Slight Leaking/Sweating rear differential 05 Tacoma Pls help! If you have had this problem wwyd.

My 05 tacoma has about 150k miles on it but still runs good and I can't afford a new car so shes what i got. The main issue I am having is the rear differential is sweating, is what I was told, and is bound to get worse and turn into leaking rear diff fluid. Right now it is sweating a noticeable amount and leaving spots on the pavement where i park.

The main mechanic I go to doesn't want to do the job and said it requires welding which he doesn't do. Does it require welding to replace a rear diff? idk. The guy he told me to go to estimates that replacing the rear differential will take him a minimum of 20 hours at $75 and hour. In addition to the cost of all the parts which he says he mostly does new parts and doesnt use old or used parts to replace I estimated it will cost a minimum of $4k all together to replace the whole thing which I can't really afford as a college student.

First please tell me if this is a fair price because while idk a lot about cars this seems like a lot as well as many other posts saying rear diff is not a super difficult part to replace and maybe shouldn't take 20 hours of work.
Please tell me if a sweating rear differential is worth replacing in a 20 year old 150k mile tacoma.
Or if there are any other better options i could take i was told an after market cap welded on could be a quick fix, would this be worth it instead?
Ill post as good as a pic of it as i know how to take to show what its looking like. As Well as a picture of the oil spots from about 6 months to a year of this occurring.
From getting the rear diff fluid level checked it is not losing very much fluid at all and no other noticeable symptoms of rear diff fluid leaking or being low are seen or felt in the truck.
Would really appreciate the help on this one been stressing about it. Thanks!

 

Find a new mechanic.

Ask in a local or regional thread for references.

Don’t spend 4K for some dipshit to weld that.

For reference I bought a used 3rd member and diff for my tundra for a little less than 400$. It had 23k on it. Paid a diff shop to install it and it was in and out of the shop the same day.

 

first off why do you need a cap? I ask because I've seen rear diffs like that from leaking engines and transmissions.

and you can totally do a whole axle in the driveway, the leaf springs should have a spot to center the new axle. remove all the brake lines and shocks, remove all the "U" bolts and get new ones put the new axle up under with those new u bolts, re connect everything and youre golden, you have a handy friend?

 

Sweating? Jesus.

Step # 1 - Get a real mechanic to look at it. The one that called it sweating and charging 4K is an idiot.
Step # 2 - Find out where the leak is. Clean it up really well with a degreaser. Then monitor it daily until to visually locate the source of the leak. Is it differential oil or is it transmission fluid or ...
Step # 3 - If you aren't doing the work yourself. Find a good mechanic by asking around and get an estimate going in when you already know where the leak is.

 

Could just be the pinion seal. I'd get a second opinion to find out exactly where the leak is coming from.

 

You make zero comment on why they claim it needs to be welded...
Have no idea what town youre in but sounds like youre dealing with bunch of redneck mechanics that dont have a clue...

Need more specific details here, whet did they actually find.....?
From that pic you posted, cause could be anything...
plugged vent...
just needs a pumpkin seal?
or a pinion seal?
could be from the fill plug not being tight enough or needs a new crush washer...

Did mechanic B even look at it or is he giving you a quote off of what mechanic A told you....?

 

The "sweating" is from the axle housing developing rust holes. You had a frame replacement already, so you know how bad the rust can get. Rather than a weld repair, the most cost-effective solution is to find a newer salvage yard Tacoma axle and swap it in. Being a 2WD you can be even a bit flexible with the gearing ratio amongst the various Tacoma models.

 

Probably correct, but the OP's description is lacking information and/or he wasn't fully informed of what the heck is leaking.

 

The pinion seal went out on my 2006 prerunner. Paid $700 to the dealer to fix it. Drove it home. Pulled up in my yard. Got out. The entire back of my truck covered in gear oil. All over the tailgate. Diff empty. They fixed it again and the same thing happened. Fixed it again and 6 months later the diff was acting crazy and I barely made it to a shop. Cost $7000 to get it fixed. Pretty sure I got completely ripped off but that price did include other maintenance I needed too.

So, I don't know how to do it but whoever you hire it's good to figure out if they can actually do it or not. That's why I took mine to the dealership. Because I wanted to make sure it was done right. Welp...see how that went.

 

JB Weld????