Rear diff leak help

Hey fellow members I need some help/advice here on what I should do. I noticed yesterday that my rear diff is leaking. I have a 2015 prerunner with 70,000 miles on it. Is this normal? I had a 60k maintenance done back in early January at a reputable shop. Do you think the shop could have done this but not sealing it back up correctly? Should I take it back to the shop to get it fixed for free hopfully or take it to the dealership as it is still under warranty. My truck is lifted with Maxtrac spindles up front with stock 3rd gen Coil-Overs and a allpro standard leaf pack in the rear



Thanks.

 

Did the 60k service include removing the rear differential? I highly doubt it, at best they probably just changed the rear oil which wouldn't have caused what you are seeing. Over time, the gasket can break down and cause it to leak, or in your case more of a seep. I wouldn't even worry about such a small amount, until you start seeing a drip. To remove and re-seal up the differential is about a 2 hour job, just keep an eye on the level in the mean time.

 

The obvious things to check and torque to spec are

Fill plug
Drain plug
Diff cover bolts

The specs are somwhere in here

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-torque-spec-guide.318116/

 

Yeah I they just changed the rear oil. It does have a bit of a small drip going but it doesn’t drip, it’s looks like it’s about to drip but never falls if that makes sense. How do I check the level of the oil?

 

Thanks I’ll check the torque of the bolts and clean it up to see if that works.

 

Take the over flow/ fill plug out and stick your finger in. If you feel oil you are good. If you don't, it needs to be topped off.

 

Just make sure the rig is on level ground when you check the fluid level.

 

Yep makes perfect sense. Mines been like that for a year now and it's been fine. Takes a long time for 3 quarts of oil to drain out one drop at a time haha. Ive topped mine off once and it only took a few ounces.

 

If it's a drain plug gasket issue, why is there gear oil residue all the way up to the top of the differential?

 

I never said a drain plug gasket, the gasket I was referring to was the 3rd member gasket

 

Agreed. The seal/gasket around the 3rd member is his issue. It is a somewhat of a pain/messy to fix because you need to unbolt and slide out the axles a few inches on each side just to remove the 3rd member. Clean the mating surface of the 3rd member and use bead of black rtf silicon gasket maker. I didn't even bother using a OEM gasket when I swapped mine... I ordered a new OEM gasket and saw it was made out of paper anyways. Using the rtf worked just fine and I haven't had a single drip.

 

There’s a sticky on removing the 3rd member. Its really not hard at all. Save your self some money. I had mine out in under 1 hr.

 

Yup! Same one I used for reference! Worked like a charm.

 

So should I not take it to a dealership then? It’s still under warranty so if they decide to do the work for free should I still have them do it? I don’t have any tools or a space to work on it myself. I’m pretty sure I can have a local member help me out with. Sounds like the dealer with probably do a shoty job on it anyways.

 

If the work will be under warranty, give that a shot first. Free work is nice when you can get it.

If you decide to tackle it yourself... you don't need a ton of space, just need the typical jack, jack stands and normal tools that most people should have (meaning no special tools).

 

Ok sounds good thanks for the advice.

 

Agreed. If you have warranty then free is always nice. But if they don’t cover it it’s a job that can be done fairly easily and you will safe your self a ton of money. To correct way is to disassemble the rear brakes, remove the brake lines and pull the axles. So the dealer will either do just that or say they did and do it how we all did and most likely charge you for taking the brakes apart.

When I rebuilt my 3rd member I used a oem gasket and ran a thin bead of silicone on both sides.

 

UPDATE: Took it to the dealer on Friday and they replaced the gasket. It was warranty work so that was good. But they had to keep it for four days because they had to order the gasket which would have been a horrible situation but they gave me a rental car for free. Hopfully they did it right. They put new bolts and nuts on it too. Would have cost $600 bucks for the service so I’m glad it’s under warranty still.

 

So I’m leaking rear diff oil again after having the dealership fix it under warranty. Ever since the first time it had happened Iv been doing visual checks as i approach my truck. And Iv noticed it was wet under there on Friday. I retorqued the bolts and they were all under torqued. It’s still leaking after I torqued them down.

I’m running allpro standards in the back. Is it possible due to the rear being lifted 3 inches which is throwing my driveline angles off a bit (I get the slightest take off vibes around 15mph) that it’s causing my rear diff to leak?

 

I wouldn't think so.