Differential flange leak fix this weekend

[gaber6]

While all you are doing fun mods, I'm fixing leaks.
I'm fixing the diff leak that I half fixed last year with only the seal. I needed a new flange as it was ridged from the previous worn seal. No more gear oil on the muffler after this goes on this weekend.

 

[rdruss]

Keep us posted on your adventure/repair. Hope it goes well!

 

[gaber6]

Well I got it apart quickly, the old seal out, and the new seal in, but the flange ended up having a diameter 1mm smaller and would not slide onto the shaft. Also it was 1mm smaller outside diameter so no way it would seal if it did slide on.
Rock Auto issued a refund plus paid for their part to ship it back. I opted the the cheapest part and got bit. Maybe I'll pick up a Toyota part next time. At least the new seal should hold for another year until I really need to get to it again.

 

[rdruss]

What a bummer!!

 

[gaber6]

I looked back at the rock Auto order page and the only difference in all the specs is one indicates 1.50" shaft and one is 1.64". I wish I would have noticed that. Why on earth would they make identical parts that are barely that different, but listed to fit my car?

 

[gaber6]

Ahh shoot. Now I have a bad rear end whine. I thought it was just a little low on fluid, which quieted it up in the past, but maybe I made the pinion nut too tight?
Wrench only went to 150lbs and I pulled just a little more.
Thoughts?

 

[gaber6]

Meh. Taking it to have Toyota fix on Monday. I don't have a garage to fix it and I've been making 2.5x what I normally make on unemployment, so why not have it fixed right. I've never done any rear end work, only engine rebuilds. Made it 20 years without a dealer repair as well so not too bad.

 

[gaber6]

Well I got an entire new pumpkin. The tech showed me the rear end with the driveshaft removed and it was stuck as we tried to spin it. Something was shot on the inside. I opted to replace the entire gear set assembly for 2500 vs try to diagnose and just replace the pinion bearings for 1200.

 

[CookieRoe]

sucks to hear, doesn't sound like you can catch a break.

You're making me nervous with the diff as I believe mine is whining. My mech friend thinks its one of my ball bearings. $2500? Geeze

good luck

 

[gaber6]

Not the worst. Now I know I can tow with confidence.

The toyota part was about 1800.. probably simple enough to replace on your own but why not get the warranty with the install.
Have you replaced wheel bearings already?

 

[Ratubbs]

Dammit now I’m scared to death my rear diff is bad , got new tires put on and thought it was tire noise but now I’m certain it’s gear whine.... plus feels like it’s “chugging” at times under uphill load or cornering [emoji15]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[royal T4R]

For $2500 I would have done the 8.2 swap for the rear locker. Im glad you got it all sorted out though.

 

[Thebeastlives]

I didn't think the 3rd gen or any of the 4 runners had many rear end failures. Everyone always says if you take care of them they last forever in our offroad club. My has 322k and zero issues so far. I know parts even on Toyotas fail but unlike the LBJ and a few other issues the diff doesn't seem too be a part that faces many failures on the 3rd gen.

 

[gaber6]

Yeah, I don't do any offroading, plus I needed a quicker fix. My local offroad shop that did my alignment didn't have an available appointment to even diagnose the problem soon enough. It may have lasted longer if I didn't torque the pinion bolt too much when I reinstalled the pinion seal. Tech said no way I could have overtightened it, but I dunno. I made it slightly tighter than the bar reading 150lbs. Maybe I only needed to hand torque it back into place as it was already torqued from the factory. That's what I did last year and it worked fine.