pinion oil seal

[johnnyrod]

I've got a leak from the differential, and Toyota are suggesting £370 plus VAT to fix it, are they having me on?

The pinion oil seal was weeping when I bought the truck (1994 2.4 2WD), and after a quick read of the Haynes joke book it looked pretty easy, so I go tthe oil seal (£10), had the prop shaft and flange off, and tried to fit it. It was a hell of a tight fit and in the end I wedged it in at an angle and couldn't remove it or square it up. Anyway, got another one, tried again, same result after more time, and now it's leaking a lot more than it was. I spoke to the local dealer today and they reckon that cos I've disturbed the pinion nut teh whole diff needs stripping to correct the preload/lash/whatever and something about a collapsible space behind the companion flange.

Frankly I think they're trying to take the pis* or is this really a much bigger deal than whacking in a new seal? The truck drives fine, and is smooth enough up to 80mph so as far as I know the bearings etc are okay. With the companion flange off and nut removed, there is a bit of slop in the pinion, I assumed that was normal when it was just hanging out of the diff.

Help! Cheers guys/guyesses

[Guest]

If it is the rear diff then it's not a difficult job and the preload can be set easy enough I am pretty sure. TonyN has done it a couple of times.

Tony. How did you do it??.

To drift the new seal in you need an appropriately sized socket with an O/D the same as the O/D of the seal. Then drift it in gently. Make sure you have it squared up first then give it a good wack and it should go in straight.

Cheers

[da SLUG man]

try another garage... fred in the shed's probably cheaper!

[NiftyNev]

I spoke to the local dealer today and they reckon that cos I've disturbed the pinion nut teh whole diff needs stripping to correct the preload/lash/whatever and something about a collapsible space behind the companion flange.

Help! Cheers guys/guyesses

Yes there is a collapsable spacer and preload has to be reset.I have not done this but think bearing and the spacer has to be removed as well.Probably a good idea to replace bearing spacer and seal in one go.I'm fairly sure this can all be done on vehicle without dismantling the diff.

Tony will probably know for sure.

Neville

[johnnyrod]

Just how big a deal is getting the preload right? If I get a garage to just replace the seal and put it all back as it was, is this going to be okay? Or is imminent disaster looming? Most of my miles are motorway miles so the thing does spin a lot.