Rear Seal Blown multiple times!

[dand14]

I have a 2000 4Runner and the rear seal has blew and been replaced 4 times in the past year. The last time I had it replaced we tried an oversized seal and looked today and it has began to leak again, we replaced the seal only a week ago. I am looking for any advice on how to fix this problem. I have been told that I may have to replace the rear axle, is this true or can the problem be fixed some other way?

 

[Singtoe]

Do you have a stopped up breather?

Check your axle for trueness.

If it is not straight or has grooves cut into the sealing surface, then replace.

 

[dand14]

We checked the axle for for any burs and the trueness of it, and from what we could tell it checked out good. Thanks for the advice on the breather.

 

[dand14]

I found Big Fish's write up about this problem and he seems to have every solution known, so thanks for your time and advice

 

[twitchee2]

check you breather plug and check your bearings, mine leaked, changed the seal. was leaking again by the next day.

 

[Gerdo]

Upon installing the seal. It MUST be driven in perfectly straight! The best way is to use something that supports the entire metal ring on the seal. Then tap it in evenly.

If it is actually forcing oil past the seal, I would replace the vent/breather before touching the seals. If it is just a bad vent, the seal will be fine and will not leak. Also check the oil level. DO NOT OVERFILL!.

 

[econhonda]

Is it possible that the diff breather function correctly, but there could be blockage inside the actual diff going to the breather? My diff breather seemed to function correctly when I sucked/blew through it, but I wondered if there could be a problem further inside the diff...

 

[brian2sun]

The breather just screws into a hole in the housing. There's nothing underneath it that would get a blockage.

I'm in the process of trying to find a double-walled seal that will work in our axles (hopefully National makes something that'll fit). The OEM axle seals are junk, I refuse to screw with them anymore. Mine last 2-3 years and they start leaking again. I'll just let mine keep leaking this time until I find a good aftermarket seal that works how it should.

OP, your seals shouldn't fail that fast though. I agree with the others, you either have too much pressure building up in there or the housing is bent.

 

[Nelsonmd]

Maybe a stupid question, but are you driving it in too far? Maybe it is not seating on the right part of the shaft.

 

[BrianSD_42]

I have a 2000 4Runner and the rear seal has blew and been replaced 4 times in the past year. The last time I had it replaced we tried an oversized seal and looked today and it has began to leak again, we replaced the seal only a week ago.

Have you been taking it to the same place each time?

I had a rear seal leak and the dealership fixed it. Then 13 months later it started leaking again ... WTF ... went back to the dealer and they fixed it again but only charged parts. I found out that many dealers don't even do the whole process themselves they outsource "pressing" it together.

It hasn't leaked since 2007 so I guess they did it right the second time.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

I tried aftermarket seals and had issues within 10k miles and went back to OEM Toyota seals and now have over 50k on the current pair. I won't use nothing else.

 

[Blueman2]

Another thing to consider is that if you have bearings replaced, the technicians don't always follow the spec on positioning the inner bearing retainer. If the ABS rotor and inner (closest to the diff) bearing retainer are pressed too far onto the axle (too close to the backing plate), the bearing retainer may not fully enter the seal and thus the assembly will leak.