Rear axle seal ungency?

[ctyoter]

Hi all,
I've been chasing a fluid leak from my rear passenger side wheel area and I thought it was originally a crusty brake caliper. I ordered up a new pair since both sides were the same crustiness and got a bum caliper on the passenger side. Ordered up another and after some driving, noticed it was leaking from what I assumed was the piston. So, replaced it again and still seeing a small fluid weep from the brake area. Different caliper, different brand so I'm thinking it's something else and looked it up. Possibly the rear axle seal it looks like.

My question is, how long can this go before needing replacement? I'm in New England and do not have an indoor area to work on my cars and this repair looks a bit more involved than the brake caliper so I know it'll require multiple parts trips and some hacking which I'm not keen on doing in the cold. Hoping to put it off until spring. Park it for the winter or OK to drive until spring?

 

[JONBOY345]

As long as you keep the diff fluid in it, and it's not ruining your brakes, I'd let it ride until it warms up.

 

[aemravan]

+1^

depends on severity of the leak. If it's just a minor leak and you can get away with keeping fluid topped off in one or two goes I don't see any issues..

As far as the repair goes, it can be a bit involved as it requires to pull apart the parking brake, but if you're handy with tools and it isn't your first rodeo you can do it in no time.

It's a total of 8 bolts:
-2 caliper bolts
-4 axle bolts
-2 parking brake cable bolts


When you go to do it, look up a couple of videos, the best way I found to do mine was to cut a small slit in the brake line bracket so you don't have to undo the line and either strip the nut or have to bleed the system. That allows you to get the caliper off the slide the axle out with ease.

My biggest challenge all the time is getting the parking brake back together, those springs are terrible, but look up a video using the ziptie trick to compress those retaining springs and get it back together.

All in all, depending on how rusty things are, it's a job for a decent part of the day. Last time I pulled mine apart and put it back together it took me only an hour.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I've been fighting this for maybe 18 months. First make sure that it is what the fluid is, you can't miss the smell of gear oil, it's stinky. If so you can wait a bit, aside from a bit of hot oil smell it's mainly the loss of lube and the mess it makes that's a pain. The messiness comes from the brake dust sticking to the thick gear oil which turns into a gelatinous mess. It is a pain to clean up. As for parts, I suggest OEM on the seal as the aftermarket one I installed a year ago did not do the job. I just put OEM in a couple weeks ago. One other thing to know is that your E-brake cable will probably break when you remove it from the backing plate. The metal becomes brittle from the winter salt. Otherwise the job is pretty easy.

Aemravan post above is spot on for these details, the ziptie trick is a huge help.
"When you go to do it, look up a couple of videos, the best way I found to do mine was to cut a small slit in the brake line bracket so you don't have to undo the line and either strip the nut or have to bleed the system. That allows you to get the caliper off the slide the axle out with ease.

My biggest challenge all the time is getting the parking brake back together, those springs are terrible, but look up a video using the ziptie trick to compress those retaining springs and get it back together."

 

[Tyla_T4R]

Is there any way of replacing the axle seal without undoing the parking brake? I vaguely remember someone mentioning it on here and that would save so much time.

 

[MikeinNH67]

Is there any way of replacing the axle seal without undoing the parking brake? I vaguely remember someone mentioning it on here and that would save so much time.

Not that I know of, you need to be able to pull the axle out of the tube. It's almost half the width of the truck. That cable does not give much room. May be possible if you disconnect all it's body attachment points but then it may break when being manipulated. This job takes nimble fingers.

 

[rumfoord]

check your diff breather as well, I had similar issue and was most likely due to seized breather and had to replace. if yours is the same replacing that should buy you some time, simple replacement.

 

[Drcoffee]

Remove and clean your axle breather vent. To buy some time til Spring, drain and refill the gear oil with a thicker 75w120 and add some AT205 reseal. The AT205 will soften the axle seal and make it more compliant. Tne thicker oil will be less likely to leak. And plan on replacing the bearing since the gear oil has washed out the Lithium bearing grease and bearing failure is just around tne corner. For that you would need a 20 ton press and a special tool to pull and install the bearing which I found on ebay. Tool $100, bearing $62 rockauto (look for japanese part) BCA and NSK are the same bearing. NSK 44BWK02N Search pictures to see country of manufacture. And use Toyota OEM axle seals. I had done this on a 2007 fj cruiser once before. Same setup. Here is a thread I made for the FJC forum. *Harbor freight always has a great sale on new years day on 20T presses.

Rear Axle leak & bearing replacement | Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

FSM instructions
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/attachments/transmissions-transfer-cases-traction-aids/33497d1259689164-axle-shaft-seal-025001.pdf

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/attachments/transmissions-transfer-cases-traction-aids/33498d1259689174-axle-shaft-seal-025002.pdf


2007 TOYOTA 4RUNNER 4.0L V6 Wheel Bearing | RockAuto

Rear Axle Bearing Puller Set For 95-20 Toyota 4Runner W/Tone Ring Tool Installer | eBay

 

[ctyoter]

Thank you all for the excellent responses! I hosed down the drain and fill plugs with some Deep Creep in anticipation of filling but I'll also check that breather plug. The tips on the parking brake are also much appreciated.

Currently have a few inches of fresh snow in the driveway so I'm glad I can bandaid this until better weather comes around. The fluid def reeks as my kids comment on it and let me know it's still leaking every time they get out of the car

 

[aemravan]

The only possible way I could think of pulling the axle with the parking brake still in place is to disassemble the center console and see if you can decouple the parking brake cable from the mechanism inside... then pull it completely out of the car and undo every mounting point it has. If you ask me.. you'll spend the same amount of time, if not more, to just pull it apart and get it back together. I put my parking brake together faster than it took me to slide the drum brake rotor over the new pads last time I did it. Zip ties on the keeper springs is an absolute go-to method for me, but if it's your first time doing it, you'll throw some tools around so make sure you don't have anything nice laying around

 

[aemravan]

Remove and clean your axle breather vent. To buy some time til Spring, drain and refill the gear oil with a thicker 75w120 and add some AT205 reseal. The AT205 will soften the axle seal and make it more compliant. Tne thicker oil will be less likely to leak. And plan on replacing the bearing since the gear oil has washed out the Lithium bearing grease and bearing failure is just around tne corner. For that you would need a 20 ton press and a special tool to pull and install the bearing which I found on ebay. Tool $100, bearing $62 rockauto (look for japanese part) BCA and NSK are the same bearing. NSK 44BWK02N Search pictures to see country of manufacture. And use Toyota OEM axle seals. I had done this on a 2007 fj cruiser once before. Same setup. Here is a thread I made for the FJC forum. *Harbor freight always has a great sale on new years day on 20T presses.

Rear Axle leak & bearing replacement | Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

FSM instructions
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/attachments/transmissions-transfer-cases-traction-aids/33497d1259689164-axle-shaft-seal-025001.pdf

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/attachments/transmissions-transfer-cases-traction-aids/33498d1259689174-axle-shaft-seal-025002.pdf


2007 TOYOTA 4RUNNER 4.0L V6 Wheel Bearing | RockAuto

Rear Axle Bearing Puller Set For 95-20 Toyota 4Runner W/Tone Ring Tool Installer | eBay

+1 on having the tool and press if you decide to do the bearings. Mine came off super easy... though I should mention the bearing separated and the other half was still on the axle, but since I wasn't re-using the axle it didnt mater to me. I elected to upgrade to nitro rear axles along with the new bearings so my process in reverse took a lot longer (I think the coating on the nitro axles made the press fit job quite a bit more intense) but if using the same axle it should be pretty straight forward.

Good call on considering the wheel bearings though... if you're going through the trouble of pulling the rear end apart it could be well worth the time and not that much extra money to just get it out of the way. I have seen folks pull the axles and take it to local shops to get the new bearings on for no more than a couple of hundred bucks which could also be an option, especially if you have to buy a press and tool just to do this..

 

[Drcoffee]

I rarely use the parking brake, so for me I just removed the shoes and secured the cables away from moving parts. It was a real hassle to get the shoes back in, and it wasnt my first rodeo with drum brakes.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I rarely use the parking brake, so for me I just removed the shoes and secured the cables away from moving parts. It was a real hassle the get the shoes back in, and it wasnt my first rodeo with drum brakes.

That would be a nice option but in this area you would fail state inspection and risk fines.

 

[aemravan]

I rarely use the parking brake, so for me I just removed the shoes and secured the cables away from moving parts. It was a real hassle the get the shoes back in, and it wasnt my first rodeo with drum brakes.

I don't blame you and know exactly how you feel

I drove around with a partial delete for a little bit after giving up on the first go-around. I pulled the axles and replaced the bearings in just about as much time as it took to try and put one side together lol. But then I came across this small zip-tie method and went back out to give it a try, literally did both sides in about 30 minutes times .

I highly considered doing a delete on them altogether (those parking brake shoes were expensive as hell to replace!) but decided it would be my luck that I shear my parking pin somewhere off road and need to rely on my parking brake that I no longer have and decided to just put them back in and leave them alone lol

 

[gaber6]

I almost crashed mine a few times before I realized it was leaking on my brake. On slightly wet pavement, one brake would drag or grab harder and cause the rear to slip sideways then kick in abs at bad times.
Then I avoided replacing bearings the first time around and had to do the job again. Just pay for the good bearings and have them install the inner race sleeve thing reversed so you have more surface to ride on the seal. The original has a bevel for some reason only giving 1/32 or so of space to seal on.