Oil leak on front diff.

[wobbly]

Hi all,

Been doing an oil/filter service on the truck today in preparation for our Portugal trip.

On the nearside front, there is an oil leak on the diff end of the inner cv joint. Im guessing there is an oil seal where the inner cv joint connects to the front diff?

Cheers

Pete

 

[J66P]

yep available from Milners for about a fiver

 

[wobbly]

Cheers.

Think I will get the Toyota one, might even get the garage to do the job as I am quite close to going and have a bit of work on before I go.

Pete

 

[AndyCook]

Had to replace that seal twice before. definitely use a Toyota seal, milners ones often seem to leak after a while
it is a bit of a pain to change, because you need to pull the drive-shaft out - which means unbolting the wishbone (either top one by removing long bolt - which means removing a battery too) - or remove the 4 bolts that attach lower wishbone to hub
. you will also need a new snap-ring on the driveshaft.
check the diff breather isnt blocked as well.

 

[wobbly]

Do you have a part number for it, sorry for asking but am away from home and toyodiy at the moment!

Cheers

Pete

 

[AndyCook]

Hi
off Toyo DIY:
snap ring =

43411C	RING, SHAFT SNAP (FOR FRONT DRIVE INNER SHAFT OUTER)
90521-29002

seal - different part numbers for LH and RH sides

41304P	SEAL, OIL (FOR DIFFERENTIAL SIDE GEAR SHAFT)
90311-47010	RH	1	€ 27.61
90311-47011	LH	1	€ 19.31

cheers
Andy

 

[wobbly]

Thanks for that.

Mine is a prado so slightly different front diff I guess, but Ive spoken to Mr T and they have a LH one in stock, its a different part number but they have used the prado schematic.

Cheers

Pete

 

[wobbly]

Ok, picked up the l/h seal from Mr.T, cost £17.00 inc vat.

Milners is £4.50 plus vat and postage, so about £11.00. They do say its genuine Toyots, but as they dont have any in stock, and I need one for Portugal, got the expensive one.....

Part numbers difference.....Toyotas current schematic is slightly different to Toyodiy - every other part number is identical, except the two seals! It says refer to a chart, apparently this is because these seals are also used on a current Hi-lux.

The left hand part number now is 90311-47012, and the right hand one is 90311-47013.


Took the truck down to a garage as I need the brakes pressure bled (cant do brake bleeding!) and the guy had a look at the leak. He reckons its a weep rather than a leak, so suggested I clean it up with thinners, then he will check it on Thursday when its in for the brakes - fresh oil will encourage me to do it straightaway.

Decided to change the diff-oil anyway, jeez, what a palaver! The back end was really easy, the front end meant removing the two skid plates, getting in to the fill hole, dropping oil on my parents drive......to refill I ran a clear tube down from the engine bay and used 1 litre containers, found it took about 1.6litre.

I had some LS Diff oil left from the rear, so topped that up with about 200ml of normal diff oil - think this is ok as LS seems to be the same oil with an additive which the front diff doesnt actually need.

The oil that came out was very dark, and I think the change has been worth it. When I did the rear the oil looked brand new still, whereas this looks like it hasnt been changed for a while - possibly because the front diff isnt under a lot of strain and also possibly because its a pig to get to.....

I need a workshop, with a lift, and lots of tools, and a Pirelli calendar....

Cheers

Pete

 

[fridayman]

1.6l seems like quite a lot. You may have ended up with about half a litre on the drive... Because the fill plug is in such an awkward place, I bought a plastic pump attached to a 1L bottle (a bit like the garden sprayer pumps). The pump has a tube with a metal U on the end, which I hook into the filler. This works much easier than tubes through the engine bay or the large syringe type pumps, and I can see exactly how much goes in. I also use this pump for the rear diff and transfer case.

Like this one - http://supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Tom-Thumb-Pump-Utility-1-Litre/284708

 

[wobbly]

Yep, that can sit on the metal workbench, underneath the Pirelli calendar....

 

[Bounder]

Its been my experience that the front diff get largely ignored, probably because its a pain to get to and fill.
My seal also leaked and ended up costing me a front diff.

 

[J66P]

I have dropped the oil out of mine today following my seal leaking and hey presto lumps of metal fell out, think I have broke a tooth somewhere in there

 

[wobbly]

How bad was the leak?

Its going in for the brakes on Thurs, will recheck it then and look for fresh oil.

Mine is a Prado so doesnt have a locking front diff, think its just an open diff, and there was still 1.5 litre of oil in there.

 

[J66P]

mine was literally just weeping but given that I was doing all the ball joints and CV's I thought it may as well be done, none of the models have a locking front diff they are all open unless fitted with an ARB or the likes, 1.5 sounds alright to me

 

[wobbly]

I checked the old oil and magnet for swarf, no sign.

Ive checked the area again this morning, obviously a weep there, but when I put my finger across it there is no oil coming off.

Going in tomorrow, have a seal, but may leave it until I get back from Portugal and my normal garage have time to do the job - chap Im using tomorrow is new to me, so thought I would get him to do some simple work on the brakes before trying him out on something important.....

I thought Colorados had a locking diff, maybe its just the rear one? (possibly Im confusing that with UK spec 80's and their 3 diff locks)

Pete

 

[AndyCook]

i would not risk driving to Portugal with it like that - could potentially cause a lot of greif

uk colorados only have a rear differential lock

 

[wobbly]

I know what you mean.

Its not just oil coming out, its water getting in is a concern.

Will have a good look on Thursday, see if its any worse.

Pete

 

[wobbly]

Garage replaced the seal for me, he reckons the os will need doing as well, its not as bad so will have to wait a fortnight.

He refilled the diff with semi-synthetic 75w90, rather than 80w90 mineral, I thought the diff slightly noisier, but hard to tell definitely.

He reckons the brake fluid is very old, loads of black crud in it, water he thinks, so he flushed it all out, interestingly the brakes feel the same !

They also put some grease inbthe uj's which were bone dry.

Total bill was £106 which I thought was good.

Pete

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Naughty boy .

Water in the brake fluid promotes rusting in the master cylinder. calipers and wheel cylinders. It also lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid so that heavy or prolonged braking can lead to sudden pedal loss as the fluid turns to steam.

Roger

 

[wobbly]

I didnt put it in there on purpose

I do check it and the level has always been ok, will change it every 3 years from now on.

Cheers

Pete