toyota4x4907

Get it to the mechanic?

tardman91

I went by after work and the place was locked up. He's my brothers friend and he hasn't heard from him in a couple of weeks so I'm not sure what happened to him. I'm looking for another mechanic or hopefully hearing from the usual one.
In the mean time, do I run the risk of screwing anything up real bad if I keep driving it? The trans fluid leak is no big deal. I've NEVER had it drip in my garage and the fluid level is fine. I'm more concerned about the rear. It's only an 8 mile round trip to work, but I could drive with my wife (we both teach at the same school) if I shouldn't really drive it.

toyota4x4907

You'll be fine. Just make sure you check it to make sure it isnt running low.

itsGamba

ya keep an eye on it.

tardman91

Mechanic was out of town visiting his sick grandma. I talked to him yesterday and I'm taking it in after I leave work today. Hopefully this won't cost me an arm and a leg. I've seen posted that the rear pinion is like an hour job with about a $10 seal? Is the transmission seal about the same, plus new trans fluid?

tardman91

UPDATE:
Took it to the mechanic today and got some good news. First off, I have to get the pinion seal replaced. It'll cost me about $100 after it's all said and done. The good news is that my "transmission seal" leak is not the transmission. He said it's a damper for the 4WD shifter and that it's not transmission fluid under there, just the oil from the damper. He said that the part is probably expensive, that it won't do any harm to anything in its current state, and that I would probably never notice a difference (even if it was replaced) since I don't use the 4WD often. I'll just degrease it when I get it back so it doesn't look so messy and I can notice real leaks if they pop up. So that put a smile on my face. He also said my steering stabilizer shock was blown out, which explains some of the mystery oil that I saw under there, with no apparent source. I'll get around to that eventually, but it's no hurry. He's also going to check the timing belt for me, since I don't know what condition it's in. Hopefully it's good enough, because I'm not in a position to pay to get that replaced any time soon.

Junkers88

Great news!!! Just so you know you can replace your pinion seal for about 15$, the dampner.... I have no idea what that even is so just keep an eye on your fluid levels, oh and the steering stabilizer is an easy replacement that you can do yourself with a wrench or two and about 30 minutes of your time.

Congrats that it's nothing major to fix!!!!

tardman91

Yeah, I know the seal is only $15, but I don't feel comfortable messing with the driveshaft. There's too much that could go wrong and I'm not willing to risk ruining the rear end to save $85. I plan to do the steering stabilizer myself, but not for a little while. Since I had to get new tires, and now this, my wife is starting to get on my back about spending too much on the truck. Maybe next month...

Junkers88

You own a Toyota.... get used to that. *laugh* My lady does it all the time.....

tardman91

Got the truck back today. My mechanic said that the seal was so dried out that it was more like plastic than rubber. The bad news is that I have to replace the timing belt. That's getting done in the morning. Does $600 out the door seem like a good price to get the whole job done, including the water pump and all the fluids, clamps, etc?