Well first off I want to thank everyone on the board for great advice. I picked up a '96 CLEAN 4runner about a week ago. I took the advice from the board and it helped out alot in the search and decision making process!! Thanks again!

Now onto my question. I think I got a great deal on it. However, I had my local mechanic check it out and he said the main seal is leaking a little. He said it's common for vehicles with high mileage (148,000). I understand completely. He advised to leave it be until it became a real problem. He could replace the seal but said it'd probably start leaking again after some time. I know several users on the board have rigs with over 200k on them. Have you experienced this problem and what'd you do, if anything, to solve it?? Thanks to the board again. I'll post pics soon.

FYI - '96 4runner 2wd w/ mostly highway miles

Toyota --what a feelin!!

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.
click on the link here and you will find a solution to your problem
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...rear+main+seal

 

Is it the front main seal or the rear main seal that is leaking?

I have had experience with my front main seal leaking, and that was not too hard to fix. There is a procedure that uses a Speedi-Sleeve to make a new surface for the seal to ride against. You have to take some parts off the front of the engine.

If it is the rear main seal, that is a different story. It involves removing the transmission.

 

FireFighter---thanks for link. The info helped somewhat. The mecanic said it's the rear main seal. I'm not going to mess with it at the moment. Hopefully it will last awhile. I may try some of the "seal liquid" that is mentioned in the post that FireFighter sent.

For those of you that HAVE replaced the REAR main seal....did it fix the problem or did the leak come back after a few months? My mechanic thinks it will only last for awhile.

Thanks

 

"He could replace the seal but said it'd probably start leaking again after some time."



if he thinks it might only last awhile, hes not worth takin it to or doesnt want to do the work. its a JOB

 

WOW. My '86 pick up had 200,000 miles on the first engine with out the rear main going bad.
And I drove it HARD.... yeah.... hard to explain exactly how hard, but I wore out the trans @ 150,000 and had it rebuilt.

I beat that poor truck.

 

replaced one on a 22re once, best thing i ever did to that truck. bought a leaky slob, that made it all go away. put 80k on it before selling and was still oil tight.

what,your mechanic afraid to warranty his work, if it lasts the first 6-12 months it should be good to go, a new seal should give many many trouble free miles.