wet transfer case! why?

My truck only has 16K miles on it and recently when I had crawled under my truck I noticed that my transfer case was wet with oil . I am not sure why and what is going on. it is not dripping oil, just enough to wet the surface. Has anybody else experienced similar thing on low mileage truck and how did you guys deal with it?

 

take it to your local dealer under warranty.. have them take a look.

 

It's the transfer case seal. While your down there, check around the oil pan on the motor. If that's lubed up too, your rear main seal is going.

All under the Powertrain Warranty

 

Where has Toyota quality gone?

 

It went away when Toyota started making vehicles here and in Mexico.
Also,Toyota's quest to be #1 cause a hit in quality control.

 

Have to admit, hearing about failing rear main seals on a Tacoma with 16K miles is scary. The bad news is that's a PITA job, the good news is that it'd be covered under warranty. Hopefully your case is a statistical outlier and the majority of us don't have to worry about it. You can bet I'll be keeping an eye on it though. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Classic !.............^^^^

 

Where is the "rear main seal"? not sure what you guys are refering to!

 

You can't see it with the transmission attached to the motor. But you can see if it's leaking.

 

It is between the engine and transmission. You have to remove the transmission to install a new rear oil seal. Its a big job.

 

is it on back side of engine where it is connected to the transmision?
I haven't noticed any other oil leak under the truck. nothing on the engine oil pan or the manual transmision, so if this seal is where I think it is, it is not leaking. I think in my case since the oil leak is isolated to the transfer case and it is a good distance from the engine and transmision, I believe it is isolated to the transfer case seals. I thought maybe the bolts attaching the housing together needs to be tightened. maybe it is nothing wrong with the seal itself, just bolts not tightened adequately!

 

Take it to the dealer anyway..... Use and abuse them for as long as you can. You paid for it!!

 

I am not sure if that is worth the waisted time, hastle and aggrevation; leave alone that at the end of all that, they won't do anything about it and just make up B.S. excuses why they won't do anything.

 

did you clean the transfer case yet to see if you can pinpoint the leak?

 

Not yet. I just got my order of Red Line gear oil and am going to replace them this weekend. At that time I will check the bolts around the transfer case to see if they are not properly tightened and if not, I will tighten them a little more, then clean up the whole housing and check later to see if gets wet again. But I am a little concerned if the problem persists and it is something that I can't simply take care of myself, Toyota dealership may refuse working on it if they find out that I had messed with it.

As it is clear, I am a little conflicted. It is very hard for me not to at least change the gear oil in it now that I have got all those high quality synthetic gear oil from Redline.

 

its one reason i'd clean the area first before the gear oil change...............if it is leaking, and under warranty, they'll probably end up draining it/loosing oil from it while they are fixing the leak, and if you go on with the new redline, you'll have to redo it after the leak is fixed. thats why i recommend cleaning it first just to see, and if no leaks after tightening bolts up....go ahead with the oil change.

 

Do you think if I just tighten the bolts and clean it up, they would have an excuse to deny warranty if they have work on it?

 

no way.......especially if it starts leaking again. i mean.......you didnt make the seal faulty, if its leaking from a seal. trying to tighten bolts to see if thats the problem is smart in my opinion.

 

OK. I will change all the other gear oils except the transfer case, but will just check the bolts and clean it and wait and see if it gets wet again. If it does, I will take it to the dealership.

 

to me.....thats your best bet. after it quits leaking/is fixed....go for the good oil in the transfer case.