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Yeah, the only reason I didn't raise any stink is because I had a warranty and it only cost me the $100 deductible. Honestly, the only worthwhile thing I got out of the dealership is a free loaner. I guess the big drawback is I've burned up most of my available transmission warranty money on this fix so I hope I never run into any other transmission issues.
The dealership did one of their full checks and told me my radiator was leaking and my drive axle boots are breaking down and throwing grease around. Neither of which my independent mechanic has ever noted. It's been cold as ***** here so I haven't had a chance to get underneath and take a look for myself but I've had no issues related to either of those and the warranty company rejected the potential claim on the radiator as it's "just leaking". I get the impression they were looking really hard for things to try to make a claim on but like I said, I haven't looked for myself yet to see what I'm dealing with. If the drive axle needs work, I may take a run at that myself.
yes good call on warranty, your not likely to have leak again once new o-rings are in, just alot of work to split the T-case open and replace. when my gx was leaking i figured worth trying the twist pull and if it didnt work i could always just split it open. i replaced both my radiator and CV's last 5k miles. radiator leak is a known issue on GX's after 140K miles and I just bought CV's pair on amazon and radiator on ebay. incredible deals on both and installer said quality was rebranded OEM parts.
So my Lexus has about 82k on it, really, really low for the year. Do you mind me asking the name and brand of the radiator's and drive axles you got? About how much were they and how much to install if you didn't do any of it yourself.
Thanks!
So my Lexus has about 82k on it, really, really low for the year. Do you mind me asking the name and brand of the radiator's and drive axles you got? About how much were they and how much to install if you didn't do any of it yourself.
Thanks!
Thanks to all in this thread! Although my vehicle is a 2003 Landcruiser, its central diff is identical to what is discussed here. And the info here has been very valuable to me.
My main takeaways from the thread are:
- Oil leaks between the Central Diff Lock (CDL) and CDL-actuator are quite common
- these leaks usually occur due to a failing O-ring (identified as part 36410N)
- some have observed that the plastic cover plate that is supposed to keep the O-ring in place is warped, leaving a crack where the O ring can slide into so that it no longer seals even if the O-ring is ok
- although less common, the shaftseal (part not identified, but 15x23x7 NBR will fit) may fail as well, in this case the actuator will be flooded with oil and leak
- the official way to fix this requires removing and splitting the central diff, there is a TSB describing the procedure
- many report to have replaced the O-ring using a shortcut manner that involves removing only 3 12mm bolts. In this case the shaft is separated from the actuator
- a few reports that they have fixed the leak by only loosening the 3 bolts and applying liquid gasket
So this is my story:
I had oil leaking from the CDL actuator as well and went for the shortcut manner to fix it. After loosening the 3 bolts and moving the actuator about 3 cm I heard a metallic clonk. Maybe this was the diff going to its default (locked) position. I don’t know. Getting the actuator from the shaft required some fiddling but no great force. I could definitely hear a rasping sound when it came loose, maybe the tooth of the plastic gear while the clock spring was unwinding.
In my case the black plastic cover plate that prevents the O ring from sliding away was warped and left an opening of 2 mm on top. The O-ring was stuck in this opening. Probably this was causing the leak. I have replaced the shaft seal and the O ring. I also glued the plastic cover to the actuator body to keep it in place. Used 2-component epoxy for this. I have not opened the actuator.
Assembly in the car was easy. No disturbing sounds were heard. The car drives ok, however when pushing the diff lock button the CDL light starts blinking, The VSC-off warning light does not appear, and as far as I can tell by driving around the CDL does not engage. Pushing the diff lock button again and CDL light is off (as it is supposed to). Lying down beside the car, one can hear the CDL actuator when someone else pushes the diff lock button.
It would be great if I could get the CDL to work properly again. Does anybody know of a trick that I might try at this stage?
Also I am curious about the following:
- Some people report that CDL blinking light problems disappear by themselves. Is there any way this mechanism might be self calibrating?
- As far as I can tell, the CDL has no sensors and all information that is available comes from the contacts in the actuator, so if the CDL light is off this is because the actuator thinks CDL is not engaged, and when VSCoff light+CDL light is on this is because the actuator sensor detects CDL is engaged
- As far as I can see on the pics in this thread there are no sensors that measure the position of the shaft directly and all sensors/switches are driven by the gears in the actuator. So when the relative position of gears and shaft is changed the sensors might be out of sync
- There is a clock spring in the actuator. Does it drive the final gear? then this gear might allow for some rotation without damaging the actuator. Maybe enough even to remove the shaft
- Has anybody removed the actuator from the shaft with the wiring harness still connected and then tried to operate the CDL button? I didn’t dare. But it might be an easy way to move the actuator to its locked or unlocked position depending on what is needed for assembly
Any comments are welcome.
Last edited by JacobDIY; 03-02-20 at 07:27 AM.
Reason: typo
Update March 10:
I have found a method to retime the actuator and it worked for me. I can switch the CDL off and on again and tested the result when the car was on jackstands.
The only issue I had was to get the shaft in the housing through the new NBR seal. There is an edge on the shaft where it widens to 15 mm and this will get stuck on the seal.No way to get it in without doing damage to the seal. I used some tape to guide it and that worked.
Once the shaft is inserted the gears can be inserted. The advantage of the method is that no force is needed so there is no risk of doing damage. I guess the reverse procedure would also be the best way to get actuator from the car in the first place.
02-26-19, 05:04 PM
