Hey guys,

I came home from work tonight to discover a huge puddle of oil underneath my rear diff. The entire backside of the undercarriage is covered in oil (ugh) and there's a burning smell. The car is a 96 SR5 5spd 4x4 with e-Locker. I can only assume this is a leaking diff (hopefully not completely dead).

Advice? Thoughts? I don't have pics because it's dark out but I will do my best to get some tomorrow.

 

We need pics of where it's leaking from to give you advice.

 

Thanks for the response!

Here's the best I could do with my phone in sub 30 degree weather lol






Thanks again for any help.

 

Looks like it could be the differential flange or the pinion seal. But the fact that it's all over the whole axle has me stumped. How about a pic from the front of the axle?

I'd recommend not driving it until you get it fixed. You don't want the rear end bearings to starve.

 

Yeah, it is EVERYWHERE. The spare tire is absolutely drenched, the insides of both tires are soaked, and the diff itself is sopping oil. On top of that, oil is splattered EVERYWHERE on the rear end of the car.

I really appreciate the help/input. Definitely don't plan on driving it until it gets fixed. Thanks again!

 

looks to me like the air valve on top might of failed and when u last drove it built up too much pressure and pushed the oil out the seals, i would check the level, top it off, clean off the oil and take it for a short drive and stop every little bit to see if u can pin point where it is leaking.

 

Is it gear oil??

Was it at all possible you might have driven through something ? anything on the front as well??

highly unlikely .

It does look like it just blew out both seals and maybe the pinon seal as well what a mess.

 

I recently posted a thread about my rear diff leaking a ton of oil. I took the truck to a local shop only to find out that my rear diff is completely trashed apparently. He said he can move it side to side and it's not supposed to move at all.

The truck is a 5spd with rear diff locker. He quoted me a replacement diff with e-locker from a 4runner with 105,000 miles on it, with parts and labor for $960.00. Does this seem reasonable?

Thank you for any and all help!!

 

You find the rear diff and I'll do the swap for $200. But all fun aside, that sounds reasonable for a career and certified mechanic to do it.

 

Sounds like a decent price. Just make sure you put a new Pinion seal and new diff breather on while your in there.

Also, is he planning on putting in new axle seals?

 

Why does the axle housing in your pics have junk-yardish writing on it?


Andreas