My 1997 4Runner failed inspection about a week ago due to the gear oil contaminating the passenger side brake drum, a tell tale sign of a bad axle seal. I was aware of this, but had been pushing it off. I began work to fix the problem yesterday morning and was able to quickly get everything disassembled. Before removing anything I checked for play in the wheel bearings and everything seemed very tight to me. I am still getting some estimates to get the bearings and ABS rings replaced, but currently I just don't want to spend that kind of money as a college student. It would still be $500 - $600 even if I take them the axles, $200+ if I bring them the parts too. At this point I think I am just going to replace the seals, and if they blow again I will go ahead and do the bearings and all. I am also planning on doing the extended breather for a few bucks to make sure that was not the culprit.
I have been following Timmy's video on the subject here...
Toyota Rear Axle Seal/Bearing Replacement (ABS Rearend) - YouTube
And the popular thread from this forum here...
Rear Axle Seals: The Ultimate Information and Replacement Thread (3rd gen)
So far it has been a very easy job and I haven't had any hiccups, but when I pulled the passenger side axle out though I was surprised to see a mangled seal on the axle shaft. Here is a picture...
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
For comparison, here is the axle on the driver side, came out as expected...
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
I assumed it was the axle seal that came completely loose, but when I looked in the housing the axle shaft seal seemed to be in place. I am super confused and haven't seen anything like it. Here is a picture of the passenger side axle housing...
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
There is a seal on both the shaft and the housing, and as far as I know there is only supposed to be one. So did the person before me somehow jam two seals where there should have been only one? Or am I completely missing something?
Second weird thing in this job, on the driver side housing the owner before me covered everything in RTV gasket maker. You can see that here...
https://imgur.com/a/xIFNtyC
After cleaning it all up and removing the seal I have found some gouges in the metal. Check them out...
https://imgur.com/a/jlxuZRn
I assume the RTV was supposed to fill these gouges in the metal? I guess it might have kinda worked since the driver side didn't have gear oil all over the wheel, but the axle seal had definitely failed. So, what do I do about these gouges? Just leave them?
In summary, is the person before me insane, or am I? Two seals on the passenger side and the driver side is full of RTV. Any clarity or advice is appreciated.
