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From: Jay on 9 Jun 2007 13:48
I discovered that I was losing differential fluid when I went to drain
and refill the dif and only got about 8 ounces of fluid out. I
refilled and wiped down everything around the dif. After driving for a
few days I found evidence of new Dexron leaking from the driver's side
front axle. I had a mechanic put it on a lift and he showed me where
the axle shaft had about 1/4" of sideways play in it. He's telling me
that the dif carrier needs to be reolaced to the tune of $800 ($400)
in parts. When the car is sitting flat, I'm unable to get the axle to
move at all. Also there has been no gear whine or unusual noises from
the drivetrain. I would think that if the dif were worn that bad, that
I would have some symptoms. I got an estimate of $150 just to replace
the axle seal. Would I just be throwing money away to attempt the seal
replacement first ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I bought
the Camry 6 months ago and so far have put about $1900 into it.
From: Jason James on 9 Jun 2007 18:31

"Jay" <jlfowler72(a)bcpl.net> wrote in message
news:h3pl63dv5bfmp3rc8ofupf62ipagt075kf(a)4ax.com...
> I discovered that I was losing differential fluid when I went to drain
> and refill the dif and only got about 8 ounces of fluid out. I
> refilled and wiped down everything around the dif. After driving for a
> few days I found evidence of new Dexron leaking from the driver's side
> front axle. I had a mechanic put it on a lift and he showed me where
> the axle shaft had about 1/4" of sideways play in it. He's telling me
> that the dif carrier needs to be reolaced to the tune of $800 ($400)
> in parts. When the car is sitting flat, I'm unable to get the axle to
> move at all. Also there has been no gear whine or unusual noises from
> the drivetrain. I would think that if the dif were worn that bad, that
> I would have some symptoms. I got an estimate of $150 just to replace
> the axle seal. Would I just be throwing money away to attempt the seal
> replacement first ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I bought
> the Camry 6 months ago and so far have put about $1900 into it.

While the diff itself is OK,.the driveshafts have an expanding snap-ring on
their ends which are suppose to securely hold the axle in the diff which has
a corresponding machined groove to hold the aaxle and ring. Sometime
earlier, either someone left the snap-ring off thus allowing the axle to
"work" up and down in the diff, hence causing wear on the axle splines
and/or the diff splines. The the axle may have sustained a hit, breaking the
ring. In either case I would first remove the driveshaft and inspect it on
the diff-end for wear or damage. It maybe a new driveshaft and ring will
seat firm enough to fix the problem, with a new seal. Some locktight might
work.

Because the axle is longer on the otherside, they use an outside support
bearing. A good idea for both sides really.

Jason


From: johngdole on 10 Jun 2007 17:21
Now when people started talking about modifying the original design
that's not a good sign. In the US the support bearing is only used on
the passenger side. I personally would head to a different mechanic.

Jason is right in that maybe whoever worked on it left the snap ring
off or it worked itself off. But old seals need to be replaced and the
drive axle inspected first for damage and missing snap ring.

If you have a mechanically inclined friend and free loaner tools from
AutoZone, a little Googling shows as little as 30-45 minutes is what
it takes to pull the axle.



On Jun 9, 10:48 am, Jay <jlfowle...(a)bcpl.net> wrote:
> I discovered that I was losing differential fluid when I went to drain
> and refill the dif and only got about 8 ounces of fluid out. I
> refilled and wiped down everything around the dif. After driving for a
> few days I found evidence of new Dexron leaking from the driver's side
> front axle. I had a mechanic put it on a lift and he showed me where
> the axle shaft had about 1/4" of sideways play in it. He's telling me
> that the dif carrier needs to be reolaced to the tune of $800 ($400)
> in parts. When the car is sitting flat, I'm unable to get the axle to
> move at all. Also there has been no gear whine or unusual noises from
> the drivetrain. I would think that if the dif were worn that bad, that
> I would have some symptoms. I got an estimate of $150 just to replace
> the axle seal. Would I just be throwing money away to attempt the seal
> replacement first ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I bought
> the Camry 6 months ago and so far have put about $1900 into it.


From: alpha092 on 15 Jun 2007 01:07
On Jun 10, 2:21 pm, johngd...(a)hotmail.com wrote:
> Now when people started talking about modifying the original design
> that's not a good sign. In the US the support bearing is only used on
> the passengerside. I personally would head to a different mechanic.
>
> Jason is right in that maybe whoever worked on it left the snap ring
> off or it worked itself off. But old seals need to be replaced and the
> drive axle inspected first for damage and missing snap ring.
>
> If you have a mechanically inclined friend and free loaner tools from
> AutoZone, a little Googling shows as little as 30-45 minutes is what
> it takes to pull the axle.
>
> On Jun 9, 10:48 am, Jay <jlfowle...(a)bcpl.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I discovered that I was losingdifferentialfluid when I went to drain
> > and refill the dif and only got about 8 ounces of fluid out. I
> > refilled and wiped down everything around the dif. After driving for a
> > few days I found evidence of new Dexron leaking from thedriver'sside
> > front axle. I had a mechanic put it on a lift and he showed me where
> > the axleshafthad about 1/4" of sideways play in it. He's telling me
> > that the dif carrier needs to be reolaced to the tune of $800 ($400)
> > in parts. When the car is sitting flat, I'm unable to get the axle to
> > move at all. Also there has been no gear whine or unusual noises from
> > the drivetrain. I would think that if the dif were worn that bad, that
> > I would have some symptoms. I got an estimate of $150 just to replace
> > the axle seal. Would I just be throwing money away to attempt the seal
> > replacement first ? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I bought
> > theCamry6 months ago and so far have put about $1900 into it.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

you observed that support bearing is used only on the passenger side
of this car ? Does this mean that passenger side axle will have no
play, but driver side may have ?

I have similar issue with my 1995 Camry I4. Driver side axle has
sideways play ( if you hold the LH shaft towards differential side,
you can move it up down little bit ( ΒΌ" ) , but passenger side is rock
tight ) and my mechanic ( non Toyota ) is also saying that bearing may
be gone.

I had seal leak, which I got fixed. But not sure if this would
reappear due to this "real" or "imaginary" play. There is no problem
or noise being caused otherwise due to this.

I will appreciate your response.


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