Rear diff leak..again

Yesterday, I called the service department of my dealer. Service guy looked my truck up and it is not on a recall or TSB since it is an OR with the larger axles/diff. He said to bring it in anyway and he would check it out. I have an appointment today. We will see how it goes.

 

They aren't stripped and they aren't breaking. And if they did then I'll have to do what? Same thing all these new 3rd gen ones are doing, getting another rear end. So. Maybe it'll be an oem locker instead. At least I have gotten close to 200k out of mine instead of 10k or less. Hand tightened with normal 3/8 drive wratchet, no 3ft breakover bar utilized, they'll be fine. After 40 yrs of wrenching on shit you kinda get the feel for these things. 35ft lbs for the leaf ubolts is ridiculous too, tighten dem bitches............now for head bolts, I'll break out the torque wrench and go with spec..........no tiss how aye didunt geaux awl spayulling popo on yoor post?

 

My truck is currently at the dealer (Cobb County Toyota). The service guy (David) called saying it was ready for pickup. He also advised that there was nothing wrong with my differential. My differential was not wet or leaking but had the same stains on it as shown throughout this thread. Because my truck is an OR and the VIN isnt bringing up a recall or TSB there is nothing they can do with it. I spoke to David's boss Todd and he advised the same thing.

Long story short is the dealer says there isn't an issue and wont work on it since Toyota says VIN is not affected.

 

It still fits under seat in storage, it just has more lift. The old one had 2 sleeves and new has 3 to increase height

 

My vin was not on a list either but, it seeped in 3 places and now the front seal leaking. Keep those photos and your service ticket and get under and look every so often. If it gets worse, I’d be back with photos and prior documentation. I was not on the 3rd brake light leak list and the ac blower list either and all have failed.

 

Update...Finally got in the ac blower and the rear diff seals. Scheduled service last Monday with the 2019 loaner for 24 hours. Drove the 2019 all day and did notice the better response all the way around. Tranny did need to be learned but overall the same truck. Picked mine up Tuesday and going clean all the seep weep drip stains so I can monitor.

 

Hey guys, sorry to bump an old thread. Just noticed some "seepage" from my rear diff. Seems like the consensus is to re torque.
2017 25.5K miles
Powertrain is 60K though right?

 

Yeah, mines been weeping for a while. Had it replaced at around 25k, now at 37k... It's at it again... So bad it's across the whole rear axle.

 

Just seal it with some RTV. Super easy fix. If it's just a wet spot, leave it be. Doesn't affect anything.

 

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking. I'll never know if mine is actually leaking, do to that.

 

You mean run a bead along the outside of the housing and call it good? Or take it off, drain the gear oil and replace it, scrape the old gasket off, and then put the new RTV on?

 

I have a 2016 and it’s been in twice for seepage too much for my liking. Second time became a minor drip it was soo bad. I hope it’s a fix now. Son bought a 2017 preowned and his seeped and not on the VIN list. Had the first fix and it seeped again. He did the RVT thing and one day pulling his utility trailer, he blew out his gears and now in a big issue cause they won’t touch it cause he altered a fix, RVT. They said he had low diff oil.
Take it in!

 

Not putting RTV on shit lol, Am I correct that power train warranty should cover this? I'm at 25,500 miles but 36 months has passed long ago.
Planning on calling on Tuesday to let them know the deal before I go over there and have to do the dog and pony show.

 

Yeah pull the diff and scrape off the paper gasket and use RTV to seal it. You could also try to just retorque the nuts on it.

I used RTV to seal mine 10 years ago when I swapped my diff. Not a drop of oil lost yet.

 

It shouldn’t be a big hassle at dealership. It’s a known issue with 2016/17 trucks. RVT is good stuff and I use it often but with this issue, it’s a mfg issue and they are responsible for the fix. There is 228,000 trucks affected with a list of vin numbers but many not on list have the issue as well.

 

I thought of doing it myself, using the OEM gasket to make sure it was done right, but RTV night be the better way to go if I go the DIY route. To fill in any of the imperfections of the OEM parts. That being said, I kind of want them to fix their own mistake. You know what they say...if you want something done right...

Crazy thing is, they replaced the whole rear diff/axel piece when I took it in last time. What's more weird, the original one I got, had the bolts on the back side of the pumpkin, the one they replaced it with has the bolts forward, on the front side of the pumpkin. I'm not sure which ones correct, or what the change was, but still odd that it changed...I feel like the bolts on the back would've been more convenient... I'm curious to see what I get this time if they do a full replacement.

 

Ouch, my 2019 Tacoma TRD Off-Road M/T is also seeping.

I'm at about 28,000 miles and it's still bone stock even though I got parts on the shelves to re-do the suspension etc.
Though perhaps to be safe I'm going to wait till I get this squared away.

Maybe start by re-torqueing the bolts / cleaning it off and seeing if the issue persists.



**Edit to add**

It should be noted, there's literally no reason for a diff seal like that to seep.
I've been under plenty of older vehicles that don't leak even the smallest bit.
Is it true that this is a paper seal?! (need to look this up)

I will likely re-do the breathers to be safe, after this is worked on, lest that somehow be playing into things.

And while I could do this myself...I think I'll try and get it done under warranty to cover the cost of diff oil as that isn't super cheap. Also I got a warranty still, so may as well use it.

 

Had same weeping like in pics above. I retorqued couple of different times and it helped for awhile but I couldn't stand it so I rebuilt my whole rear axle.....wheel bearings, both seals on each side, new diff gasket coated with red rtv on both sides, new gear oil, new wheel cylinders, new brake shoes and hardware and new drums.....only thing not replaced was pinion seal. Been dry ever since 2019. Yes, really thin paper gasket in there.




Major difference from some mileage quotes above is that mine was over 150k miles and had had daily 80mph 35 mile hwy commuting for over 5 years. Not my dd and no hwy commuting to job any more so 3 years later still not over 200k yet.

 

oops, sorry, 3rd gen thread............still