Hi all,

I'm new to this forum. I have recently (last two weeks) noticed a noise and vibration I can feel in the gas pedal which seems to be coming from the front end when I am traveling over 60 m.p.h. I removed the skid plates and found the front diff to be most of a quart low on fluid. I have changed all of the other fluids regularly except for the front diff. I somehow convinced myself that it was inaccessible and so it has never been touched. After filling the the gear oil, and leaving the plates off temporarily I noticed I now have an oil leak from where the CV joint goes into the axel/differential on the passenger side.

I have several questions. First, how do I take that side apart? Do I have to take the wheel assembly off of the passenger side? Secondly it appears to be an about 6 inch housing bolted on the passenger side of the differential housing. Is this terribly difficult to remove? I am guessing that my letting the oil get low damaged the bearing (hence the noise) which in turn caused the seal to leak when I refilled it. Can I take this housing off and have the bearing replaced with relative ease? I drove American cars for years so have quite a bit of experience repairing cars. Therefore I should have no problem doing this if someone could give me some instructions.

This is my baby and I want it to go another 100,000 if I can. It now has 215,000 miles on it with nothing but a new starter, two sway bar links and scheduled maintenance. If you all could tell me or tell me where to find instructions on how to fix this myself I would greatly appreciate it.


Erik

97 4 Runner 215,000 miles
96 Camry 260,000 miles

 

Pretty sure you have an ADD front differential (you do not have locking hubs). If so.... I'd stop driving your 4Runner and get that seal replaced ASAP!

I had the exact same thing.... ignored it.. and then ended-up frying my bearings and very quickly the ring & pinion as well. Became a MUCH more involved (expensive) fix cuz had to source a new front differential (bought used one) and had to replace.

It is possible to do replace the seal yourself. Involves pulling the half-shaft (CV assy) from the leaking side, R&R the seal.. and then put everything back.

 

Your right, no locking hubs. I am leaning towards replacing the outer bearing on the side that leaks when I do the seal. I cannot seem to find any tutorial type descriptions on how to remove the passenger side shaft on this site or others. I also want to know what I am getting myself into if I remove the housing that holds the outer bearing on that side.

Erik

 

The shafts are not hard to remove and the procedure is the same for both sides. There are some pics of my driver side cv shaft removal near the end of my build thread (see link in sig), I think second to last page. I've not removed anything on the front diff itself beyond the fill/drain plugs though, so I'm no help there. Torque specs for the lower ball joint bolts and axle shaft nut are a post or two above the pictures. You won't need the spec on the ball joint itself, unless you replace that while you're in there.



There's another recent thread a lot like this one....the search button can be a big help when you are trying to figure stuff out.

 

Medic593 - I believe you are talking about replacing the bearing inside your front differential.... the closest bearing to seal that's currently leaking. I'm 80% certain the bearing you are referring to can only be replaced if you remove the entire diff and then crack the clamshell style case open. (LOTS of work, special tools and skills needed)

If I were you, I'd drain all your diff gear oil, replace the leaking seal, refill with new gear oil and give it a go from there. (Know that the seal on the other side of diff is likely going to start leaking soon too... something to keep an eye on.)

If after doing the above you still have a noisey diff... it's likely the bearings need to be replaced.... not a cheap or easy task for 98% of the population.