I am concerned about what was detected not once, but twice concerning the rear axle seal leak.

In chronological order:

1) In 2003 at approximately 48,000 miles I brought my Toyota Tacoma 4x4 TR in for service.

During the course of servicing the vehicle, I was informed that the technician detected the following problem:

Tech found the left rear axle seal leaking onto brake shoes, replace left rear axle seal and perform rear brake service (an expensive job). I didnÆt think much about it at the time, chalk it up to wear and tear.

2) On 04/29/05 at 68,687 miles I brought my Toyota Tacoma 4x4 TR in for a major service.

During the course of servicing the vehicle I was informed that the technician detected the following problem:

Tech found the left rear axle seal leaking onto the brake shoes, replace left rear axle seal and perform rear brake service (again an expensive job).

This time some red flags went off. Several friends and acquaintances own this model, year, and make and have never had a rear axle seal failure, let alone two consecutive failures.

I called Toyota headquarters to further investigate. Perhaps this is a known problem, maybe some kind of recall has been initiated against the problem. Nothing! In fact Toyota headquarters
was surprised. They gave me a Case Number 200505020836 and theyÆre investigating it now (i.e. checking their data base to search for any know related problems).

So, IÆm at a quandary.

It's a Tacoma 2000.

Any insights appreciated. Thanks ....

-SAH

my 98 tacoma had the same problem at around 109,000
now it has 122,00 so i will have to see if it does it again

You guys need to check the breather on your axle/differential. If they're clogged, the gases from your gear oil can't vent, so the seals are likely to fail. This is simply science in action.

Here's a little READING for you, esp if you take your truck wheelin'.

Or it could also blow out the pinion seal. I have a part # somewhere for toyota if you want to get a union as they call it. It screws in where the breather goes and allows a hose to be ran where ever you like

Did they replace the inner seal and the outer seal, or just one? Did they specify which one(s) on the repair order?

The inner one could leak and the outer may be bad as well, but if they didn't do both, it'll just happen again.

As Margie mentioned, easiest thing to check is the breather. If that's ok and both seals have been replaced, I'd start thinking bent axleshaft, bent tube, or possibly some damage on the seal seating surfaces (from debris or a hack seal replacement).

Did they replace the bearing as well. My thought is this. If it's leaking out the bearing has to be bad b/c it has to get past the seal on the bearing to be visible. Could be a bad bearing which as stated caused some damage to the seal seating surface. Had this happen to me and my seal only lasted 2 days before leaking again. Bent shafts are a shot but I wouldn't go for the bent shaft issue just yet I'd swap my tires and rims around first and check for tire wobble w/ the truck on jackstands. I have one currently bent so bad you can't get the bearing off of it ( well if I put it in a big honkin press I could) but it's been 6 months and no leaks yet. I'm leaning more towards scoring or such on the seal sruface right inside the axle housing behind the wheel bearing

Thanks Guys,

You gave me a world of information. Much appreciated.

Thanks again ...

-SAH

I imagine sah is gone, but curious if anyone else has had this occur. I'm a resurrect this thread, because NOW my rear axle is puking (slow leakage) fluid on the passenger side.

Just got both sides' inner and outer seals and bearings replaced this time last year (166K). And I took care of the rear brakes (I wrench about as effectively as 50 pounds of wet leather, but can handle brakes).

Noitced last weekend that the passenger side was smoking. Gear oil seeping onto drum and smoldering (177K)

I'm took it to a great local mechanic that fixed it the first time (if it musses up within 18-24 months, they fix it for nada). They said for some reason the rear ain't holding fluid on that side.

He said he'd heard of diff breather plugging up on a Toyota forum (cool if it was this one). He's right now gonna try and find some low mileage used axles, or new ones, and put those in, but not charge for everything else, since he feels he should have caught this 12 months ago, due to the high mileage on my truck. Great place. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />


Just curious if anyone else is experiencing this again/still. Bottom of truck hasn't been submerged since I moved to VA in 2004.

If you own a truck that has the ABS tone ring on the axle shaft (some non ABS trucks include this even though it's not used), placement of the upper retainer is crucial. It needs to be about 4mm down from where the machined surface starts, if it is pressed until it seats against the bearing retainer, the seal isn't touching anything at all. You can confirm contact with the retainer by smearing a light coat of lithium grease on the retainer, inserting axle fully (without bolting it in) and pulling the assembly back out to see if the grease was wiped off the retainer by the seal. Also for certain year Tacomas and I believe Tundras there is an updated seal with a different bevel to it.

If it turns out to not be that...where does one buy good axles? What would be a nice replacement that'd still work with the gears?