kevin444

Its been probably 2 weeks when i noticed some oily stuff accumulated inside the wheel weels on my driver side rear tire area. Well 2 days ago i decided to clean that crap off so i took off the tire and scrubbed the goo off and tried my best to clean it off the inner sidewall of the tires no sucess. So I drove it a lil bit after and well called it a day. Next day rolled by and out of curiosity i went to check out that clean wheel well but guess what it was'nt clean anymore theres this oily leak that accumulating around the wheel wells again! Im starting to get worried the substance looks clear and to the touch it was pretty thick and oily kinda felt like maple syrup. I poked my head around and i dont see any leaks anywhere else and I suspect it from the driver side rear drum brake.

Jim "jimabena74" gave me some awesome pointers thanks Jim, and he said it could be an axle seal and is leaking diff oil. Or it m might be brake fluid from a cylinder inside the drum assembly.

Have any of you 3rd gen owners experienced this problem? I am running a extended rear diff breather and that doesnt seem clogged.

Tacoma Dude

If it were diff oil there'd be a VERY distinctive sickly sweet smell.
That's about all I can give you.

JoKEpLaYeR

Sounds like it's the axle seal. Brake fluid is still full and the description of the fluid sounds like gear lube.

kevin444

In a way it does smell like diff oil is has a aroma to it kinda like rotten milk or something.

kevin444

The puddle is gold in color

User 051420

Axle seal. I've replaced mine twice now. Guess what? Chances are you need new brake shoes, too.

kevin444

After comparing the puddle to brake fluid. The puddle seems thicker to the touch.

jimbo74

axle seal yo....

JoKEpLaYeR

Agreed. And with 2 weeks on those break shoes, you probably need new ones like GapGuy said.