rear differential problem!!

[Washington4R]

so i've had this loud growling/rubbing sort of sound going on in my truck the last week or two. finally got around to having someone take a look at it and they said that my rear differential has water and metal shavings in it. the truck has about 84K miles on it, does this sound "normal?"

also, since it looks like i am going to have to fix the rear diff., do i also pay to fix the front diff. now as well?

lastly, anyone know of a good mechanic in the seattle area? the dealership wants $1700 to do just the rear.

thanks for your help!

 

[toyoboy]

water in the diff? do you tow a boat or something? if the front diff is not broken dont fix it..

 

[hossmaster]

once you do get the diff fixed, you need to look into extending the diff breather up higher to avoid this costly problem again.

 

[tfxpzeke01]

I just bought a 97 with 149,000 miles on it. It has a slight roaring sound when letting off the accelerator, but if you barely press the accelerator then it'll stop. My friend is the sales manager at the dealership where I bought it at and he was going to buy it before I went ahead and bought.......he give me a great deal on it. Anyways, he said he had the technicians in the back look at it and they said it was some bearing on the main pinion in the rear differential or something like that and said they'd fix it for around $400 which most of the cost is labor. And, it's discounted a little since I have a hook up.