Cheap, effective way to seal diff leak?

[Philbert]

Sooooo....I got a new (remanned) diff a year and a half back when mine started leaking all over. It worked great till just recently ( 1 year warranty is up from mechanic and parts provider). It's leaking - not from where the drive shaft enters, but from the seal/seam where the diff bolts together. Mechanic said it would be about $700 in labor to take it apart, and put in a new seal. I don't have/want to spend that, especially since i just got it recently.

I'm wondering what options I have - can I drain it, clean it up, and use silicone to "patch" it up?

Anyone dealt with this on the cheap and come away victoriously?

 

[Alabama4Runner]

It depends on whether or not you are willing to tackle this yourself. The permanent fix is to pull the diff, clean all the old gasket off, clean both faces with brake cleaner, put a thin layer of Toyota Red FIPG (form in place gasket), wait a few minutes and then reinstall the diff. You can also use a new gasket but I would put some red FIPG on both faces anyway.

Make sure you get the torque specification and use a torque wrench to that spec when reinstalling the nuts (I think it's 22 ft-lbs but I'm not positive).

If you don't have one, get a FSM and follow the removal and installation instructions for the diff. It's not that difficult and the manual explains it quite well. They are out of print but I got mine off ebay not too long ago.

 

[fourwd1]

Have you tried tightening all the nuts ? sometimes it's just that simple.

My rear diff works a little loose from bashing it on rocks, and retorquing the nuts fixes the leak.