I would first double check to make sure that the leak was diagnosed correctly.
Replacing seals isnt too bad of a job. However, if this is your first time, i would look for a service manual for your vehicle or wait to see if someone on these forums can post a ‘How To’ for you.
The leaks seem to be on both sides of the differential. Had the wheels off a few days ago…no leaks at the wheel end.
The leaks is also very minor – only a drop or two while the vehicle is sitting in the driveway overnight…don’t want to neglect it either as I don’t want to have to replace a rear differential!
I have 109,000 kms on the vehicle…the warranty expired 9,000 kms ago. I asked my local Toyota dealer if they could help me out…they were completely uncooperative.
I’m confused whey you say “leaking from both sides”, do you mean at the front and rear of the differential where it connects to the driveshaft? If so and the front seal is leaking this may be beyond you in that you would need to remove the pinion yolk, if that is the case then you would likely need a new crush sleeve if it has one then you need to re-torque the assembly so that you get the right amount of crush on the new sleeve. In short to replace a seal it may be quite a bit of work, not impossible just a lot of work for a seal.
Maybe I’m not using the correct terms. The shaft from the front of the vehicle comes into the differential – this location is not leaking. From the differential there’s a shaft to each rear wheel – it’s the seals on these shafts that are leaking.
After much research, I realized that this work is far beyond my capabilities. I had a local mechanic do the work – it took him over 5 hours to take everything apart, replace two $16 seals and put everything back together.
I hope that this doesn’t have to be done too often!