FJ62: diff leak and transfer case leak (1 Viewer)

[torpedo51]

After I park the car, I get a palm sized puddle under the rear diff and under the transfer case. They aren't continuous leaks, they dry up after a few days.

What sort of repair am I looking at here, about how much should I expect to pay, and which shop local to me is trustworthy?

Thanks
Tim

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Rear t-case seal is easy. That should not be expensive and you can do it yourself.

The rear pinion leak will be expensive. What happens is the smaller front pinion bearing wears out, the pinion bearing pre-load gets loose, the pinion has a bit of slop and that makes the seal leak. You likely need a differential rebuild with new bearings and a new seal. It's going to be expensive, because you have to pull the axles, then pull the differential, then have it rebuilt and then put it back together. Lots of labor involved. Rough costs for differential work:

Bearing/seal kit $150
Labor $300 roughly

Plus the labor to take it apart and put the axle together $500 give or take
Plus 4 quarts of gear oil! $30



Read through some differential rebuilds on the ZUK site to know what's involved:

Gear Install Harrop

This is a good representative install from awhile back:

ARB RD33 landcruiser

That's @Spike Strip 's truck and install, you can ask him how it's held up!

Ken (ZUK) is a real pro, does great work, and is fun to work with. He'd be your guy to rebuild your differential.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

If the tcase is leaking rhe fluid could be running down the drive shaft and making it look like the diff is leaking. Chalk the tires on flat ground put in neutral and see if there is any play at the tcase and the differential.

 

[Willard]

IF your adventurous and have a few small needed tools you can do the rear diff yourself.
I did my bronco a many a moon ago. Changed all the bearings out including the axle bearings.

3 tools that are a MUST
1. a dial gauge with a magnetic base
2. A bearing separator/ bearing Splitter
3. an inch lbs bar or dial type torque wrench (pinion preload)

Yes it can be done. If you take your time you can rebuild your own gears. Otherwise send it to a shop. Here in VA I just had it quoted at close to $600 complete and that was me pulling out the diff.

If you afraid of doing this (doing it wrong could be catastrophic), then send it to a shop. I will end up doing mine again.
But then I am crazy since I am getting EPA certified just so I can do my own R12.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

do the Tcase yourself, and remove the rear third and ship it to Georg. grey gear oil RTV is your friend. use it on the splines of both cases; some bolts go thru the case and should be coated in sealer, so pay attention to that as well. Have Georg send you an axle kit so when you reinstall the rebuilt third into your housing, you can also do the bearings and seals for the axles and you won't need to get back in there for a looooong time. I used regular gear oil for my first fill to verify there were no leaks, then after a 1000 miles, I changed it to the mobile 1 synthetic gear oil. I'm prolly due for a change on that by now come to think of it...Thanks for the reminder!///HTH... oh yeah, have a driveshaft shop replace the ujoints with QUALITY ujoints and balance the shaft. After you wrap this project, start saving to do the front diff and steering knuckles and wheel bearings and front brakes; all of those should be addressed at the same time BTW, unless you like buying and scraping gaskets.

 

[slomoe]

could just try replacing the diff seal. there are threads (the machinist posted one). might luck out.

 

[60Works]

A palm sized gear oil puddle doesn't evaporate in a couple of days. You are sure it's oil leaking?

Pinion seals generally start leaking because something has gone wrong in the diff. Replacing just the seal will only buy you time.

Recommend you post pictures for better diagnosis.

 

[torpedo51]

After further inspection...
Puddle 1 appears to be fuel coming from 2 "u-shaped" hoses on the bottom of the tank (?).
Puddle 2 appears to be normal ATF fluid - I'm saying that because it slips in drive for a second when I first start it up and drive away... and then its fine. I'll check the ATF level this arvo when I can warm it up fully.

Pictures to follow

 

[torpedo51]

 

[houstonfj40]

first pic is your rear heater hoses, would be coolant, not fuel. Second looks like coming from a TC seal. It may be coming from a number of places and running along that skid plate, could be coming from further in front and hitting TC while driving. Is it ATF or gear oil?

 

[torpedo51]

Its red ATF. I talked to the guys at TLC today by phone. They said that a typical failure here is a "chevron seal" between the transmission and transfer case... allowing ATF to flow into the transfer case. Apparently it has no place to go but out, and it finds a way. They advised that this problem is typical within the 185-220k milage range, and that the worst case scenario is $5200 for total rebuild of both units. I'm stinging.

I'm wondering if the last joker filled the transfer case with ATF by mistake... and I suppose that I can find out when I have time to get dirty.

I'm just now learning that parts and cores are less plentiful and more costly than say, a GM muscle car. I'd hate to find a swap unit that also had this problem or is likely to develop the problem.

I'm looking for consistent opinions, and additional approaches. What are your thoughts?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Don't give up that easy.

You have nothing to loose by cleaning everything up (so you can really see leaks) draining the t-case to see what's up and refill with gear oil. It might be fine, or you might need new seals.

$5200 is a joke. Have a decent shop drop the t-case, replace the seals and put it back together. I can't see that being more than $500 or so. And since the Tcase basically has to come apart anyway, you can toss in a rebuild kit to get it back together for another $250.

But if you're really looking at a complete rebuild, for that $$ you can have a new H55f installed for that kind of $.

The thing that really goes bad on these at high miles is the transmission output shaft splines. which ruins both the tranny output shaft and the input gear. There is a fix for this too, but you'll need some help from a Land Cruiser shop.

 

[houstonfj40]

I had tcase and most of auto rebuilt for $1500. Did overdrive frictions and a few other parts. I supplied the kit. There were so me pets purchased in that total also.

 

[torpedo51]

Don't give up that easy.

Good advice.

I bought the seal for $12 and a few other items for the idler shaft that goes between the xfer case and trans. The idea is that I can lower the the assembly just enough to remove half of the transfer case... pop the idler shaft out, put on the replacement parts, and put it all back.

Two potential problems:
1. how do I lower all of this stuff without removing it?
2. how do I replace the idler shaft if it is grooved under the seal (the part is discontinued)