Front diff. oil leak. WTF?

[xonetruthcrewx]

So i went to the track today with the bike, awesome time. When i got home and put the trailer up i noticed some oil splatter on the trailer. Looked under the truck and there was small oil spots all over.

Pulled off the skid plate and it was definitely gear oil. The only spot that looks as if there is any leakage is the diff. breather. I took off the hose and inspected for any cracks/breaks. None. The breather breathes just fine also. I have no idea where its leaking from. Is it possible that the oil is coming out of the breather? If so, how and why?

For now i left the skid off and cleaned everything up with degreaser. Tomorrow after i drive to work (16 miles) i will scope things out and hopefully i can see exactly where the leak is coming from.

I also checked the oil level in the diff., and its just fine. So the leak isnt huge, but definitely enough to make a mess while driving down the freeway.

Does anyone have any insight as to what the culprit may be? I remember Bruce talking about running a catch can for the front breather due to leakage caused by the air locker. I havent been in 4wd though nor have i had the front locker locked. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Robinhood4x4]

Just residual from your flights last weekend?

[xonetruthcrewx]

Haha! Yeah, i guess that could be possible. Like i said, the oil level is still good. Just enough leaked out to make a mess while driving. Tomorrow should reveal more details though. Hopefully it was just a random, never happen again thing.

[ecchamberlin]

THe arb was my first thought. Just like you mentioned Bruce has had issues off and on with it and seals.

[Inspectorgadgets]

Your oil leak is caused by the ARB; the gear may have been rubbing up against the copper tube that is inside the housing, just enough for it to file a hole in it. This hole when under pressure pushes the gear oil out the breather.

I had this problem a few years ago when ARB first started the 02 lockers for Tacomas, seems the instructions to place the hole for the tube was too close to the gear. Mike Duncan of Four X Doctor in Burbank discovered this and had ARB change the instuctions, then had to re-drill the hole after sealing the old hole with JB Weld.
Take your truck to him, he is the best gear man in town. 818-845-2194
-Mike

[Robinhood4x4]

When is the last time you used your front locker?

[calrockx]

x2 for Four X Doctor being a good shop.

good luck with your leaky tube, or whatever it is.

[xonetruthcrewx]

When is the last time you used your front locker?


Last time i used the front locker was a week ago tomorrow. I was checking the torque on my wheel spacers and i locked the front locker so i could torque the spacer while i had the truck up on the hi lift. Thats it though. The last time i really used the front locker was for a brief moment at Pismo and before that, i used it a bit on Miller Jeep Trail back in early September.

I just find it odd that the leak started now and i really havent used the locker lately.

[BruceTS]

turn the locker on and watch the breather tube, if oil starts spewing out you got a leak......

[xonetruthcrewx]

Your oil leak is caused by the ARB; the gear may have been rubbing up against the copper tube that is inside the housing, just enough for it to file a hole in it. This hole when under pressure pushes the gear oil out the breather.

I had this problem a few years ago when ARB first started the 02 lockers for Tacomas, seems the instructions to place the hole for the tube was too close to the gear. Mike Duncan of Four X Doctor in Burbank discovered this and had ARB change the instuctions, then had to re-drill the hole after sealing the old hole with JB Weld.
Take your truck to him, he is the best gear man in town. 818-845-2194
-Mike



I completely understand what your saying, but in order for this to happen the locker would have to be locked. I havent used the locker let alone had it in 4wd.

[xonetruthcrewx]

turn the locker on and watch the breather tube, if oil starts spewing out you got a leak......


Damn Bruce, you always have the easy solution. I will check it out in the morning.

If that is the problem, im just gonna sell the damn truck. Im seriously sick of the little problems of a modified vehicle. Seriously.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Drove to work, no leaks. Locked all the lockers, no leaks. Left them locked for 12 minutes or so, compressor didnt cycle once. I really dont think i have any kind if air leak. Funny thing though, i did all the tests at work and then when i got home i checked things again. Still no leaks from the front. However, i had some gear oil coming out of the solenoid for the rear locker. Enough to make a small mess. (Which dosent take much) I really dont know what the hell is going on. Kinda pissing me off. Any other ideas?

[xonetruthcrewx]

No more ideas?

[Robinhood4x4]

Oil from the solenoids are pretty common. I'm sure the others will chime in about that.

[slosurfer]

Maybe the guys at work are just messing with you and putting oil in random spots just to watch you worry about it.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Yeah, seriously Chris. As random as this is.

I have had slight leakage from the solenoids before but this time it was actually enough to drip down onto the frame and there were a few drops on the ground. The most it was before was a little in the engine bay.

[neliconcept]

checked the axle tube on the right side where it connects to the diff?

[Bighead]

I had the same issue with my rear ARB solenoid. I did a couple of different things but I have no idea if all, one or none of them did the trick because it doesn't do it anymore.

1. I did not fill the diff to the lip of the fill hole. I left it at about 1/4" to 1/2" from the bottom of the fill hole.

2. I disconnected the blue line from the diff, put the end in a 2L soda bottle, turned on my compressor and engaged the locker to blow the oil out of the line. I then reattached the line and fittings to the rear diff.

All I have is a slight misting now when I disengage and that's it and the front solenoid has been bone dry since day 1. This bugged the hell out of me also but since it hasn't done it in a while I called it good. My compressor won't cycle for almost 30 minutes with both lockers engaged and there is no leakage from the breather so I don't think there is an air leak anywhere.

According to the manual it could be a bad o-ring/seal in the locker itself. You might need to bite the bullet and have it checked out by someone other than the original installer.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Well, its been two days now and i have tried everything i could think of to try and recreate the leak. Its just not happening. I locked both lockers today and timed how long it took for the compressor to cycle, 31 minutes. I definitely dont have any air leaks.

I did as you suggested Bighead and removed the air line from the rear diff. and then ran the compressor. There was a bit of oil that came out, so hopefully the line is clear of oil and that cuts down on the misting. I too have never had the front solenoid mist oil.

At this point this all is a god damned mystery. It has kind of gotten to me but hell, its not doing it anymore so i guess i will just let it go. Better a mystery than a serious problem.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback guys.

[SAR_Squid79]

checked the axle tube on the right side where it connects to the diff?


Yep - Also check the end of the tube where the CV goes in. You may have a small tear in the diff oil seal, and it will leak a little bit if it's tweaked just right, and could be hard to spot if you're not in 4WD. Mine did this in Moab. It leaked for a coule of days, and then stopped. It was my outer diff oil seal. A $5 part, and pretty easy fix.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Been a week and a half since the leak. Havent seen any sign of oil since i cleaned everything up. Even went wheeling last weekend. Nothing. Oh well.

[SAR_Squid79]

Maybe your diff was slightly overfilled and it's "regulated" istelf, and is now fine... :headscratch:

[xonetruthcrewx]

Last time i changed the oil in the diffs. was about 8 months ago. I didnt overfill them then and even if i did why would it wait this long to spit some out. I really dont think i will ever come to a conclusion as to why this happened.

[BruceTS]

you ran over a bottle of oil on the road and it splattered all up underneath.....hehe

[xonetruthcrewx]

^^^^
Haha, That was my first thought when i noticed the oil spots all over the trailer.