I have a 93 totota 4x4 and the front diff is leaking. It looks like a side seal on the passenger side is the culprit.

Has anyone done this before? is it a diificult job? Are there any special tools required?

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

It is leaking out the pumpkin (diff) or it is leaking out the axle by the tires? There are lots of possible culprits...all seals. With an older vehicle that you are going to work on yourself, investing in at least a Haynes or Chiltons manual is a good idea, but a FSM is the best.



Edit: Removed bad diagram as it was for a 96 4Runner.

 

Its definitely leaking out of the pumpkin where the passender side drive shaft connects to the diff.

 

Is the '93 front diff different than a '92? Because that doesn't look like the right differential...

 

Yeah, that's the wrong diagram, because it is shown as the front diff for a '92 as well... it looks like a 3rd gen front diff to me. The 2nd gen CV's bolt to a flange on the diff, not a c-clipped shaft... And they have a diff cover up front you can take off to get inside.

That's Autozone for ya...

 

That's a 3rd gen diff, the 2nd gens have the ADD shaft on the other side. Tikamonstr, it doesn't look like you need any special tools, just unbolt the cv axle, pull the side gear shaft and replace the seal. I can send you the relevant section from the FSM if you send me an email address. Or I can even send you the entire manual if you want.

 

Use this FSM:

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...onandaxle.html

 

The seal is Toyota part# 90311-35032. You have to pull the front cover to get the side out. I used a big screwdriver to pop the side out. FSM says to use a slide hammer type thing but the screwdriver worked fine for me.

This should look more like what you have. Unless it's ADD, but the seal is the same part#. The drivers side tube on the ADD has some kinda torx bit, non ADD is regular 17mm. Only special tool you might need, but that stuffs on the drives side anyway.

 

Excellent. Thanks for the information. About how much time will it take to chnage the seal?

 

I replaced the same seal a month or so ago. It wasn't too bad a job. The toughest part was actually working the diff out of place.

Unbolt your CV's, and slide them out of the way. This is actually a good time to replace the diff studs with bolts(make life easy). And unbolt the driveshaft and tie it up.

There are only 3 bolts holding the front diff in place. I needed a 4' breaker bar and 125psi on the Impact Gun to break the 2 main bolts.

Once everything was unbolted, the hard part began. The diff "just drops out" in theory, but it gets caught up pretty easy. So 3 people are actually nice to have. 1 to work the jack, and 2 to guide the diff out. I managed to get the diff out by myself...kind of letting it fall on my in the process...it hurt, I won't lie.

The stub shafts come out not too bad, slide hammer, some patience...or a chain hooked to the roof and the shaft(diff becomes a 40lb slide hammer).

Replacing the seal isn't tough either. I destroyed the old one getting it out(wrecker bar and swearing). But the new one goes in easy with a hammer and 2x4.

Putting the diff back in really does require mulitple people. But it's not tough, just the reverse.

As for time, budget yourself an afternoon, so 3-4hrs, longer if you stop for a wobby pop or 2 along the way.




IMPACT TOOLS MAKE EVERYTHING EASIER!!!

 

Is there a snap ring that holds the stub shat in place? i see it in the diagram. If there is one where is it located.

 

I asked the same thing, but when I pulled it apart I didn't find any clips on either shaft.

Considering the manaul says to pound out the axle anyways, I didn't worry about it, so I don't think you need to either.