New to me '93. Help identifying leak

[mhk87]

Found this on craigslist for a winter ride. Incredibly clean but some rust. Paint was oxidized but it came back very nicely with some polishing compound (I was one door in when I took the pic). Registered it a few weeks ago and found this leak today. I read that the axleseals go often but the fluid did not have a smell I could notice. I was thinking maybe brake fluid but the reservoir is full and I haven't topped it off. My first 4x4 so advice appreciated. Hoping its a fix I can tackle before we get any more snow. Thanks

 

[KidVermicious]

It's an axle seal or it's brake fluid. Probably an axle seal, that much brake fluid should have put a dent in your reservoir.

It's not hard to replace. Here's a nifty writeup: Toyota Maintenance: Replacing a Rear Axle Seal

 

[Pisa 8687]

Most definently axle seal

 

[2ndGen4runner4x4]

That door paint looks pretty good... I may have to try that myself!
Oh yea... looks like you are gonna learn how to replace your axle seal.

 

[mhk87]

Thanks for the replies. Replaced the seal today instead of raking leaves. Insane amounts of debris embedded in old gear oil, let me grab a pic to post. Must've been leaking forever. The guy at the shop said I'd need 80-90 gear oil, lmk if theres something particular I should fill with (will not be on the road for a few days yet). Took almost the entire quart of oil before I noticed any overflow. The breather is soaking in PB blaster and I'm going to try and pull the cap to see if it's plugged tomorrow.

I was able to cap the brake line pretty quickly and avoid fluid loss when I removed it, but it took forever to get the sucker to thread back on and I'm pretty sure at this point the rear brakes need bled. Anyone have a link to a DIY?

Not a very good photo, but about 1/10th of the gunk I'd scraped off. This reminds me, the bump stops from either side were just sitting loose in the springs - do I need to reattach and if so how?


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