Rear Axle Leak. Coming back after repair... (1 Viewer)

[FlightMedic178]

A few weeks ago after a long off-road/ heavily loaded trip I noticed my rear axle was spitting out a lot of rear diff gear oil coming out of the passenger rear. I checked the rear axle and it was a quart low. I filled it back up and a mechanic friend of mine replaced the passenger side rear axle seal. After a few days of driving remained dry. Today the commute took me about an hour longer than normal... I checked it and it was leaking again in the same spot

. Any ideas what could be the source? Possible fix?
For reference I’m driving a 2003 LX with 150k

 

[knewstance]

Throwing out ideas here, possibly a leaking brake line/caliper?

 

[trdcorolla]

There's a thread about someone replacing the seal with an aftermarket one a few times and it kept leaking. After trying a OEM seal, it stopped leaking.

 

[aging fleet]

I haven't seen much discussion about this with the 100 (maybe I just haven't been paying attention?), but based on the illustrations in the FSM, the only seals are the rear axle oil seal, o-ring, and outer rear axle oil seal. If it's gear oil making its way through, then they either aren't seated correctly, you still have a bad seal, or, as @trdcorolla said, you're having issues with non-OEM seal.

I tried a non-OEM oil seal on my front diff, it leaked until I replaced it with OEM.

 

[FlightMedic178]

Throwing out ideas here, possibly a leaking brake line/caliper?

The diff was a quart low after I recently topped it off. That and the brake fluid reservior being full led me to think it was diff fluid.

There's a thread about someone replacing the seal with an aftermarket one a few times and it kept leaking. After trying a OEM seal, it stopped leaking.

I’ll pickup an oem seal and try again.
Also heard I should check the diff breather to see if it’s clogged.
Thanks for all the replies guys!

 

[guardcompany]

Breather clogged?

 

[spressomon]

Plenty of threads for the searching...but short of that plan on having the outer axle rebuilt. To save some chinga, remove the axle assembly and take it in to a reputable Toyota dealer. The diff lube that is puking has passed through the sealed wheel bearing...and at the minimum contaminated the grease within said bearing.

You're wasting time & money by repeatedly installing new outer axle seals.

Then, if you're using syn diff lube, refill with dino such as Lucas or Schaeffer...and as above check to be sure your breather is actually breathing.

One of many threads that popped up when searching for "rear axle leak"...

Rear Axle Leaking

Noticed this last night while getting ready to install some ARB breathers. It's going in to the shop tomorrow to get checked out but just figured I'll see what Mud thinks. Based on searching it looks like possible axle seal (many great threads on that). It's interesting that I'm getting a bit of...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[flintknapper]

Breather clogged?

This.

 

[f5driver]

Both rear seals leaked on mine. Repaired at a reputable dealership. The repairs didn’t take. Multiple times the leaks would return on the drive home. I finally suggested they anchor the seals in with FIPG. That did the trick.

 

[krosnovski]

I need to get the rear axle seals changed on mine as well. I didn't notice any drips or leaks per say in the garage the drums or the hubs on which the rear wheels are mounted started showing rust. Took it to the shop and they are saying that the real axle seals need replacing. This had been going on for some time , and I think the brake drums and pads are thoroughly contaminated.

Should i just change the seals or more should be done here since I am afraid the leak has been there for some time? Advice/suggestions?

Both rear seals leaked on mine. Repaired at a reputable dealership. The repairs didn’t take. Multiple times the leaks would return on the drive home. I finally suggested they anchor the seals in with FIPG. That did the trick.

What's FIPG?

 

[flintknapper]

I need to get the rear axle seals changed on mine as well. I didn't notice any drips or leaks per say in the garage the drums or the hubs on which the rear wheels are mounted started showing rust. Took it to the shop and they are saying that the real axle seals need replacing. This had been going on for some time , and I think the brake drums and pads are thoroughly contaminated.

Should i just change the seals or more should be done here since I am afraid the leak has been there for some time? Advice/suggestions?



What's FIPG?

FIPG (Form In Place Gasket) AKA Silicone Sealant/RTV

 

[nissanh]

^ Are you sure they used oem oil seals? I have replaced many toyota rear axle seals and non leaked when oem is used. Never used fipg as there is no room to fill a gap. May be someone scrape/damage the inside wall of your axle while removing the old seal?

 

[Skidoo]

I used 3M weatherstrip glue to glue new Toyota outer seal in place. Until gluing it would back out as axle plate was tightened.
A number of folks here on forum have had failures soon after seal was replaced. The seal has very little retention force.
Mine has about 50K miles on it now.
I am not happy with the design, especially considering how hard seal is to get to.