2015 2nd Gen Rear Diff Leaking at 35k miles

Thats actually really awesome of them to cover your issue with the headlights. Hearing everyone's responses thus far, I dont think my leak is a common issue and I will likely just have to suck it up and pay out of pocket. This being my first Toyota, I dont have the "pull" of someone with a lengthy customer history. And in my case, making a big stink about it will just cover my next service if they decide to accept the claim. This is pretty useless to me since I do my own repairs 95% of the time. Oh well.

 

Tempfix and good way to snap the studs. If I remember right the torque spec is real low

 

Checked the breather and it was all good. No gunk or dirt.

 

18 ftlbs. Get a torque wrench and tighten the nuts properly n quit your bitchin.

 

You say there are no signs of damage to the pumpkin but from the pics it looks like the diff made contact with something...there are scrapes visible in both pics and what looks like a dent in the 1st pic.

Also, if you don't off-road why the ubolt flip?

 

Or the dakar leaf pack and extended shocks.


Maybe hes one of them people you see driving 4 runners and tacos around with rotopax, rooftop tents, max tracks etc to crawl the mall (all installed by some shop cus he obviously doesnt want to take matters into his own hands to check the tightness of some nuts)

 

There are no scrapes or dents from it contacting anything. On that second pic, what looks like a giant scrape is just the reflection from the gear oil leak. Its a shitty angle. Any area were the paint has rubbed off was from jacking the rear end up from the bottom of the diff.

Got a U-bolt flip for a few reasons. It came with a bumpstop kit I was using and I didnt like the idea of potentially rusting the bottom of the axles with the factory ubolt retainer.

 

There’s no dent, that’s just the lighting. And there’s no way OP had any sort of off reading shenanigans that would’ve caused this, within reason. I’ve put my axle through the ringer with no leaking issues.

 

Bet you're a ton of fun to be around. So you are essentially talking shit cause I want to have a nice upgraded suspension thats going to make my daily commute that much more enjoyable? The reason I have it is simply because I can. Dont need to explain why I have things. Everything was installed by me. I already stated that I checked the bolts around the diff cover.

 

Man, you’re in a mood.

 

You welded the diff drain plug?

 

I welded a skid plate over it, 4 fat tacks. One time I loosened the drain plug dragging over rocks so this was to prevent it. It worked great and also kept that ring from getting bashed in towards the drain plug. Took a minute to cut the tack welds and was back in business.

 

You said the differential got new gear oil 7k miles ago. Did you do it? Either way the gasket should have been changed then so it's not the factory gasket's fault.

 

Why would he change the gasket where the third member mates to the axle during a routing oil change? Maybe you’re getting it confused with the crush washer.

 

this

Third gens piss gear oil before 6 months old in the same spot lmao

 

Maybe it's the fluid reflection but that front part of the housing where the 3rd bolts looks smashed on the bottom. Also looks like it slid around on the jack.

A drip every second is a pretty significant leak and not something that would likely spring up overnight without something happening.

Sure, it could be a Friday PM or Monday AM build issue too but I wouldn't be so quick to blame Toyota for a leak on a 6 year old truck.

I drag my rear axle on occasion too but it looks better than the OP's...and 90k miles with no leak.

 

Have you taken a torque wrench and checked that all the nuts OF THE 3RD MEMBER (not a diff cover) are at 18 ftlbs. Yes. Or. No?

To pull the 3rd member is a pretty easy ordeal, if you have installed the suspension yourself, to replace a 20 dollar gasket is not much if any harder.

 

Sorry to see the leakage OP. The next year model had big problems with this but it's not an issue on ours (aka last of the best gen).

I just looked at mine and confirmed it's dry. 42k miles and still a few more months under the platinum VSA warranty.

 

I will take proper pictures of the diff when I get the truck back. I stupidly didnt take pictures before taking it in and the ones I posted were from the tech. I can confirm that nothing has contacted or damaged the diff with the exception of my floor jack. And even then only contacted the bottom of the diff, not the 3rd member. The dealer also confirmed there's no external damage that would cause it to leak from the gasket.

 

So I have a 2015 with 70k, it has been my daily, and is now a dedicated offroad/camp rig - I didn't read all the responses and don't think I have an answer, but I can share some things I've dealt with.

Rear Diff: I was slightly lifted and had an angled shim under the pack to straighten the drive shaft and had no issues. I swapped to a bigger pack and did not swap the shims over and started leaking from the pinion seal immediately. Replaced the seal, added the shims, problem solved. I do have a rear diff breather and RCI diff diaper installed.

Front Diff: I overfilled this one time and it PUKED fluid out the breather into the engine bay. I mean, alot. This was the perfect case scenario of the breather working and not blowing out a seal from the pressure.

TLDR: Is your breather clogged? Do you have an angled shim under your leaf pack to straighten drive line? Did you over fill it when you serviced 7k ago?

EDIT: Both of my issues have been caused by myself, nothing faulty on the truck.