingpin bearings and the slightly larger amount in the moving parts of the CV joint. The actual chalice of the swivel should not have any grease in it certainly not in the quantity that would be required to contaminate the axle oil behind even failing seals. It is however quite common for none specialists to assume that the challis be packed full of grease as this is a common attribute of other vehicles.

In 2wd, drive to the front wheels is disconnected at the transfer case and the hubs, therefore the diff is stationary and inactive for normal road driving.
I've never heard or seen a single instance of the grease contamination Roger is taking about on a Jimny. I can't see how it would be possible for oil to escape, mix with grease and then somehow get back into the axle in a quantity large enough to change the colour of a litre of oil. However I have seen many many instances of water in the diff oil, and the solution is always a simple oil change.

It seems like the previous owner liked to go swimming in his Jimny 

Definitely looks like contamination with water / mud.... Change the Diff oil, and if you also like to go swimming fit some breathers to the diffs, transfer box and gearbox if possible.

This seems a decent kit for the diffs from a BigJimny member:  Suzuki Jimny axle / diff Breather Kit extend your breathers to the snorkel head | eBay