Rear Axle Seals: The Ultimate Information and Replacement Thread (3rd gen)

[98Fizzy]

That won't work.

 

[Chuckles89]

This is how I did mine

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/225657-how-rear-wheel-bearings-seals-home.html

 

[Scramble]

I dodged a bullet!

Hopefully I got lucky. Sat. I was under the truck (oil change & re-torquing oil pan & rear diff bolts) & there were no leaks. I took it for a drive around the lake (30min) & parked it over night. Sun. I was putting my gas tank skid back on & noticed a little bit of gear oil in the rear PS wheel. Not sprayed all over like previous pics here. Next Sat. I'm doing the Breather Extension & hopefully the leak stops. I just changed to Red Line Synth oil so that could be a factor as well. This sucks because I haven't wheeled it all summer & now I have 3 wheelin' trips planned for Oct. I'm not driving it at all this week.

I did the breather extension mod & my axle seal isn't leaking any more. The old breather valve was rusted shut. I did a 72 mile round trip drive to work & no leak. Thank you 4runner gods! :bravo:

 

[JBurt]

I did the breather extension mod & my axle seal isn't leaking any more.

I gotta say I wasn't expecting this. Good job and I hope it lasts. At least if it goes you're not out anything and you've already replaced your breather.

 

[Scramble]

I gotta say I wasn't expecting this. Good job and I hope it lasts. At least if it goes you're not out anything and you've already replaced your breather.

I got lucky because I was under the truck 2 days in a row & caught it when it was only a tiny drip.

 

[thegipper]

Good to hear Scramble, that is pretty much exactly my scenario. Did the breather mod and have not had any new noticeable leaks. Mine was hardly leaking to begin with.

 

[Scramble]

Good to hear Scramble, that is pretty much exactly my scenario. Did the breather mod and have not had any new noticeable leaks. Mine was hardly leaking to begin with.

Like JBurt said, as long as the gear oil didn't didn't wash out the bearing grease we should be golden.

 

[thegipper]

Mine was so little in the housing I'm pretty sure it didn't even get to the bearing grease cover. Time will tell...

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[Jason B]

So, you guys might think this is crazy, but as I mentioned my axel seals were leaking for the past few years. Don't dive the truck that much right now. I filled the rear pumpkin over 2 months ago and was able to add about 22 ounces of diff fluid until it became full again (diff holds 96 ounces total when full, 3 quarts about). It's been 2 months and NO MORE LEAKING. Can this somehow fix itself?

Now 6 months and no leaking. It fixed itself???

 

[JBurt]

Now 6 months and no leaking. It fixed itself???

How does your breather look? Maybe it became unclogged somehow.

 

[Jason B]

How does your breather look? Maybe it became unclogged somehow.

I removed it and checked it to be safe, and seems fine. Interesting though if it somehow was clogged and unclogged itself and no more leaks? If this is what happened, this could save a lot of people aggravation.

 

[Jhelms]

That is a great idea, I wish I thought of that.

The press fit is not tight at all. I don't have a gauge on my 12T press, but it was definitely not stressing it in any way.

With the snap ring removed, no idea why it would not work just to slide off the retainers and abs ring. I will give it a shot just to see what happens or what complications are involved (maybe) as I went ahead and plopped down some coin on a very nice set of press tools for our axles.

Thanks man - that is what I figured / very light press work involved.

 

[Ruiner]

For anyone wondering how much the machine shop work is. I initially called the local toyota dealer and they informed me that they dont press them on you just have to buy the whole axel assembly (total BS). I then called a driveshaft/machine shop (Scotty's Driveshaft in Austin,Tx) they quoted me 125 a side and knew immediatly to tell me what parts to bring, even though i already knew, but that off the top of the head knowledge gave me ALOT of confidence in taking my stuff there.

It took about 2 hours from when i dropped it off till when i picked it up and final cost was the $250 they quoted me.

 

[JBurt]

I went to two different places here and both told me 2 hours of labor. Looks like Scotty's driveshaft in Austin has a $125/hour shop rate. I need to change jobs.

 

[4Runnin2000]

Just saw this today under the rig. How soon do I need to fix this? What bad things can happen while driving on something like this? Just wondering how little time I have to save up some cash

 

[Jason B]

Just saw this today under the rig. How soon do I need to fix this? What bad things can happen while driving on something like this? Just wondering how little time I have to save up some cash

I had same issue. As long as there's enough fluid in the diff, you could go years with a small leak like that. Mine leaked, and I think diff breather cap was clogged and I cleaned it and jiggled any dirt out of it, filled the fluid back up and no more leaks.

 

[4Runnin2000]

I had same issue. As long as there's enough fluid in the diff, you could go years with a small leak like that. Mine leaked, and I think diff breather cap was clogged and I cleaned it and jiggled any dirt out of it, filled the fluid back up and no more leaks.

Ok cool. Is it going to affect the rear brake at all or is there no way for it to get in there?

 

[MACT4R]

Just saw this today under the rig. How soon do I need to fix this? What bad things can happen while driving on something like this? Just wondering how little time I have to save up some cash

That looks like it went through the bearing and boot. I would pull the wheel and drum to check brakes. Those brake shoes sucks diff fluid and may compromise breaking. Check your diff breather if clog. Think about doing breather mod. Worse case is axle rebuild if bearing is compromised. You may get away with just changing the seal and o-ring. Just 2 cents.

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[4Runnin2000]

That looks like it went through the bearing and boot. I would pull the wheel and drum to check brakes. Those brake shoes sucks diff fluid and may compromise breaking. Check your diff breather if clog. Think about doing breather mod. Worse case is axle rebuild if bearing is compromised. You may get away with just changing the seal and o-ring. Just 2 cents.

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Thank you for the info. Going to do the breather mod atleast. It will help the other side if anything.

 

[JBurt]

The other thing to worry about is the gear oil washing out the grease from the wheel bearing. However that may take a long time with a slow leak and it will likely squeal long before it seizes. Plus most people replace the bearings when they do the axle seals too.