How to Replace Toyota Pinion Oil Seal in Rear Differential/3rd Member

Today I replace the leaking pinion oil seal on the rear diff of my 1985 Toyota Pickup 4wd. I replace the seal without replacing the pinion crush sleeve and having to reset all the preloads, requiring complete disassembly of the 3rd member. If you're interested in the full disassembly and re-assembly of the rear differential, I uploaded scans of the factory service manual here:

Parts/Tools used:
- Pinion nut & washer
- two 14mm wrenches
- Hammer
- small chisel or punch
- 30mm socket
- 2-bolt puller
- seal puller or flathead screwdriver
- 54mm socket
- rubber mallet
- 24mm wrench or socket+ratchet
- Gear Oil (I used 75w90)

Here are some other Toyota videos you may find helpful:

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[mytoob]

Fantastic video. No annoying music or pointless "production" tricks and NO vertical video. Just the info, clear and concise. Give yourself a pat on the back mate. Well done.

[Dwigt_Rortugal]

I was dreading this process, but then I saw that your video isn't too long. I'm very relieved that I don't have to take the entire thing apart. Thank you!

[jacobdionne]

Toyota Master Tech here. The u joint does not have to maintain the same alignment with the pinion flange. It’s only when you’re disassembling a driveshaft that you have to make sure everything is indexed properly. The driveshaft is not balanced while attached to the pinion flange so that is why it doesn’t matter. If you noticed in your video, you do not necessarily reinstall the pinion flange on the same pinion splines so it makes no difference.

[ThisOldYota]

This has to be the cleanest undercarriage that I’ve seen

[andrewgriffiths]

This video was super helpful. Love the tip about the 54mm socket to get the seal in, was having no luck with other methods. It did made the job a breeze once I got it.

[andybub]

It’s actually not as important to count the turns on the nut as it may seem. The crush washers are pretty stiff, if you just run it back down and don’t hammer on it too much with an impact, you’ll be fine. But I’d put a mark on the nut and the pinion shaft so you have a good idea of where the nut was. Toyotas diffs aren’t very sensitive, thankfully.

[mazen]

Good work dude, I had a dripping oil from my differential, not much really, one drop a day, on a clean surface, that's too much. I have 84 Toyota Cressida, its differential is as your pickup, it uses the same oil seal number.
I was encouraged by your video, to do the job, I did it exactly as you did. The shiny nut, took little torque to loose, I didn't bother counting the turns, just remember the place, no way to be missed, I had a very hard time removing the old seal, I freezed the new seal for easy fit, I retightened the shiny 24 mm nut, again not the torque you stated, but with the torque it needed to put it, where it was before, removing the pinion was very easy, no tool was needed . And something, that you didn't mention, which is to empty the oil from the diff. Before you start, I created a mess by that . And pour a new gear oil in it, around 1.4 L , to keep diff. And seals in good shape .
Thanks again for posting this video.

[djr]

Engineers who write the manuals make everything so absurdly complicated. Great video and tutorial.

[PostalRedneck]

When I was redoing my Tahoe's rear axle pinion seal I put the nut back on with an impact and ever since the rear pinion seal leaks and I can move the driveshaft up and down at the yoke. I didn't know better back then but believe it or not I still have not fixed it. Been running the truck like that for about 12 years now. Man them 14 bolts are tough.

[clayton]

Simple enough, I’ve heard it can b done easily,
Mine just started leaking, thanks for the great video

[jamesburbank]

Sweet video. I'll need to do this soon on my 88 dually resto-mod. Very helpful! Please make some proper triangular/wedge wheel chocks though. Wayyy safer than 2x4s. You're too valuable to lose to a shop accident! Thanks for all your videos and stay safe!

[GentiluomoStraniero]

Very helpful. I was about to go hog wild on a friend's differential and tear the whole thing apart for that front oil seal.

[haydenrandolph]

Well hopefully I can fix mine this weeknd. Not a big mechanic person trying to learn to do it all on my own. Thanks for the videos man they help alot.

[andrewharris]

Thanks for all the information and the other videos. Definitely makes it A LOT easier to work on my own truck so i don't get the stiffy from a mechanic

[danieldooling]

Great vid
Doing this tomorrow on my 96 uk mk3.
I don’t need to rush out and but a puller do I, I can just gently tap it off

[oldowl]

Well explained! I have the same truck and I’m about to do this. And while I have the FSM’s too, this video is certainly well worth 1, 000 words! It looks like I need to order that wheel bearing socket first. I don’t see what else I could improvise with to set the seal, ..maybe 2 or 3” PVC pipe and a cap.

[jamesh]

Because you cannot see the condition of the shaft where the (oil seal lip rides on the shaft), it could be grooved and may cause the new seal to leak sooner than later. It's best to drive the new oil seal in flush with the housing. It will allow the new seal lip to ride on a different location on the shaft.

[MrTibbz]

this was great i need to replace seal on my 89 supra this was just what i was looking for! thankyou

[danielgreen]

Awesome work I’m really looking forward to working on my 86 four-wheel-drive original 130 3000 miles with air-conditioning mind you I can’t wait to watch that video

[lathamarea]

Don't forget to check breather on top, (my 08 doesn't have a hose) it should spin freely..If clogged it will also cause seal failure..i removed mine and used Gunk spray to loosen it..