Front drive shaft free play and leaking pinion seal

Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 15:43

ThreadID: 109680 Views:3105 Replies:5 FollowUps:6

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dbmaxpayne

Hey guys,

I've just come back from my "Trip to the Tip" and am in Cairns right now.
Going down the CREB track I all of a sudden noticed this distinctive gear oil smell and had a quick look.
Unfortunately the front pinion seal is buggered.
Whilst under the car, I also noticed, that the drive shaft has about 1/8th turn freeplay.
Dunno if this is normal or still within acceptable ranges?
The front gear oil is really dark and muddy. I had only changed it about 15.000km ago. Rear diff oil still looks good. Almost no freeplay there.
Maybe some water got into the diff, too, whilst doing those notorious creek crossings up there.
Also the passenger side's swivel hub is leaking again (not badly and has been for a few months already). Both only got rebuilt last November by Toyota...

So my question now is, what I can and should do about it.
I would probably be able to put a new pinion seal in, but what about the preload?
Would it be alright to just tighten the nut a whisker past the original point?
I cannot really spend any big dollars right now, but need to get it fixed for at least another ~5.000k's.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Mark

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Reply By: pop2jocem - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 16:03

Reply By: dbmaxpayne - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 16:30

Reply By: Bludge - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 17:17

Reply By: dbmaxpayne - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 18:06

Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 18:06

Thanks alot so far.
Will drop the shaft tomorrow and have a look at that. Getting dark now^^

However, spending big dollars is impossible atm, so would rather do it myself :/

Is black oil always a sign of water dilution?
I've seen watered oils before and they looked different... but maybe some grease from the swivel hub went through the seal?

AnswerID: 539772

Follow Up By: Member - Nutta - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 21:52

Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 21:52

I think the oil goes pasty white when water gets in.

FollowupID: 825422

Follow Up By: B1B2 - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 22:16

Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 22:16

Mark,
Black oil is NOT a sign of water dilution. Emulsified white IS.

Good Luck,

Bill

FollowupID: 825423

Follow Up By: Life Member - Terry 80FTE - Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 22:31

Wednesday, Oct 01, 2014 at 22:31

Drop the shaft, feel the resistance to turn flange in the free play range, back and forth, the extra freeply is probably due to some wear in the CV's and hub splines. don't worry at the moment.
Also feel for movement up and down, shouldn't be any, if it has some it definitely needs more load on the nut.
unstake and undo the nut, remove flange and replace seal, reassemble and tighten the nut "just" past the original point as you mentioned, and rotate and feel the resistance to turn within the free play range again, new seal will add a bit , but give it more in slight incraments until you get a bit off drag, i.e. slight preload.
Stake nut ,refit shaft.
probably best to change oil anyway,
Hope that gets you home ok.
Cheers

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FollowupID: 825424

Follow Up By: Member Kerry W (WA) - Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 00:43

Thursday, Oct 02, 2014 at 00:43

Hi DBMax

Black Oil in a front diff is a sign of wear internally, be interesting to see what comes of your investigation. If drive shaft has that much freeplay and the oil is very black things could be getting a bit worn somewhere in there.

Oil is cheap.... in the long run...!