my rear axle blew a seal!!!

[Ron Helmuth]

thanks

that is a relief, hopefully the bearings should be fine. It's not moving until tomorrow and then straight to Stevinson Toyota. (East)

thanks for being available for the advice

It is a big peace of mind having guys like you around.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

thank you coupons

in at the dealership now

$850ish to do the rear brake shoes and turn the drums-both sides

Replace drivers side rear axle seal and bearing.

Yes they are using the new part number ends with a 6.

And finding me some other little things to work on....

edited-now completed-stops much better with new rear shoes and turned drums. Parking brake barely moves it is so tight now, I like it.

Working on the dirty air filter-the burned out CHMSL bulb, yada yada

 

[EasyEEE]

Apparently my right rear seal just went a second time.. costing me my entire rear end ... :| It all came apart as the tech was driving it into the garage.. they had to put it in 4WD and let the front tires limp it into the garage..

sigh..

Recommendations? How much will I be looking at for a new axle and junk? I'm not the do-it-my-self type of guy.. wish I was.. no time and no real knowledge..

 

[RevengEngine]

EasyEEEE welcome to the forum, btw.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

$1500?

Apparently my right rear seal just went a second time.. costing me my entire rear end ... :| It all came apart as the tech was driving it into the garage.. they had to put it in 4WD and let the front tires limp it into the garage..

sigh..

Recommendations? How much will I be looking at for a new axle and junk? I'm not the do-it-my-self type of guy.. wish I was.. no time and no real knowledge..

I would guesstimate you are in for $1500 or so in repairs if at a dealership. You may want to look for an axle type of shop and see if their labor rate is better.

make sure they are using the newer part number provided so nicely by toytech76 above and guarantee their work for some reasonable amount of time/mileage.

Good luck.

 

[EasyEEE]

Ron,

Thanks for the reply and mention of the seal mentioned above.

I will definitely do that.

I initially thought it was the front brakes going on my '99 4Runner SR5 w/ rear differential, so I drove it to Firestone (they had installed the brakes), where it came apart.

They're referring me to Alan's GearWorks here in the Clearwater FL area

http://www.agearworks.com/

I'm waiting for my insurance company, USAA, to un-lock a claim I had back in January of 2003. Another one of their policy holders hit my right, rear tire and spun us into a ditch. USAA referred me to one of their recommended repair facilities to have it fixed. Pretty sure all they repaired/replaced was the wheel and body the body damage.

I then had the right rear seal replaced in late 2004 or early 2005. It was still under warranty at the time.

A friend told me that if you have your car repaired at one of their USAA "Star" facilities, the repair is guaranteed for life.

So, hopefully the adjuster will see it my way that it was in fact messed up during the accident and never repaired properly.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

But the guy at Gear Works said he'd doubt it would get near $2000.

That said, if I do have to pay for the repair myself, any recommendations on what I should throw on there? I've heard talk of ARB Locker. For regular driving and what not, do I need such a thing?

I don't take it out 4 wheeling, just normal city type of driving... that said, I don't want to get a Toyota part if the seals are just going to leak again and do the same thing.

Thanks, again!

-Brad

 

[Ron Helmuth]

If the entire rear differential needs replaced most of us on here would have you looking for the rear locker (electric) that was an option on the 3rd gens.

But if you really do not offroad-then you just need a replacement differential. Probably can find one at a salvage yard.

Good luck in your claim, that is going to be a stretch. I can see it your way but not sure how USAA is going to judge that.

 

[EasyEEE]

If the entire rear differential needs replaced most of us on here would have you looking for the rear locker (electric) that was an option on the 3rd gens.

But if you really do not offroad-then you just need a replacement differential. Probably can find one at a salvage yard.

Good luck in your claim, that is going to be a stretch. I can see it your way but not sure how USAA is going to judge that.

Thanks for the info, Ron.

I got my ROO from ExtraCare.

After the accident, USAA repaired all the cosmetic stuff and replaced the right rear wheel due to damage. That was March of 2003 with 53,937 miles.

In July of 2005, Toyota of Corpus Christi TX replaced BOTH rear axel seals using the old part # 90310-50001 at 74,477 miles. I had taken it in because the car was violently shaking when putting on the brakes. Apparently they were soaked.

I'm now at 118K with the problem mentioned above.

Given above situation, and driving normally - ie no off-roading.. should a seal fail after only 40K miles?

The USAA claims adjuster looked at it today, definitely sees the oil, and says he can see it my way. They still have to get the case un-archived which contains the pictures in addition to the repair writeup from the accident. He's also got his manager involved.

I just faxed him the invoices I have from the accident repair as well as the replacement of the rear axel seals.

Amazing how a $5.26 part can cause so much damage :|

Just keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

excellent!

it sounds like things are going your way....

 

[spoiled1]

I have had the same problem with mine, I didn't find out that my rear axle seals were leaking untill I took it to get it inspected and it failed. And that was around 90,000 miles, guess i'm not alone with this issue.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

sorry to hear

I have had the same problem with mine, I didn't find out that my rear axle seals were leaking untill I took it to get it inspected and it failed. And that was around 90,000 miles, guess i'm not alone with this issue.

Guys this has happened to so many of us. Is there a way to approach Toyota now and make this a recall? Yes I do realize we are talking old, old vehicles but that never seemed to make a difference on other recalls.

I would be glad to "lead the charge" but want some insight on how to most intelligently do so....

 

[RonMAIDEN]

It depends on how much of a percentage the axle seals are blowing on actual number of 4Runners sold and most don't go til 100k unlike the spring or HG recall which were failing much sooner on early 3rd gens and that admittedly was a design fault by Toyota.

By now the axle seal issue is almost like a regular maintenance issue like the waterpump and t-belts are. I've owned two 4Runners and on both the axle seals went out within a 1000 miles of a 100k.

 

[EasyEEE]

To update, I'm still dealing with my insurance company.

In spite of having the accident at 55K, replacing both seals at 77K, the right rear at 97K and the latest at 118K, my insurance company can't see how the accident caused the axle and housing to get bent.

He kept saying, "I don't see how noone caught it" - implying that the bent axle recently happened, but not back at 55K - in spite of having 3 failures..

When I looked at the housing, I could not see straight through.. that's how jacked up it was...

So, new housing, new axle, and all the related crap, put me back $2K.

I'm not done. I'm going to appeal, and then small claims, and then drop USAA if I need to.. sigh.

 

[Reject]

rear axle

I just had to get my rear axle bearing and seals changed due to the same problem. I have a 97 4runner, but I lucked up and got it fixed for about 70 dollars....The price for most of the parts.

 

[Elton H]

my freinds 89 pickup chewed up a wheel bearing and caused a leak ... the hole job wasn't really that bad 4 bolts and e brake cable and the brake line whole axle slides out .... take it over to the machine shop have them press out the bearing and replace the seal that was $35 dollars seals and bearings where about $100 dollars took me around 3-4hrs to do it dealer would of charged way more this is a pretty easy job you really cant screw it up

 

[ssssteveo103]

I had the same symptoms as a lot of you: differential oil in the brakes, etc. However, my broken seal was caused by a bent axle. Ended up having to replace the seal ($5) as well as the axle assembly ($300). Had to rebuild my brakes as well. Midas looked at it and said it would cost me $1800 to fix. I did it for less than $1000. Rolls a lot better now though!

 

[sl4runner]

Add my 4Runner to the list of 4Runners with leaking rear seals. My 1999 Limited 4wd has 114,500 miles and from the looks of things, have been leaking for a while. Passenger side is bad, driver side is getting there. Toyota dealership recommends replacing both wheel bearings along with the seals. The tech spent 10 minutes explaining to my service advisor (former tech) that the wheel bearings help with the seal or something like that. And once they start to have wear, the seals can't hold all the pressure.

Bottom line: replace bearings and seals (with updated part number seal), plus rear brake job. Cost = $1276 after 15% discount. Ouch!!!

Sound reasonable? Are others replacing bearings along with seals?

-Scott

 

[96Blacklimited]

My rear drivers side axle blew a leak. I guess it leaked all over the left brake too. So its at the dealer getting fixed.

Sooo why me?? Its got 75k miles on it and its a 2000 limited 4x4. Its gona cost around $650... bummer!!

What do you guys have to say??

This kinna seal problem is common on our 4Runners. So i had a seal blown too and drove around with the dam thing leaking all over my tire and inside brake drum. I finally took it too mechanic just to fix the seal. He told me some crap and more crap about getting new breaks.

I took my truck home, bought a Haynes manual, read what i need too o first. Went got my parts. (Inner wheel seal$10, and Don't forget the O-ring) i did mine 3 different times to get it perfect. I was too lazy and wanted to drive my truck so i slacked the first too times. On the third try is when i got the O-ring (have to go to the Sealership to get them. 2 O-rings were $15) The O-ring and getting the new inner wheel seal back in w/out bending or damaging it is the only way to do it right.

To get the inner wheel seal done without warping i got a 2 3/4'' socket.
(Or just take your inner wheel seal to your local auto store, and match the seal to a socket close to the seals diameter, wrap the socket in a clean rag/cloth, place the seal in the tube, then pit socket wrapped in cloth behind socket and use a BFH to drive seal in place.

Note. put a little lube on seal before setting in place. The seal and socket should fit perfectly inside the tube. this job took about 20mins once i knew what i was doing. I think its easier than changing your oil. so $600 is a little too much for a seal replacement. do it your self you you will love your truck more

 

[Cboy]

Differential Leak in 1997 4runner

Hey guys , So glad I found this thread. I have had a leak on th einside of my back drivers side tire, and I thought it was brake fluid but the fluid never went down. now I realize it is the differential fluid.
It has been like that for ABOUT A YEAR now i would say and has been to SC and back ,(I live in FL)

is it something real bad? other than hurt my MPG (its pretty bad) will the axle fall off?? lock up?

I tried to remove the plug to put in more fluid but cant get it off.

repair shop said about $250.

is it worth messing with?

THANKS!

 

[Cboy]

rear diferential fluid leak out the drivers side rear tire

Any one else had this problem?

I posted something over in the 3rd gen forums too.http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/11884-my-rear-axle-blew-seal-4.html
I have had a leak on the inside of my back drivers side tire,1997 4runner SR5 and I thought it was brake fluid but the fluid never went down. now I realize it is the differential fluid.
It has been like that for ABOUT A YEAR now i would say and has been to SC and back ,(I live in FL)

is it something real bad? other than hurt my MPG (its pretty bad) will the axle fall off?? lock up?

I tried to remove the plug to put in more fluid but cant get it off.

repair shop said about $250.

is it worth messing with?

THANKS!