Hi guys. I need a quick answer. My rear axle seal leaked oil all through my drivers side rear brakes.
Do I only need to replace the inner axle seal and brakes?
Or if the oil has made its way into my brakes does that mean there is an outer seal that had gone too along with the wheel hub bearing?
It's hard to tell. To do the outer seal I need to take the axle shaft to a shop. And I don't want to put all new brakes on and find it leaks again and ruins them.

TIA

Wait, are you talking about the parking brake assembly or do you mean that differential fluid has gotten onto the disc brakes?

I had this happen to my taco after switching to synthetic gear oil.

If you want to replace just the seal you can do it yourself. But you have to take out the axle shaft. It's simple to do so. Once you remove all the brake parts it's just 4 bolts and the entire axle comes out. The seal is inside. You just pop it out and put in a new one. Make sure you grease the new seal.

If you are going to replace the bearing you need to take it to a bearing shop to replace it. It's tricky to do becuse the axle shaft is long so you need to do some creative thinking to get the bearing and race off. But it's doable.

Diff oil was into parking brakes and disc brakes by the time I caught it.

I question has the oil gone through the wheel bearing and out seal or is that pretty darn unlikely? Was the oil on my discs possibly just from spray and splashing?

Thanks guys.

Still need confirmation. If diff fluid is soaking my brakes do I only need to change the inner axle seal or is there another seal within the hub and bearing assembly that I need to have pressed out and replaced to fix the leak?

Our '07's axle leaked all over the driver's side brakes last year and it was only the inner axle seal that needed replacing.

The dealer wanted to rebuild the parking brake to the tune of several hundred dollars, but the liberal application of a $4.00 can of Brakleen was all it took to make it hold like new.

I just told you 2 posts up.

(0208- )

You need the number 42311V or 42312C depending on left and right side.

To install it you need to get a big enough nut the size of the seal it self so you seat it properly. Make sure you grease the seals rubber so the seal seats over the axle shaft properly. If it doesn't, you will have a leak again.

Sometimes the cause of a leak is a bad bearing. So its good to change the bearing. But changing the seal you can do in your garage with simple tools.

This is exactly happening to mine too. At 150k miles with pretty much minimal major issues, this would be the first. My leaking started about 10k miles ago. I thought it was the caliper so I replaced it. It was actually leaking too, so that fixed it but I can still smell the fresh smell of.. something. I noticed that the fluid was seeping through from behind the rotors onto the caliper. If replacing the seals is something I can do, I'm going to get it done next week. I'll drop by toyota to get the seal. Can I replace the front and rear seal without removing the bearings? I've never done this but I'm mechanically incline. Part numbers above work for my pass rear seals? I also hear that a clogged diff breather can make this worse. Any thoughts? Should I be worried about something major happening if I don't get this fixed soon?

This is exactly what I needed. so much info on this forum and so little time... so I am replacing the differential breather because it was rusted over. I am assuming it caused by rear axle seal to leak on drivers side. But how do I determine if the leak might be caused by a bad bearing too?

Update on May 21st: cleaned breather, and re-installed until I can get a new one. I soaked it in isopropyl alcohol for 30 mins, and blew into it and saw traces of the isopropyl alcohol come out - so I assumed it's still functional. Cleaned off the wheel and caliper to see if seal would leak again. So far so good, after 2 days of driving, no sign of seal leak.

Nothing like a can of brake cleaner!!!!!


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If it's leaking, it's most likely the outer seals. Easily replaceable.


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Here is my thread about axle seals and repairing them. Axel Seals Leaking, Did you replace wheel bearings?

If there is diff oil, then you need to replace the INNER axle seal. That is what keeps the diff oil where it is suppose to be. The diff oil tends to wash away the grease in the wheel bearings, which must then be replaced if you are lucky and the wheel bearings are ok. If they are not ok you must also replace wheel bearings. The outer seal is little more than dust cover.

If diff oil is on rear brakes pads, then you need to replace rear brake pads as this will cause braking issues. There will be quite a bit of effort to clean up all the parts involved and put them back together again.

Make sure you buy an extra inner seal just in case you screw one up (which I did, and was happy to have a spare available). They are cheap. Assume both sides need new seals.

Bringing this thread back for some help/guidance, so thank you in advance to anyone that comes across this thread and responds. My 4th gen just hit 178k miles, and the larger tires and wheeling abuse over the last two years leading to this should have been expected..

I crawled under my car yesterday to grease the drive shafts, and noticed this only on the passenger side. There isn't a distinct smell or anything, but the leaking grease is everywhere. Under the rear bumper, all inside the wheel and tire, all inside the wheel well, all over the shock and spring, you get the point, it's all over the place. I drained and replaced the diff and transfer case fluid about 10k miles ago, no issues during that maintenance. So yesterday before work, I jacked the car up and took the wheel off yesterday. Cleaned everything that I could, and used and entire can of brake cleaner to help pinpoint the leak. Through research and reading along here, I suspect it is the rear axle seal leak.




From what I've gathered, replacing the seal isn't very difficult, but the bearing can be a PITA. It looks like I need #42311V for the right side seal, where is the best place to buy this seal? I checked Toyota Parts Online but the closest store is 65 miles away. Checked Ebay too, and couldn't find the exact seal match. Should I call the closest Toyota dealership and have them order it? I see some say go ahead and replace the bearing, others say to just do the seal. I feel confident enough to handle the seal alone, but not so much the bearing.

Sorry for any ignorance or stupidity in this post, anyone who stumbles across and can help offer suggestion would be really appreciated.

for the short term, you could just replace the seal.


but...the seal failed, letting gear oil wash through the bearing, and out of the housing. it washes the grease out of the bearing. so, once you fix the seal, and gear oil is no longer getting into the bearing, it is essentially running dry.




basically once it gets to this point, the proper repair will be to replace the seal as well as the bearing. most likely along with the brakes, and park brake shoes. as once they have absorbed the gear oil, they are pretty much trash.