3RD GEN REAR MAIN SEAL

I'm not sure why people are claiming this is an easy job. Without a lift this job would suck and be a pita.

 

FSM says remove coolant bypass hoses to the transmission oil cooler assembly.

 

I stand corrected. Thank you for the information.

 

That’ll do absolutely nothing if it is indeed the rear main leaking

 

Well yeah, some people have lifts in their garage. Regardless, it's not a hard fix even on the ground. Tedious, yes. Hard, no.

 

Just to chime in a little bit - I had this exact same leak on my 17' Tacoma. Approx ~45k miles. It got progressively worse - to the point where i was wiping it down after nearly every drive, if I didn't ignore it and just let it drip. Does anyone know if there's a TSB or at least how common this issue is?

 

Most likely not but sometimes it does. Easy check.

 

2018 developed a leak before 80k. I have never noticed any dripping. Rolled under the truck today and checking all seals I noticed the rear main is wet with oil and a slight drop forming...not happy.

Doesn't sound like an easy job from the ground, experienced or not.

 

How did this turn out? What did it cost you?

 

Probably a dumb question, but maybe try a high mileage oil? My 06 4Runner has been running Valvoline Maxlife high mileage oil since about 100k. Has zero leaks with 286k on the clock.

 

I have not fixed the leak yet. So zero dollars. I’m currently only putting 200 miles a mount on it. Leak is only a very small one. When it progresses to a larger leak I will fix it myself.

 

I run mobile 1 synthetic extended mileage with Lucas oil synthetic stabilizer. I think it’s just a seeping seal, parts fail...

 

It's a Mobile 1 thing I'd bet money on it, everything I put that crap in seeped oil, Change it to anything else & I'll garrantee the oil seeping issue stops within 2000 miles.

 

I have been using Mobil 1 and I have the RMS leak too.... you might be on to something.

For the next oil change I will mix it up with a different brand and see if the leak dissipates.

 

Here for getting updates for others.

I have a 2017 Off Road, 15,700 miles, and during my last oil change (first one myself) I noticed mine starting to develop this too. It isn't nearly as bad as the pics above, but the black part between the trans and engine is clearly slightly wet with oil. Hasn't started dripping yet.

I think it's pretty crazy for this to be happening for my truck considering the low mileage. Nuts.

 

Did you end up changing the seal?

 

Three year old thread man.