Leak or sloppy technician?

Took my 99 Tacoma in for service on Tuesday. Everything good, some fluids topped off.

Tonight I was driving in from the store and noticed the rear differential on that truck looked like it had a leak.

The techs didn't note any leaks or issues with the differential, all I have down on the list is that the differential fluid was checked. Does checking the differential fluid normally make a mess? Wiped it down so that I could re inspect tomorrow after work.

Now I'm nervous because I have a 700 mile trip tomorrow evening after work with this truck. Just my luck.

Thoughts? There were no drips on the pavement or hanging from the differential itself. Just a shiny area of the differential which began from the cap.

I really hope they checked and forgot to clean and I don't have to replace a differential

 

Is the leak from the filler hole?

 

Not likely. Just take some paper towels and clean the shiny spots really well and if you see it get worse you know it's leaking. Those things drip out at the end and will most likely look like that when you're finished even if you're a neat freak. Check the drain and fill bolts too - he probably tightened them enough so just make sure they're not just finger tight. If you want to, just thrown some dust on the shiny spots and see if it gets shiny again. That's the easiest way to tell lol.

 

I have never messed with a differential before so please excuse me if I am over reacting, not very familiar with how they are serviced etc.

Wipped the area with a cloth. The leak appears to be coming from the filler hole OR maybe some excess spilled out when they checked it and did not clean?

This just about ruined my night. Now I can't sleep.

 

I'll bet you're fine. Just a little overflow from the tech checking the fluid level or topping off and not cleaning the dribble. Get some sleep.

 

The differential is basically a large shell filled with oil with two largebolts in it. One bolt goes directly up from the bottom side and is used to drain oil. The other is located on the rear face and screws in roughly parallel to the ground. This bolt is used to check the level of the oil. Basically you fill the diff through this hole until oil spills out then you know it's full. Just keep an eye on it over a night or two.