Grease in my front diff (1 Viewer)

[084runnerltd]

hi all, changing over the front diff to synthetic today and there appeared to be grease in the front diff.

Saw it on the drain plug.

Then when I filled it will oil, I only got about 1.5qts in, I think it calls for 2qts...??

What is leaking that I need to fix??

 

[gpxl]

Sounds like metal shavings on your magnetic drain plug. How did the old oil look?

 

[084runnerltd]

Sounds like metal shavings on your magnetic drain plug. How did the old oil look?

Oil looked fine, darker than new oil, but looked normal.

I did not see any metal shavings, it was straight up grease....

 

[Trunk Monkey]

No place for grease to get in from the knuckles/hubs. I'd do the drain and refill and check it again in a month or two.

 

[planomateo]

My front holds 1.7qts.

Did you take any pics?

 

[084runnerltd]

My front holds 1.7qts.

Did you take any pics?

I didn't take pics, but I have the rag that I cleaned the drain plug off with....it looked just like the amsoil grease I just pumped into the zerks.

Another, maybe strange, maybe just a model year thing, but everything I read stated that the front diff used a copper washer on the drain plug. I ordered all of the washers, however, the drain plug had a standard crush washer on it and the copper washer was way to big too fit.

I will see what evidence I still have in the garage and post some pics...

 

[084runnerltd]

No place for grease to get in from the knuckles/hubs. I'd do the drain and refill and check it again in a month or two.

Thanks, good to know, I know this is a different setup than the 80, but I remember having to replace some seals on my 80 series due to this sort of leak.

 

[planomateo]

Maybe previous owner did something weird.

Reaching here...I had to replace an inner seal in an 07LC and I put grease on my axle when I slid it in. Could be something similar.

 

[084runnerltd]

Maybe previous owner did something weird.

Reaching here...I had to replace an inner seal in an 07LC and I put grease on my axle when I slid it in. Could be something similar.

Good point.

I am gonna replace the fluid in another month or so, as previously recommended, and hopefully that resolves it.

I found my rag, however it was the same rag that I used when greasing the drivetrain, so I am not sure pics of the rag will help.

(I know what you all are thinking....but the grease-looking material I saw, was 100% in the front diff, and not the result of cross contamination on my rag...ok well I can say I am 99.9% sure)

I will definitely take some pics when I swap out the fluid from the diff, in a month or so.

 

[TheForger]

Could it possibly be verrry old oil that has congealed? Possibly due to lack of servicing or contamination? It may have gotten firm and stuck to the inside of the diff which could be why you missed a few tenths of a quart when you drained it.

 

[084runnerltd]

Yes that is a possibility, it had the consistency of grease, but I guess that can happen to oil if it is 220k miles old

I do have some records of past fluid changes but I don't think any of them show the front diff being changed in the last 100k...

 

[duggy]

It's not grease. It's a mix of old metal shavings and oil that has married into a sludge consistency. No issues to be concerned about here.

 

[084runnerltd]

It's not grease. It's a mix of old metal shavings and oil that has married into a sludge consistency. No issues to be concerned about here.

Thanks, on a 1k mile road trip now, gonna swap out the fluid when I get back home.

Why did I fill it with Amsoil, do'h!

 

[Spike555]

Why did I fill it with Amsoil, do'h!

I learned that lesson a long time ago lol!!!
Switched my Discovery diffs and t-case over to full syn gear oil, went wading, got water in the diffs, had to drain out $100 worth of gear oil.
After that, El Cheapo gear oil changed once a year and never had any wear or driveability problems.

 

[084runnerltd]

I should have learned that, as I had the same thing happen shortly after switching my 80 to synthetic...

Got stuck here for a few hours....I am definitely a slow learner

 

[Spike555]

Better to learn slow than not at all right?

That definetly hurt draining out that gear oil.
Tractor Supply brand after that, took 7qts, $12/gal...I didn't care if I drained it out. But then of course I had fixed my water ingress issue and never had water in anything after that even though I waded frequently.
But still, I felt better knowing it wasn't real money being drained.

 

[abuck99]

SYN or NON-SYN Be sure to choose a gear oil that is API-GL5 rated. Front doesn't require slip additive, but it won't make any difference if you use it if you are trying to use one lube for all 3 applications (like M1 75-90 with LS). The part No.# the fill and drain plug gaskets is 12157-10010 which fits the front and rear diff you can get a 10 pack on amazon for $12.50 Amazon.com: 10 Toyota Oil Drain Plug Crushable Steel Gaskets Clipsandfasteners Inc: Automotive. The Transfer Case drain and fill plug gaskets are: 90430A0003

From the FSM

FRONT DIFFERENTIAL FILL WITH HYPOID GEAR OIL
Torque: 49 N·m (500 kgf·cm, 36 ft·lbf)
Oil type: Hypoid gear oil API GL-5
Drain & Fill plug gasket is 12157-10010
Recommended oil viscosity:
Above -18°C (0°F) SAE 90
Below -18°C (0°F) SAE 80W-90 or 80W
Capacity: 1.70 liters (1.80 US qts, 1.50 lmp.qts)


REAR DIFFERENTIAL FILL WITH HYPOID GEAR OIL
Torque: 49 N·m (500 kgf·cm, 36 ft·lbf)
Drain & Fill plug gasket is 12157-10010
Oil type:
w/o LSD: Hypoid gear oil API GL-5
w/ LSD: Hypoid gear oil LSD API GL-5
Recommended oil viscosity:
Above -18°C (0°F) SAE 90
Below -18°C (0°F) SAE 80W-90 or 80W
Capacity:
w/ Diff. Lock: 3.20 liters (3.38 US qts, 2.82 lmp.qts)
Others: 3.30 liters (3.49 US qts, 2.90 lmp.qts)


TRANSFER CASE OIL
Oil grade: API GL-4 or GL-5
Viscosity: SAE 75 W-90
Capacity: 1.3 liters (1.4 US qts, 1.1 lmp. qts)
Torque: 37 N·m (380 kgf·cm, 27 ft·lbf)
Drain & Fill plug gasket is 90430A0003 (supersedes 90430-18008)

 

[TheForger]

SYN or NON-SYN Be sure to choose a gear oil that is API-GL5 rated. Front doesn't require slip additive, but it won't make any difference if you use it if you are trying to use one lube for all 3 applications (like M1 75-90 with LS). The part No.# the fill and drain plug gaskets is 12157-10010 you can get a 10 pack on amazon for $12.50 Amazon.com: 10 Toyota Oil Drain Plug Crushable Steel Gaskets Clipsandfasteners Inc: Automotive

From the FSM

FRONT DIFFERENTIAL FILL WITH HYPOID GEAR OIL
Torque: 49 N·m (500 kgf·cm, 36 ft·lbf)
Oil type: Hypoid gear oil API GL-5

Recommended oil viscosity:
Above -18°C (0°F) SAE 90
Below -18°C (0°F) SAE 80W-90 or 80W
Capacity: 1.70 liters (1.80 US qts, 1.50 lmp.qts)


REAR DIFFERENTIAL FILL WITH HYPOID GEAR OIL
Torque: 49 N·m (500 kgf·cm, 36 ft·lbf)
Oil type:
w/o LSD: Hypoid gear oil API GL-5
w/ LSD: Hypoid gear oil LSD API GL-5
Recommended oil viscosity:
Above -18°C (0°F) SAE 90
Below -18°C (0°F) SAE 80W-90 or 80W
Capacity:
w/ Diff. Lock: 3.20 liters (3.38 US qts, 2.82 lmp.qts)
Others: 3.30 liters (3.49 US qts, 2.90 lmp.qts)


TRANSFER CASE OIL
Oil grade: API GL-4 or GL-5
Viscosity: SAE 75 W-90
Capacity: 1.3 liters (1.4 US qts, 1.1 lmp. qts)
Torque: 37 N·m (380 kgf·cm, 27 ft·lbf)

Very nice summary thank you for putting that together, I've been hunting for something like that as I will be draining & filling every fluid in the near future. Just out of curiousity, aren't the drain and fill plug gaskets different between the diffs and t-case? I've heard of crush washers being used for the rear diff (drain & fill holes) and the front diff (fill hole only), copper washers for the front diff (drain hole only), and aluminum washers for the transfer case. I'm not sure if it is that big of a deal but have you confirmed that those crush washers work on everything?

 

[abuck99]

^ @TheForger The Transfer Case fill & drain plug gaskets are different than the diffs. Part no. is 90430A0003.

I have edited and clarified that in my earlier post so there is no confusion. Thanks for bringing that up.