I took my car to the dealer for a diagnostic test and i was told my rear differential was leaking and they want $432 to fix it. I looked under to see if i could see the leak and i can see that the case is wet. Is there a way to fix the seals ?Because i really dont have the $432 the dealer wants so im lookin for an alternative fix that i could have my mechanic do. Any suggestions???

 

if it's just the gasket that's broken you can get the Toyota Sealant gasket gel to re-seal it.
It costs about $15bucks for the tube.
You will basically have to take the rear diff out of the car. (you may be able to get away with just unbolting the front driveshaft and the bolts securing the diff to the chasis and rear cross member. Install and uninstall procedures can be found here.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...hreadid=125532

the rear diff housing has 8 bolts. Remove these bolts and scrape off the old gasket(don't get any of them in the gears) and re seal with the gasket gel and tighten the bolts to 34ft/lbs of torque.

You can do this yourself if you have the proper tools. it will take maybe 6 hours. Make sure you have 1 or 2 friends who are willing to get dirty with you.
good luck.

alternatively you can use some sort of sealant and put it around the seal and if you are lucky you may be able to get away with it... most likely not.

 

What VSsc400 has posted above is correct. The link is quite good aswell, but if your going to try this yourself then you may need a few pics to help you out.

Try this and see if its any better.

http://www.toyotaimportsforum.co.uk/...highlight=diff

Let us know how you get on with it.

 

that's a kick *** link.

Use a jackstand or a jack with a big dish instead of a cut up 2x4... much safer.

 

what would be some of the performance differences that i should be experiencing? Because if the dealer didnt tell me or if it was not visible i wouldnt have known what to look for.

 

Not too sure about the performance losses associated with a leaking diff. I have heard of some people saying that a lack of fluid in the diff will make the accelaration of the car noticably slower. But then to be honest with you a lack of fluid on the diff will also bring your car to a complete stop when it goes "BANG" shortly afterwards.

In any case though... get this done as soon as and when your draining your diff of the old fluid you'd best be hoping and praying that no metal teeth start falling out with it. If they do then bye-bye diff.

Good Luck.