rear axle seal leakage?

[bobzworld]

Beginning of the week I've been getting a wierd shaking/jittering sensation when I accelerate off the line at a stop light. It is not very dramatic and only noticable if I apply the right amount of throttle and pay attention. 3 days ago on the freeway i was cruising at about 60mph and on the throttle. The lane was very bumpy and when I would accelerate, it seemed like the car was braking and i couldnt accelerate. It seems as if the car was bogging but not misfiring (no cel were thrown). This symptom would go away as soon as I let go of the gas and reapply throttle.

Checked transmission fluid. Looks good and it doesnt feel like a transmission slipping. It feels like brakes are dragging or coming on in the rear. During the wierd sensation I felt no abs lights flashed and I could not hear the abs unit engage.

After that day I parked in the garage i could smell a wierd smell coming from the passenger rear tire well area. Visual inspection shows not grease or fluid. But the smell was strong that day, the past 3 days the smell is very faint, i can barealy smell it at all.

Here is a picture after i pulled the rear passenger tire and drum cover. No visual signs of fluid however i rubbed my finger around and can feel like fluid mixed with dust and its kinda damp on teh cover. Feeling behind the hub thing gave me greasy slippery fingers.








This enough evidence to replace my rear seal? what explains the wierd jittering boggin sensation?


Also is it safe to put my jack stand on the rear axle like this? I read around that its okay to jack from the axle but not too sure....dont want to bend or damage that axle lol

[CJM]

Yep, needs a new seal. I would check the shaft for play as well, pull it in and out-and side to side it shouldnt move to much. You will have to clean the heck out of the brake shoes and backing plate as well. get some 60grit sandpaper and clean the shoes about 20x to be sure you get all the fluid out. Or you can bake them in the oven at a low temp for about 15 mins-but then your house may stink of gear oil.

Yes you can put your jack on there, put the stands under there and then remove it tho as its more stable on stands.

[bobzworld]

Ok. I gotta replace the seal and check for play. Do those shoes look liek they still got a good amount of life in them? (This is my first vehicle with drum brakes....) Maybe i should get new ones...cleaning the old ones with sandpaper or baking doesnt really sound too fun.

[CJM]

Shoes look ok, could replace them and not have to clean the bejesus out of them. Shoes are cheap, like 35 dollars and somewhat easy to replace if you have the right tools (harbor freight sells a brake kit for 15 dollars thats nice).

[MTL_4runner]

I had a similar issue with mine and that is definately a leaking axle seal. In addition to replacing the axle seals (make sure to do both sides at the same time) you will also want to check both wheel bearings. You do this by removing the axle, placing the studs face down on the pavement and rock the backing plate to check for play. It should rotate freely but should not have any play in other planes (if so you should replace the bearing too). The bearings often go bad when the axle seals start leaking because the diff oil needs to go through the bearing (thus washing out all the grease) in order to show as an external leak. If they are still ok you will want to try and repack the bearing with grease if possible to prevent further damage. Once they have leaked, most dealers will automatically replace the wheel bearing at the same time they do the seals.

When the shoes get wet with oil it is always a good idea to replace them and seeing as you are getting towards the end of those shoes, it would be a good idea to do it all at the same time. Make sure to grease the adjusters and the wear pads on the backing plate to ensure smooth operation of the rear brakes.

[4x4mike]

Bearings

Seals

[jrock]

i recenty did my inner and outer seals, and bearings. These links helped.

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/mainte...wheel_bearing/


This is actually for the inner altho it says outer.
http://www.4runners.org/writeups/rearseal/index.htm

Did u already do diff breather mod?

[bobzworld]

Nope havn't done the diff breather mod yet. Thanks for the helpful links and tips guys. Ill check for play in the bearings, hopefully i caught it early enough so that my bearing isnt too bad and i can just repack it for now.

Anyone have toyota part numbers for the rear axle inner, outer seal, and bearings?

[4x4mike]

The bearings are sealed cartridges so there is no repacking. The bearings and seals that are on the axle shaft need to be pressed off and new ones pressed on.

[CJM]

Word of warning, call multiple machine shops about pressing the bearings-I called 10 and found one!