Tacoma arb question

I just had an arb rear locker replacement. Now the gear oil seems like it’s literally spewing out from where the drive shaft enter the rear diff. Besides that seal right there where the driveshaft enters the diff, is there anything else in the internals that could be making it leak like that? Thanks for any info!

 

Did you install new gears at the same time? Sounds like you have a bad pinion seal. Is the arb leaking and pressurizing your axle? Breather clogged?

 

Check the breather first, but like ^^^ShimStack says, sounds like a bad pinion seal

 

Forgive my ignorance. What is the breather?

 

I did have 4.88 gears installed which definitely are proving worth it in terms of performance. What is the breather?

 

It is on top of your housing that allows it to vent. Sounds like your pinion seal was installed improperly or damaged during install.

 

Its a small, thimble shaped bung that allows the equalization of air pressure between the inside and outside of a chamber, but that's not important right now./Leslie_Nielson_gag

On the diff housingz the top of the breather is a metal cap, it should kind of jiggle freely when tapped. If it gets blocked (by mud, debris, sometimes gasket sealant) it does not allow the air pressure to equalize between the inside and outside of [in this case] the diff housing, meaning as the fluid inside heats up and cools down, all of the sealing surfaces and gaskets get put under signifiant pressure- which can eventually lead to gasket failure and the fluids either being contaminated by a hot diff submerging in cool water/mud sucking water into the diff and diluting the gear oil. Or, like you seem to be experiencing, a failed gasket cam result in a leak.

If the breather jiggles, try to unscrew it. Activate your air locker and check to see if air is blowing out of the hole where the breather is supposed to be. You may have sprung a leak. If not, it couldnsimply be a failed pinion seal. Or potentialy was damaged during the locker install.

 

I found the breather. I haven’t had a chance to do what you were saying but if the gear oil was coming from there then wouldn’t there be gear oil around it? It’s dry around that area. Thanks for the info though!

 

Yeah there’s no gear oil around the breather.

 

Does your air compressor continue to cycle on with the locker engaged? What @Toy_Runner is trying to have you do is see if the locker is leaking air. Not if oil was coming out of the diff breather. Removing the diff breather and engaging the locker was just another method of verifying the locker isn't leaking air. If the lockers not leaking it's most likely a bad pinion seal

 

Don't expect there to be. What we're asking is to be sure it's not clogged because if so that can lead to pressurization inside the axle that will blow out seals. Especially if the arb is leaking.

 

I had a similar issue with my Rubicon. But is was leaking by out of the breather hose. Just overfilled.

Take it back to the installer.

 

Right- there should be, so your breather may be clogged and need replaced. Whether just overfilled or if the air line inside the diff housing is leaking, oil should blow out of the breather long before it blows out the pinion seal, unless the pinion seal is also kaput.

 

this!

 

The air compressor shuts off after a couple seconds and doesn’t come back on. I’m pretty sure it’s just the pinion seal but I’ll still check the breather. Thanks

 

I’m taking it to Toyota to replace the pinion seal. I’m done with the company that installed.

 

I’ll

keep that in mind. Thank you.

 

Yeah, I can't blame you for wanting it done right

 

When you regeared do you know if you got a crush sleeve or a solid spacer? If the latter and your done dealing with the installer just change the seal yourself. Dealer will cost you an arm and a leg.

 

Just an update, there’s no air coming from the hole where the breather would be when the locker is engaged. Toyota is doing the pinion seal tomorrow. Hopefully all is well afterwards. Thanks for the advice.