Pinion seal fail on test-drive (1 Viewer)

[MrGB]

Hi all,

I test drove a '93 1FZ-FE today that was in good condition. During the test drive I put it into 4L for a quick roll forwards/back - everything seemed fine.

Once back at the seller's place I noticed an oil drip coming from the back of the front diff. (Pinion seal, perhaps?)

Any thoughts on what could cause the seal to fail?
Is there somewhere else it might be coming from?
Does the fact it likely hadn't been in 4L for while come into this?

Cheers for any thoughts.
Garry

 

[gnarlytoes]

It is full time 4 wheel drive. Being in low range or high range should have no effect on the pinion seal.

 

[I Lean]

OP is in Australia...so there's a good chance it was a part-time 4WD truck.

 

[Jgunner]

Mine developed a leak by surprise. When we took the yoke off i found it grooved. Replaced the seal and that worked, but when i regeared i replaced the yoke(had to go from 27-29 spline because of yukon gears) so i dont know how soon it would leak again.

 

[inkpot]

OP is in Australia...so there's a good chance it was a part-time 4WD truck.

Still should not make any difference. Could drip down from engine, also.

 

[BigAxeJack]

I've seen a plugged-up axle breather cause a pinion seal to leak.

 

[thatcabledude]

Maybe it’s been leaking and the seller did a good clean up job, and after your Thorough test drive it went back to what it’s been doing?

 

[auttiman]

It is full time 4 wheel drive. Being in low range or high range should have no effect on the pinion seal.

If anything it would leak more in high range due to it spinning faster.

OP the pinion seal is easy to replace.

 

[auttiman]

I've seen a plugged-up axle breather cause a pinion seal to leak.

^^^this^^^

There's a reason they go to all the trouble to put a vent tube with a check valve on it.

 

[ALX4X4]

And all FJZ's were constant 4x4. Only 1HZ and 3F had the part time. Mr T didnt want us having too much oversteer with petrol power. (3F is exclued as they had no power then, and even less now) Thats why the part time conversion has been so popular.

 

[ALX4X4]

Oh, and I got 12 months out of my gearset before stuffing them after replacing the pinion seal. Still had the factory crush to torque spec spacer, once you disturb it trying to replace the seal only, and it is easy, good luck getting the correct preload on an already pre-crushed spacer. Amount of turns to where it was doesn't always work. A year later I have a solid spacer and am poorer for a new cw&P :-(

 

[MrGB]

Cheers for all the replies -

The seller has offered to get the leak fixed, without necessarily knowing the cause, so i'll see what the result of that is.

My biggest concern is that the fix is temporary and I find out on the 1000km journey home.

 

[greentruck]

If replaced properly, it's a part unlikely to fail again for some time (presuming it's not simply a breather clog). Ordinary wear and tear can cause this after a quarter century. The only time I had a pinion seal problem was after dropping a 350 Chebby in my old FJ55. Lead foot will do that sort of thing with lots of xtra HP. Fixed right, they should last a long time.

 

[SuperDuperCruizer]

Rebuilt a differential and needed to replace the pinion flange. There was groove aligned to the original seal and a new seal wouldn’t have fixed the leak.

 

[Jgunner]

Btw, i do have a brand new seal that i cannot use. Came with my master install kit, but i went nitro gears who made the pinion bigger(and more splines) so the factory type will not work. I had to buy a new yoke as well, but my old one was gooved so i tossed it. Also have a new pinion nut too(not that you need that). Just mentioning it. I need to post them in the fs section.