Randy just brought over a seal puller and Mike's got the new seal. He's going over to Home Depot tonight for a piece of PVC pipe. We'll try it again tomorrow night.

Mike and I installed the new axle seal last night. It was tricky getting it in straight and to only 5mm deep. We used an end cap to a PVC pipe which worked pretty well. But we got it in and it doesn't leak.

Success at last!

<small>[ April 23, 2003, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: JadeRunner ]</small>

So now Scott and I need to do a write-up! (We will.)

Having two false starts was a little frustrating, but we got an eduation. It turns out, if you have proper direction, it's a pretty easy repair, costs around $100, and takes about 1.5 hours. Sure beats something like $700 at a dealer. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

This morning I returned the broken axle to Import Parts Warehouse. They refunded me $101, which means the new axle was only $76 w/ tax.

The really good news is that they told me the re-manufactured axle is waranteed for life, so if it ever breaks, I can just return it for a replacement. That's very cool. Better than any guarantee from Toyota. (BTW, Toyota told me they likely wouldn't cover a broken CV unless they could tell it was due to a manufacturer defect.)

While I was there, I bought another re-manufactured axle for $177 to have as a spare on trips.

Next I'll have to buy a couple spare seals from the dealer and I'll be all set. (Scott tells me the seals for the driver's and passenger's sides are different.) Actuality, I'm not convinced replacing a seal would really be necessary if one were just careful not to push the old one out of place, but it would probably be wise to have a spare on hand just in case.

<small>[ April 25, 2003, 01:23 PM: Message edited by: Aurora Sandman ]</small>