Rear Diff Leaking...
 

I haven't visited for awhile, but I'm back on track with getting my truck finished b4 winter. Excuse my lack of proper names here, but my rear differential is leaking from the seal that is on the end where the drive shaft meets the diff. I have already purchased the seal, but I'm not sure how to replace it. Can I drop the drive shaft and replace it by losening the big nut and pulling parts or do I have to pull the differential out to get to it?

In case it matters: 87 P/U, 22R, Manual Tranny.

Thanks in advace.
Dave

to others, am I correct to say this is the rear pinion seal?

If so there seems to be a writeup here
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...eal/index.html

That is the one. Thank you!

yep, it indeed is called the pinion seal

[threadjack on]


i just found that mine is leaking too, but it looks like it is leaking around the housing and the axel. is this a possibility...i will post pics soon

Well, I took to this task today and found out I was sold the wrong part a few months ago when I found it was first leaking. No biggie, I was able to pick the seal up at the parts store for less than 10 bucks. I also picked up a seal puller for 3.99 which was worth every penny.

If anyone reads this thread in attempt to work on theirs, following the link posted above was great. I only have one comment that may help. A 50mm socket is not in my tool box to install the seal and may not be in yours either. After searching for something to use, the best thing I could find was the flange itself (removed in steps 2 and 3). Find a rubber mallet like mentioned in the article, flip the flange the oppisite way that it is supposed to be installed (so the flat part that bolts to the drive shaft is now flush with the new seal) and tap on the end of the flange. The perfectly flat surface slowly and evenly slides the new seal in place and the rubber mallet does not hurt the flange.

yeah time for new, the breather breathes the pressure, and if its not letting you blow through, then its toast... hmm i need to go check mine too

Thanks....I edited my post just before you replied because I found the info somewhere else. I think I'll just go to Toyota for this part. It can't be that much.

this thread rocks!!! thanks for the hints...about how long did it take you?

shouldnt take much more than half an hour to do that job.

lee

i was quoted $325 to replace my pinion seal. i thought it was a bigger job??? i guess the mechanic is just a crook

dont say that. unless you took it elsewhere for another quote. they bill by the book. ill look it up at work tommorow.

since you have to drop your drive shaft, you might as well replace the nuts, bolts & washers. if you dont have new ones, youll mess up at least one 'set' and youll have to jury rig something until you can get the replacements. use a little heat on them and they should come apart easier.

lee

I tried this repair a couple of weekends ago when it was a little warmer.

I could not remove the nut that holds the companion flnge. The nut was installed too well.:bang:

Does anybody have any suggestions how to remove it. I tried a small cold chisel without sucess. I plan on borrowing a dremel tool next to cut or weaken the dimple on the nut so I can get it off.

I plan on paying attention to how many turns it takes to remove and I will reinstall a new nut accordingly. I hope to get lucky and not replace the spacer and bearing.

Any advice on the nut removal?

Make that a 30mm socket, just don't want nobody to come back here and give ya any grief, when they went and bought a 50mm. Other than that, nice write-up!:great:

I would suggest that you make every reasonable attempt to pry out that indentation first. Then put the torch to the sucker. I use a regular, screw to the bottle top, bernzomatic propane unit. If some screwball put some threadlocker on that nut, this will be the only route to get it off, aside from an impact driver. I can almost promise ya the torch will get it a movin', when you get it hot enough.:hillbill:

I ended up dremeling off some of the indentation. It came off fairly easy after that.

The drive shaft was loctited the first time I took it apart so I was expecting more to be loctited as well. The nut was not though.

The seal may have been loctited but I don't think so, the back surface was rusted so I think the rust that seaped into the outer edge was giving me problems removing it. I ended up going to Harbor Freight and buying a small three jaw puller set. It was still pretty large for the application. I dissassembled the jaws and stuck them in sideways (the thin way) 120 degrees apart then oriented them so I could reassemble the puller. It was a difficult precess but once I got it out the rest went well.

I installed a new companion flange as well. It was about $82. The old companion flange already had two grooves worn it so I didn't want to risk it leaking.

I noticed the seal I removed was not the same as the one I got from the dealershp. The back surface was rusted. The factory seal had some kind of rubberized coating so It may not rust like the other one.

It looks like the leaking stopped. Now I am down to one sheet of cardboard under my 4runner.:guitar: