3rd gen 4runner leaking rear main seal...

[Martinjmpr]

Took my 4runner in for a front end alignment after hitting a curb on some nasty ice. Alignment went fine but while it was there they mentioned that it looked like I had a small leak from my rear main seal (I noticed the oil on the garage floor but I figured it was probably just that the last time the oil was changed they didn't tighten the bolt down.)

My understanding (from research here and at t4r.org) is that this is not a terribly unusual problem with the 3rd gens, especially when they get to be at the age/mileage of mine (11 years/125k miles.)

Questions, then:

1. Am I right in thinking that this something I don't need to take care of right away? The leak is very minor - maybe a couple of drops every week or so. I check my oil level religiously every time I fill up and haven't noticed any drop in my oil level, so my thinking is that this isnt' something that is going to leave me stranded by the side of the road or on a trail somewhere, does that sound right?

2. What am I looking at, cost-wise, for a fix? Reading on T4r, apparently the tranny has to be dropped in order to fix it, so I'm assuming I'd be looking at a minimum of a $400 - $500 repair bill? (No, I won't do it myself, I can only just manage oil changes )

3. If I do have this work done, is there anything else I should have done while the tranny (auto) is out of the truck? Fluid/filter change, etc?

Thanks in advance...

 

[obscurotron]

The oil loss is minimal, so that won't leave you stranded. And since it's an auto, you won't be slinging oil onto a clutch disc and ruining it.

If you're running synthetic oil a switch to non-synth might slow or even stop the leak. As for cost, depends where you take it. It's several hours of labor due to the transmission R/R. Swapping the seal itself is like a 30 second job.

As for other work, nothing I can think of. The auto can be flushed while in place, so removing it doesn't gain you an extra maintenance window.

Took my 4runner in for a front end alignment after hitting a curb on some nasty ice. Alignment went fine but while it was there they mentioned that it looked like I had a small leak from my rear main seal (I noticed the oil on the garage floor but I figured it was probably just that the last time the oil was changed they didn't tighten the bolt down.)

My understanding (from research here and at t4r.org) is that this is not a terribly unusual problem with the 3rd gens, especially when they get to be at the age/mileage of mine (11 years/125k miles.)

Questions, then:

1. Am I right in thinking that this something I don't need to take care of right away? The leak is very minor - maybe a couple of drops every week or so. I check my oil level religiously every time I fill up and haven't noticed any drop in my oil level, so my thinking is that this isnt' something that is going to leave me stranded by the side of the road or on a trail somewhere, does that sound right?

2. What am I looking at, cost-wise, for a fix? Reading on T4r, apparently the tranny has to be dropped in order to fix it, so I'm assuming I'd be looking at a minimum of a $400 - $500 repair bill? (No, I won't do it myself, I can only just manage oil changes )

3. If I do have this work done, is there anything else I should have done while the tranny (auto) is out of the truck? Fluid/filter change, etc?

Thanks in advance...

 

[CYi5]

Feel free to follow along with my rear main seal leaks. I'll be dropping the transmission tomorrow with the help of a TTORA member to replace the seal.

 

[teotwaki]

There are treatments out there that you add to the oil to "revive" the rubber in the oil seals, swelling them a little so that they stop leaking.

 

[Martinjmpr]

There are treatments out there that you add to the oil to "revive" the rubber in the oil seals, swelling them a little so that they stop leaking.

I don't know, I'm very skeptical of products like that. Seems like the "cure" might be worse than the disease. A few drops of oil on the garage floor I can live with but if the "magic beans" they put in that stuff causes damage to the engine, it's going to hurt a whole lot more.

Is there a significant likelihood of damage if I just leave it be for now? My old Triumph (2001 Thunderbird) had a bunch of leaky seals, eventually I just ignored them - it wasn't worth the expense to get them fixed and they never leaked a lot...

 

[BajaRunner]

I've had a rear main leak for the past few years. I just dont have the desire to fix it myself, nor the desire to pay someone to drop the tranny.

It started happening after I did the amsoil engine flush to switch to synthetic. I then switched back to dyno and its not quite as bad as it was.

 

[Applejack]

The dealer quoted my friend $1,100 to do his. Yikes!! But another mechanic in town said it would be a $600 job.

 

[Grim Reaper]

The parts are about $20-40 depending on where you buy them. The rest is labor.

If it is like my 22R the whole back plate comes off. Check the drain holes back to the pan and make sure there is no sludge blocking them. If the drain holes are blocked it will start to get pressure behind the seal and make even a brand new seal leak.

 

[CYi5]

Just did the swap last weekend, check it out.