Front Differential Leak

[MN01]

I had an oil change performed by a Toyota dealer and they said I have leak coming from the front diff. on an 01 LC. Another local dealer changed the inner CV boots about 1500 miles ago. Is it likely or probable that the CV work may have caused the leak? Assuming it's a seal that is leaking, what's a fair price for the fix? The dealer that did the oil change quoted me $800?

Tomorrow I'm taking the rig to the dealer who performed the previous CV work. Any input from you guys would be appreciated.

Thank You,

Paul

 

[adrenalinefjz80]

You should check the diff breather first. You can replace the diff hose plus filter as that's the cheapest place to start.

 

[AimCOtaco]

If it's leaking at the CV outputs it's about $50 in seals to fix and not too bad a diy job. I would have liked to hear that the first dealer changed those seals as long as they had the CV's out. If the input is leaking it's a bigger job.

It is pretty easy to damage the output seals when installing or removing the CV's.

As suggested, check the breather. If the dealer servicing the CV's replaced some diff oil it could be pushing some oil past the seals especially if the breather is clogged.

 

[MN01]

Thanks for the info. I will try to update after the dealer looks at it in the morning.

 

[phyrus1]

Dealer looked at the vehicle and said both the front pinion and differential cover were leaking. Quoted me $522 for the cover seal and $286 for the pinion seal. The parts are fairly cheap, so it seems to be mostly labor costs in the estimate. My question is how much more labor is involved to do the pinion seal if they are already doing the cover?

I also asked them to check if the out-seals(where the CVs are connected) where changed when they did the inner CVs 1500 miles ago as well as why there was no evidence of the leak when they worked on the CVs? The dealer rep said she would call me back after talking to the original tech who did the CVs.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

That seems very high. But I guess it is a dealer. My local toyota service place wants $175 to remove the entire third member for differential install. That has to be more labor than just removing to replace the seal.

 

[jemsec]

When rebuilding my CV's I ended up with a leak on the passenger side. Thought I had set the seal too deep when installing. Took it apart, replaced the seal properly and the leak is gone. It's possible a seal is set too deep causing the leak. It's also possible to push the old seal in too deep when reinstalling the axle if not careful.

 

[OregonLC]

It's also possible to lose the spring off the seal lip just by wiping the surface clean.