Leaking Brake Fluid or Gear Oil?

Noticed this earlier today. From my assumption and light digging it looks like a brake leak or rear axle seal leak. Unfortunately I am *trying* to leave MA tomorrow back to MI, towing a trailer. Is it a bad idea to ignore it for the 1,000 mile trek or should I dig in and fix it now?

 

Should be able to tell by the smell. Gear oil has a nice stank to it.

 

Drum and shoes are likely soaked making that brake no buenos. Specially towing a trailer? Not me.

 

How is your brake reservoir,low on fluid?

 

When was the last time you looked at the rear axle?

Gear oil !! Make sure the vent is free and not covered in mud.

A leak of brake fluid that bad you would be having brake problems.

Like the pedal going to the floor !

That brake will grab !! Something you would fix at home? Pay to have it fixed?

How heavy of a trailer ? Just which way do you plan to go?

Pulling out a axle far from home sucks

Any real reason you need to be in Michigan any certain day ??

The hotter the gear oil gets the worse it could leak .

In the end the decision is all yours . I know I have done things because it was the best option for me at the time.

Best of luck no matter what you decide .

 

I'd at least pull the wheel and drum to see where you're at, guess would be brake fluid or axle seal but you'd have to look.

 

I'm guessing brake cylinder instead of axle seal since I don't see any trail from the axle itself.

 

Thank you all for the input, genuinely means a lot to me.

I checked the brake fluid reservoir and it all seems happy dandy. I then took a whiff of the substance leaking from the drum itself and it does have a bit of a smell to it, but it's not pungent. But, I'm willing to bet that it is most likely gear oil.

I'm also not assuming that its gear oil for the only two reasons above, but that the truck feels completely normal driving around town and even the few times I've driven around with the trailer. Granted, it is the rear brake so it won't cause a massive loss in braking power (I wouldn't think...), but still.

Unfortunately, I have also found a screw in that very tire... yay. So I have an appointment to get that fixed. I'm genuinely not sure what to do here. I have to be back in MI by Wednesday for housing reasons (moving into a new place on Thursday) but I also don't want to get stuck on the side of the road. I'll probably end up yanking the drum off and taking a look once I get it back from the tire shop tomorrow as I will not be able to keep this off my mind until it's fixed.

 

Most likely its that axle seal.......

either way assume you have no back brakes until you fix everything....

You could probably drive that for a little while if you checked and made sure the diff fluid is topped off....

no big deal at all.....


Unfortunately if it is the rear seal......to do it right is not cheap....
expect to pay a grand to have someone do it....

expect the shoes to be toast either way....

If you have a shop press or access, do it yourself in a long morning....

This is actually not a bad thing....those deferentials can cost as much as a tranny....
really want them in top shape with clean fluid every few years....

 

Looks like a rear axle seal to me, and that's also the much more common experience on our trucks. This page has a list of the parts and tools needed, along with step-by-step instructions on how to get it fixed:

Step-by-Step Replacing Rear Axle Seal & Bearing – ADVENTURETACO

Note: you'll want to replace the rear axle bearing as well, since the gear oil passing through it will have washed out the grease that keeps it happy.

 

I was actually just reading your write up earlier today! I ended up taking it to the local dealership to have them take a look at it since I was getting new tires anyways. They did confirm that it is an axle seal leak, but that it is only affecting the e-brake for now.

@turbodb, in your write up you are using a 20 ton press. I unfortunately do not have the means or even access to a 20 ton press. Is there an alternative to using one? Apologies if its in your write up and I missed it.

 

There's no really good alternative to a press in this situation. Often times you can find one at a local shop however, and they can do the pressing pretty quickly at whatever their hourly rate is.

The other thing you'll run into with this job is that you really the SST for pulling/pressing the ABS tone ring. You can make something up yourself if you've got steel and welding equipment around, but the purpose-built SST really makes it so much easier.

Do you know how long it's been leaking? I caught mine right when it started and as able to drive home (~600 miles from BC Canada to the Seattle area) with no problem (and a truck that weighs 5800lbs). I took it slow and kept an ear on it to make sure I didn't hear the bearing eating itself to death, but in the end there was no problem. You might consider doing the work when you get home, if you caught yours early and have the ability to do the work yourself at home. (Though, be aware that you might not make it...in which case you'd have to get towed to a service shop where the work will be reasonably costly).

 

Yeah I watched each of the three timmy vids to do mine....

(98) Toyota Rear Axle Seal/Bearing Replacement (ABS Rearend) - YouTube

I bought that pipe tool from ebay for $90....


My 15ton press wasn't tall enough....So I built up a C-shaped pedestal....and bolted it down to it....

 

You can try to replace just the seal. The inner axle seal is easy and if the axle isn't grooved and your bearing is ok you might be safe. Double-check your breather is good.

 

I agree. I don't know what Toyota dealers charge to change the seal, but last year I paid around $600 at an independent shop to replace the seal and the bearing. BTW, the Timken bearing cost around $90.

Was the brake shoe on the affected side cooked? Prolly so, but at his suggestion and my approval, he cleaned the shoe and the drum and reassembled everything. And I haven't noticed any difference in braking.

 

The dealers hope and pray you bring these to em.....most money they've ever made over a two hour span....

 

Well, made it back to Michigan in one piece. I had the dealer take care of it for me since they already had it, and frankly I just did not have the energy to unpack my trailer and tackle this job. Took the mechanic longer than they expected as well. Got the truck back on tuesday at 5PM and we hit the road at 6PM. If this happens again I will most definitely be the one doing it to save some cash cause it was not cheap. Although my wallet (and my mechanical ego) are a bit hurt, it was the right call at the time.