Leaking diff, all parked up

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

Hi
ive a December 1999, 95 series prado diesel manual.
It was making just a slightly funny sound on the way to the shops in town. After i had done my quick shop i came out and saw a puddle under the right front. I thought it was the previous car parked there Aircon dripping as im too cheap to run aircon.
I decided to check it though and it was gear oil and it was coming from my diff end where it joins to the inner cv.

Ive read an excellent thread on here for replacing the CV joint. I can follow all that fine but i need to go a bit deeper as I have found a bit of play in the diffs outer bearing when compared to the passenger side so i want to change the drivers side bearing and the seal.
Any tips please?
Do i need to remove that short stub end of the diff or can i use a bearing puller to get it out after removing the snap ring?
I really dont want to buy a bearing puller if it wont work.

Thanks a lot. Im in the country with one road legal car out of action so im quite keen on getting it up and going as the fine for driving my old hilux would be quite high

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

The short bit of the diff seems to have four bolts on it by the middle housing of the diff and two bolts on an arm by the inner cv holding it on

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

Well i got into it. I will write up what ive found as i cant find another thread on this.
I started by following this excellent thread which got me to the point of cvs removed and the seal being accessible.
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...5-Series-Prado

What i found in practice here was that the nut to take off the axle 35mm was too much for my half drive and it broke the swivel pin on it. Luckily i had a 3/4 " drive and that got it off. Im pretty sure a good quality half " drive would be fine. I only used a small breaker bar too (unlike the one in that thread) and it came undone pretty easy.
I couldnt do it with the tire on the ground as the breaker bar was pressed out too far by the tire so i put a thick screwdriver in between the rotor and the brake caliper to stop the hub turning and did it with the tire off.


My Prado is the ABS type. i kept the ABS attached as they are hundreds of dollars if they break. I removed and attached the caliper to the shock absorber and i also slid off the rotor to take weight off the hub as shown in that thread. The ABS wire just clips onto the part where the brake hose cable holds on to the strut. Just squeeze the plastic clip by the metal to free it from the metal bracket so it wont move when you move the brake calliper.
With the lower four bolts removed the hub pulled out easy and the CV I pushed in to release it through the hub.
To remove the CV joint i just hammered a thick screwdriver in between cv and diff and it came out easy.
At this point you can pry the diff seal out and replace it but ask yourself why did it fail. Is there any difference in play with the other side. With the CVs in, can you press up further than the other side?
My good side seal (passengers side) has only negligible up down play.

I will write up about the bearing change next.
Note i had another support further back not seen in the photo as i did not want to be under there and relying on one jack to stop the car squashing my head

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

I then set about removing the short stub shaft housing off the diff. It had four bolts which seemed to be 17mm and two larger ones by the tire end of the diff (these two came off easy).

The group of four ones werent too hard to remove but if you have time id suggest putting some penetrating spray on the day before especially if you dont have a very good socket set. One of them i could not remove until after i had removed the cv joint. As i could then put an extension on and use the torque bar through where the cv was. This was the top rear bolt.
Once all the bolts were removed i gave a few taps on the end of the shaft where it joins onto the diff housing and it came loose.
There is a bit of gasket goo holding it together

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

With the short stub housing/sleeve removed from the diff I then removed the seal from it. I needed to use the reverse forks on a hammer to pry it out. It had a worn part where the spring was poking through which was why it was such a bad leak.
Once the seal was out i then set about removing the two snap rings at the end of the shaft to get the bearing out.
You will need proper split ring pliers for these.
To remove the little side driveshaft from the diff bearing, after the split ring was removed, entailed the use of a good whack with some soft wood. A brass drift would be ideal.
After the shaft was out I then turned the housing upside down and with a long bit of wood through the housing gave the bearing a little hit and the bearing came out easy.
It definitely had noticeable slop in it which would of caused the seal failure.
Ive attached a close up so you can get the numbers off it. I got it a lot cheaper from an engineering shop than going genuine.



Next step is cleaning up the faces which have gasket goo on them and cleaning all the parts up, while waiting for the parts to arrive.
Ive bought the diff oil, the fill diff plug is a 10mm hex. I soaked mine overnight in penetrating oil (CRC) and it came off easy with a long arm allen key and a socket and extension on the end of that.
I will update about reinstall in due course

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

The parts i ordered have arrived. So they were incorrect. The Engineering shop had matched things up wrong. Now ive had them out i could give them the proper dimensions. What they found was that they are very unusual sizes and they dont stock them nor can they seem to get them.
The bearings are 80mm OD, 41mm ID and 17mm width. The 41mm is a very unusual size, which is quite typical of Toyota, meaning they want to force you to shop genuine.
Ive found a after market supplier who is a lot, alot cheaper so i will pick up the parts early next week so will update when im at that stage.
The seal which was from a different supplier only came with the new inner seal. The seal actually has a thick metal outer ring outside that rubber seal too. I couldnt find out a way to join them with confidence so i have gone with a supplier who knew what i meant about this when i talked to them.
I suggest when you order this seal for the drivers side that you check it has the outer metal rim on it.
The OD is 80cm. (Same as the bearings OD). Il check iD when i get it

Attached is a picture of the seal they sent me and the old seals metal rim (the two rings on the left make up the outer rim from which i had ripped the broken seal out of to try and install the new one.). I strongly suggest you buy them as a complete sealed unit, to do so check with the supplier that the OD is 80mm.


This next photo shows the two snap rings that hold the bearing in and the little driveshaft that goes from inside the short stub housing to the main diff housing. It is next to those split rings (below the CV joints).
The Short stub housing can be seen on the right, the top showing clearly where the bearing normally sits in and the seal sits on top of that.


Il update tues or wednesday as parts wont be here til then

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

Got the parts back home so time for update.
Ive started by putting the bearing back on the shaft, tapping it on using the old bearing and putting the snap ring back on when it got to where it needs to go.

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

I then double checked i had cleaned the stub housing, i put my metal pickup magnet through it to check no shaving or pieces of metal had got past my cleaning attempts.
I next put the bearing back in the housing. It slipped right in which is a bit of a concern as a bearing needs both faces to be held tight. It seems to be holding still in there when i spin the shaft so it is hopefully ok.

I then put the big snap ring in that holds in the bearing and short drive shaft



Note the bearing, as normally, came pre- greased

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

The seal is a after market one. And it is a hard rubber exterior to the full 80mm over a metal insert. Here are the inner and outer sides. Inner is the 2nd photo.


It does present one issue. The old seal had a wider outside edge lid on one end so it was obvious which way to put it but more importantly it enabled you to know how far to push it in as the lid would stop when it went to the right level. The lid is a bit wider than 80mm so this couldnt go further into the housing.
Luckily the part the seal rides on, pointed to in this photo, shows that there is quite a large margin of error here.



My plan at this stage is to knock it approximately in to a level it would be at if it did have a lid on top of the seal. Bascially the top of the seal will sit where the housing goes from being a bit wider down to 80mm wide

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

The end of the cv shaft has another raised ridge as it joins on to the cv-joint housing.

This very closest and widest ridge is narrow and is where it seems the outer dust part of the seal covers over.
Ive knocked mine down to where i think it will be the right place.

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

Its getting dark so ive put on hold the install until tomorrow.
Ive covered up the seal so no dirt gets in there on reinstall, ive also supported the end of the short driveshaft so that the bearing is not taking all that downward force, that it dosent normally, overnight tonight.



Ive put on a new clip on the end of the cv joints. This part i got from Toyota. I just pushed it on.


If you look inside the end of the small driveshaft here you might just see where the splines stop and there is a groove where the clip sits in and keeps the cv shaft in place.


Next step in the morning will be to remove the cover i had put on the diff seal to make sure no dirt etc got in there while i had the short stub housing out.
I will then put gasket goo around the faces and reinstall the reassembled housing.
Il post back then.
I probably should of drained the diff so no oil get into the gasket goo on reinstall and just for good practice too.

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

The next day dawns, once it was hot enough to lie on the ground under the engine i started off by putting gasket goo on the housing end.


I then put it back where it belongs. It went in easy, i turned the housing a bit so that the splines on the shaft and in the diff housing lined up by feel and it slid in. The last inch needed a slightly harder push. I then tightened it up, i dont know the torque vaues i just did it pretty tight. I then did the two larger bolts that hold it up on the cv end.


I next removed the paper towel cover and i gave the seal and the cv end a good coating of axle oil. I did this as the seal would otherwise be rubbing dry on the diff until the oil got to it which could be quite a few revs.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Mikey I have nothing to offer but thanks for the detailed write up.

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

Ive now to put the wheel and cv area back together i started again following Glens excellent thread on changing the cvs
http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...5-Series-Prado.

The CV shaft to get back in i did exactly like he did in the video and it went in first time. It pushed in about 2 centimetres and then stopped, i then did that push in technique and it went right in and locked in properly.

Here is a photo of the ABS wire clip that i had undone to move the brake caliper.

[MikeyB Member Find all posts View Profile Close MikeyB]

Mikey I have nothing to offer but thanks for the detailed write up.

Thanks MJrandom, im glad it hasnt being blacklisted for poor diction or many other things!

i thought that i was going to finish the job and be back on the road enjoying the 10 year improvements in comfort of the prado over my 1989 hilux, until, while tightening up the bash plate, (yes the last part of reinstall) i looked to the rear....... and saw some moisture on the back passenger side tire.
I finished off the front install and then with a bit of intrepidation walked around to the back passenger tire to see what this moisture was. It was a hot day so i was surprised it (hopefully being water) hadnt burnt away. When i got to the tire i notice that there was a darker colour texture where the moisture was holding the dirt. It didnt look like it would be a nice surprise. You can see the darker shade in this photo.


I then got back down on my knees and looked under the back l/h wheel. Not a pleasing view


I smelt the oil and checked the brakefluid level under the bonnet. The brake fluid level was still at the full level and it smelt like gear oil, so it looks as though im about to get familiar with the back diff seals.

What has happened is that i left my car on a slight tilt on the farm so that the oil would not seep out the front diff with the stub housing removed. This has enabled the failing rear diff seal to show up. I will now start looking into that, I cant seem to find a post on replacing the rear seals so i will do another one for them so thanks for the encouragement MJrandom