DLX 4WD terc in victoria, bc

[danzo]

rear brake shoes are soaked in oil

Sunray - my rear axle just started leaking gear oil onto the rear brakes too. What failed seal would cause this? I looked in the FSM and it wasn't really clear. I just want to replace the seals since the bearings aren't making any noise (leak recently began). Difficult?

Thanks and hopefully you get that car - I happen to like the color FWIW. MR2 wheels look great on a T4wd, I may slap some on mine eventually.

[Petros]

Danzo

If you are getting gear oil (not brake fluid), it comes from the axle seal. This is behind the rear axle bearing. You remove the (4) 12mm nuts (and bolts) that holds the brake backer plate on the axle housing and the axle and bearing comes out, and you can see the seal just inside the bearing seat in the axle housing. You can check the condition of the bearing when the axle is out by rolling it by hand to see how smooth it turns (any roughness in the bearing means it needs to be replaced, the sleeve and bearing are pressed off the axle). The bearing itself is sealed and is not lubricated by the diff oil, and why the seal is inside the bearing.

The axle has to come all the way out to check/replace the seal, replacing the seal is it self is easy (and it does not cost much). It only takes about 15-20 min to pull the axle (presuming the axle is not rusted into the seat, a puller helps if so, but not usually necessary).

Good luck.

[sunray]

Petros is right on all that. The only thing that I would add is that the axle seal runs on the bearing retaining collar. So if the collar is pitted then you may as well replace the bearing (comes with a collar). Oh, and never press the collar and bearing off together. This results in a damaged axle. Instead you cut the collar, split it, press the bearing off, then press the new bearing on, heat the collar and drop it on the axle. Allow to cool and done.

At the high mileage that most Toyotas are at from the 80's these types of things are pretty typical.

[danzo]

Thanks for the tips guys. It has the distinct smell of gear oil - if it leaked this much brake fluid I would have been tatooed onto the rear end of an 18 wheeler long ago!

I plan to take care of this soon since I really don't want to drive the car the way it is. Hopefully the bearings are OK since my car has only 117k miles, the 4wd was rarely used, and there's no rust. Plus I need to do all of the brakes.

[sunray]

Someone sent me a pm today but when I went to check it there was nothing in my inbox. Whoever it was please send another.

[sunray]

So I picked up the tercel today. I brought it to the shop and pulled the right rear axle and the bearing fell apart.





It appears that someone amateur installed this bearing and I could see damage to the axle shaft from a previous repair. Note the collar is on backwards, lulz! Also the axles seals were both leaking because they had not been installed fully. So I split the collar and remains of the bearing.



New bearing and collar installed.



Found that someone had speedy sleeved the collar on the left side but had installed the seal wrong. Stupid.



While I was there I decided to replace the distributor o-ring that was leaking ands replace all 8 valve seals due to some blue when idling for a long period.





Found this little devil inside the valve cover next to the #1 intake vakve spring.



Took some pictures of the worst of the rust and some of the body.





Anyone want to buy some aw11 wheels with pretty new crappy tire boots? lol!