2018 leaking rear diff

Cheers. I think I was most startled by the grease patch on the right side of the photo, closest to the shaft.

 

My update on this subject:
I reported my concerns with corporate, they acted on it.
I took my truck to another dealer, got a rental for the day. They who cleaned it and and ran it for 1 mile.
They say is is bone dry, and it shows in the new pics. Someone mentioned it being assembly grease drying out, I would be very happy with that root cause, since I really don't want them to pull my diff. apart.
So I am now documented in the owner data base with Toyota and will now monitor it.
Note all the dealer did was cleaned the oil and ran for 1 mile.

Before 10150 miles


After 10345 miles

It's ok to be a little paranoid, when you pay 50K for a truck.
I'm sure open forums like TW and social media are every car maker worse nightmare. Good luck all.

 

Oh gesh, sorry. I only looked at the tiny spot on the cover in back like everyone else’s, and originally saw it while outside so it was hard to see too.

Your input seal does look worse, bit its not dripping in your driveway, blowing back all over the differential, or spun all over the bottom of the truck above the driveshaft, right? It should be fine until you get home still, I would take that in though. Again, sorry for missing that one!

 

Don’t be sorry. Ugh. This will be the sixth time I’ve taken this truck in, unrelated to this. It is not dripping in the driveway as far as I know. I have it parked on concrete here until Friday so I’m gonna take a look to see if anything drips. I don’t think it’s sprayed anywhere.

 

Still dry, so I think we are good.

 

I just went out to check my 2018 TRD OR with 15,500mi and my rear diff looks almost the same as this. Except my seepage spots don’t look nearly as fresh as these do. I cleaned off with brake cleaner to see if it’s something from the factory or what, it looked about that old.

 

Does this "assembly grease" theory hold any water, or are people just grasping at straws? lol

To me, I'd say it's most likely just a tiny bit of seeping occurring with each thermal cycle and as the unit flexes and vibrates while driving. As long as it doesn't start looking wet or forming droplets, it's nothing to be concerned with IMO.

 

Here is mine at 29k miles. Dealer said improper install from factory. Replace diff seal and axle seals.

 

2019 with 3,500 miles...

 

I have money on this one that the dealer tells you its seepage and its normal of the truck...

 

My 2018 with 15,000 miles ...

 

Dangit, i got same weepage of rear diff on 2018 with 10,500 miles.

 

I'm so tired of hearing all this about leaking differentials, if it is take it in. I cleaned mine off and it looks perfectly fine. I believe it's something that's on there from when it was built and when the differential heats up.

 

I agree. I had my dif look just like that with 5k miles and seems like every winter it’s not as noticeable, but in the summer come out more. Now with 51k miles, I never lost a drop and just changed my oil there and it actually looked very good. I honestly don’t care anymore. I will when I see oil drops on my garage floor, until then, I am good. Btw, changed to amsoil and feel like it helped a bit. May be just me..

 

my 2006 would throw 90wt oil all over the inside of the brakes by leaking out of the ends. It started around 30K , I kept doing it till the day I sold it , 2017. ,There was a fix for it but I could not do it alone and never took the time to get it fixed.
If you have warannty for that take it IN.

 

My fellow tacoma bretheren I am in need of your input. I've been in and out of the dealership with a "weeping" rear diff more times than I can count. They have replaced the seal once and all the other times I have gone in with the exact same issue they have claimed there is no problem but just cleaned it off (even though they admitted once it was a leak) and sent me on my way. The dealership has once again admitted there is a problem and to fix it they are going to replace the entire diff. My question is, should I trust them to do this extensive amount of work and risk them messing something else up or live with a weeping diff? I've also had a pretty bad "howl" and was wondering if the new diff would fix that as well. Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks.

 

They replace the entire third member as one piece, so they can't really screw it up.

If it's howling I would certainly get it changed. If it wasn't howling I would live with the sweating seal.

 

It’s not residue from the factory.

The dealer replaced my leaking rear dif gasket at 3,000 miles. It was dry after that for about a year and a half.
It’s seeping again, but at least it’s not wet like before.
I just cleaned it up yesterday at 17,200 miles, snugged up the nuts and will keep an eye on it.

 

I would think this would have gotten better. I bought my 2016 trd or 4x4 in Feb 16 . It was a thing back then but mine has been dry with 83k on it . I've been watching since new and am frequently under the truck . Maybe it's time adding to the cases but it seems like it's getting worse instead of getting better.

 

I had my truck undercoated so idk how ill be able to check if its leaking..