Help! Fluid coming from rear axle.

I was pulling into my driveway after getting off a midshift from work and noticed a small puddle from where I was parked yesterday. Upon getting out and checking under the truck, I found (to my horror) that there was a strange milky like fluid leaking off my back axle.

Looks like something came undone after closer inspection


Seeing my truck leak its life juices makes me horrified. Any ideas as to what may be the problem and how to fix it? I would like to add that I did notice driving home from work that while in 3rd gear going about 25mph, the transmission felt like it disengaged but only for a second. There was the whole jerking motion going on but it only happpened once (and on a smooth road with my hand away from the shifter and foot away from the clutch. Oh, and one last thing... This happened the other day. Could this be the cause?


All and any help/advice is appreciated! Comments made on my stupidity are with the oversized puddle are welcome too

 

Yep, your diff took on a whole bunch of water. You've gotta drain it soon! Mud & water can wreac havoc in there. Here's a write-up on the diff. oil change: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/24545-changing-differential-fluid-step-step-how.html

 

that's where your differential breather valve is supposed to be (where the milky stuff is coming out) the milky stuff is water mixed with your gear oil. i would recommend getting a new valve, doing the differential breather mod (found in the Mod section), drain all the contaminated stuff out of the axle, refil with cheap gear oil, run for a day or two, then drain & refill with good quality gear oil. it will take at least two changes to get all the water/dirt outta the housing.

i would guess that the valve was missing before your puddle accident, letting the diff. fill with muck water. if you had the diff. breather mod done...you wouldn't have had this issue. the little valve that's mising allows for pressure changes in the axle housing when it heats up or cools down.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/15686-diff-breather-mod-dummies-pics.html

 

Ah, I had a feeling that might be what it was after remembering about the rear-diff breather mod (something Ill be doing ASAP). Is there any reccommended way to flush it to get all that mud out of it. It sat in that.... puddle for a good 2 hours before help arrived to pull me out (It was a chevy...pleh) Also, could that be a reason why I wasnt able to get out? Because the Rear-Diff locker didnt engage due to its recent mud bath?

 

Hey, thanks for the help with troubleshooting you too! But before I run out to Autozone to get the parts, should I be concerned about the front diff?

 

I would recommend changing all the fluids out. That muddy water could really cause some damage later on down the road if you don't replace it with clean/fresh oils. You're gonna want to probably take the front & rear brake components and clean them well too. It would also be a good idea to get under there and and greese all of the available greese fittings--Drive shaft, etc. As far as flushing the diff, best way is to just get some regular dino gear oil (to save on $) and, as stated above, do a fluid change. Then drive for a few miles and do an other one. I sunk a 1982 Toyota into the Sacramento river in 1990 and had to do this. Water even got into the engine . Drained all the fluids about three times and went and put 111k more miles on it! If you think water may have gotten into the engine, best thing you can do is remove the spark plugs and crank the engine over by hand to squirt the water out ove the cylinders. I think you'll be ok as long as you drain and refill all of the fluids (including tranny).

 

Oh wow, Alright, not a problem. Im unsure about how to do it so everything else may have to wait until tomarrow morning as thats when my weekend is. Its time I bleed the brakes too.

But as far as fluids go, Were lookin at the following:
Front/Rear Diff
Brake
Clutch
Transmission
Transfer Cse
Chassis Grease
Radiator
aswell as Engine oil?

Did I get everything? Power steering maybe? I want to make sure everything is all good. And to avoid doing this again on unscheduled intervals, is it a good idea to avoid water or were the trucks designed to be able to cross some?

 

May as well do it all just to be on the safe side.
There are lots of tutorials & write-ups on this site for all of this too. I'm just thinking along the lines of trying the best way you can to prevent any probs. later on down the road.

 

on the rear diff...aside from everything else....i'd drain/refill with a cheap diff oil....run it around for half an hour...then drain again, and put good gear oil back in...really clean it out good.

 

Alright, So after flushing it a few times and driving around, Im just about ready to put my final (for the next 15000 miles) round of gear oil. Ill probably go with mobil 1 synthetic as thats what everyone else seems to be using here on these forums. It runs fine for the most part. The only thing I have noticed is that the engine/tranny seems to slip in the morning the first few minutes Im driving. After that, its fine. Usually does it around less then 30mph.

I also got the piece from toyota to do the rear diff breather mod and will be driving on base to do that tomarrow since they have a garage w/ tools I can use. Thanks again to everyone for the help. Ive been busy with work lately, but Its nice to know I can always come here for help when I do something stupid. =D

 

Although looking at this picture again makes me believe that I couldve gotten out of there fine had I known what I was doing. I have a rear locker but as you can see the lack of mud on the tires, It doesnt look like I had it engaged. Come to think about it, all the locker indication light did was blink. Looks like Im an idiot! Also, I never did think to use the clutch cancel start button to try and get out. Im tempted to go back to that puddle (but wont.. this has been a pain). Read up on some threads about how to engage the locker and now I wont be an idiot.. Kinda dissapointed though that it takes soo much effort to engage it.

 

as for the tranny slipping........what tranny you got......manual or auto?

 

5 Speed Manual

 

ah. when is the last time you changed the tranny fluid? may be a good time to switch to some synthetic if you havent done so already.

 

That is on the list still to do. I plan on going in tomarrow and changing all of my fluids on base. to synthetic. I dont know if thats the original clutch on there either. I guess Ill wait and see if it acts up tuesday morning.

 

good plan.