Transfer Case leak question

[Fitzgerald]

Hello Gentleman,

My wife has a nice clean '05 Highlander with less then 70,000 miles on it.

At her last oil change, they mentioned the the seal at the transfer case was leaking/seeping. Toyota quoted 1800 for the job (which is obviously all labor), and we have a mechanic friend that will probably be able to to it for much less.

My question is, has anyone had any luck with any of the "stop leak" products on the market? There has not been any "dripping" of fluid and when I crawled under, it was just sort of wet. I was hoping to try and see if I had luck with one of those products (and then just keep a close eye on it) before we replace the seal.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[EricG]

Gear oil is what, about $7/quart - would have to be Valdez level leaking to spend that kind of money repairing it. I'd just drive it and put some cardboard under it in the garage if it starts dripping. I tried stop-leak stuff for a rear main in a car years ago - didn't seem to make any difference.

 

[Fitzgerald]

would have to be Valdez level leaking to spend that kind of money repairing it.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[black95]

Is it just leaking at the drive shaft yoke? Hose it down clean and try to pinpoint it exactly, unless Toyota has already said its the case halves leaking, I would rule that out. My transmission was leaking all over my driveway, I yanked out my transmission and transfercase just to find it was a broke vent line.

 

[black95]

Oh yeah, so called "stop leak" products just have chemicals in them that make rubber swell. It's like using windshield washer tubing in gasoline, if you've ever tried that. Might stop the leak, but it'll mess something else up. My life philosophy... "Don't treat the symptom, treat the problem."

 

[Springs505]

my wife also has an 05 highlander. had the same problem about 2 years ago. IIRC, the tcase seals against the transmission and was leaking from that seal. I washed and scrubbed the area very clean with brake cleaner and applied something...im thinking it was Permatex ultra grey RTV. I think I applied fairly liberally to the entire seam. No leaks in 2 years.

 

[Fitzgerald]

Thanks for the info guys.

I'll have to give the Permatex thing a shot before I drop $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

I grew up without health insurance, so I'm used to treating the symptom.