2015 2nd Gen Rear Diff Leaking at 35k miles

Thank you for sharing your experience with your truck and those issues. Diff breather was good, no angled shim under the leaf pack but I do have the shim under the carrier bearing to help the driveshaft angle. Also did not overfill it. It seems to have come out of left field. I did not have any slow seepage before the drip.

 

OP, you might want to do as @nd4spdbh has advised.
There’s been more than one person fix their leak by torquing the nuts.
It’s basically a “free” fix if it works.

If it doesn’t stop the leak, you’ll probably need to reseal it.
I myself, might even use something like the RTV below. “Just because it fills the gaps better”

 

Man, some salty people in here.

In the end, it really doesn't matter what happened to cause it. It's leaking and needs a new gasket. Personally, I'd try tightening the nuts first, 18 ft pounds is nothing and it's worth a shot since it's already broke. Doubtful that even 30 ft pounds would hurt anything.

For me, that's likely 2 - 3 hours/beers in the garage to fix, taking my time, doing some air guitar at opportune moments. No way would I pay over 200 bucks to have that done, but not all of us have that ability.

 

FWIW, my experience has been that when the Diff breather goes bad.
It blows fluid out the axle seals.

I’ve not seen it blow fluid out between the 3rd member.

 

Yeah my bad I must have read it wrong. Hope you get it fixed quick OP!

 

Yeah for real man some people really discourage me from using this forum. Like I dont get enough attitude at the dealer. I end up sharing something here and get the same smart ass people acting like its stupid that I would even ask a question about an issue Im having. I, like most people here, work on my own vehicles and enjoy it. I am not always able to due to time constraints or other obligations. And im not complaining about being shafted for the job, but I am complaining that it failed in the first place. Unfortunately with it being such a fast leak, I couldn't wait till I had the time to do it myself with some FIPG.

 

Thats what I have also personally seen on 4runners. If the breather fails, the next weak link would be axle seals.

 

I think people got salty because you came across a bit aggressive in the OP looking for warranty coverage on something that's been out of warranty for 3 years.

When you checked torque, did you break the bolt loose then retorque? If not, give that a shot. If it doesn't fix it and you can't find the time to install a new gasket I'm sure you could save a couple hundred dollars if you find an independent shop to install one instead of the dealer.

 

It’s been a while since I messed with anything rear diff related.
But I think you can get away with not having to pull the axles all the way out?
If you don’t feel like fooling with it. I’d see if I could do like @stickyTaco said, and find a shop that familiar with this style Diff. While it’s not an “easy” repair. I’m pretty sure there are some short cuts that can help make the job go faster and easier. Which should help on the labor rate.

My only concern when going the “easier/faster” route, is that you’re still using old axles seals and need to take extra care not to damage them in the process. Tough call here.

 

That’s what I do. Unbolt the hard brake like brackets from the axle and you can slip the axles out far enough to get the third member out without removing brake lines.