Grease in Diff?

[Tubby]

Just got my Toyota Hilux back from a service and was informed that when he checked the diff he found some grease in it.

The only people that have touched the front diff is Toyota when they replaced the diff under warrenty about 20,000km ago.....

The mechanic said that it doesnt harm the diff and that it is sometimes done to reduce noise........

Anyone got any bright idears and should i be worried..........

[ISUZUROVER]

Are they sure it was grease? If you get water in there the oil can form into an emulsion that can sometimes seem like thin grease.

[Tubby]

Are they sure it was grease? If you get water in there the oil can form into an emulsion that can sometimes seem like thin grease.

I am fairly certain that it was grease as I take my car to a 4WD specialist..... so he really should know what he is talking about.

He was quite certain that it was grease, as he explained that when they check the diff oil if there is grease in there it settles at the lowest point which just happens to be where the drain plug is.........

and that is where they found quite a big glob.........

Also......... is there any way that grease could work its way in..........

[Heathx4]

Pulled the axles out lately? If you get grease on the axle spline (easy if you push it through a greasy hub) it can push the grease all the way into the diff. Took me a moment to figure out where the grease in my front diff had come from until I realised that.

[Zute]

This sounds dodgy to me. What was wrong with the old diff that it needed replacing under warranty ? If it was noise, are you sure they replaced the diff ?
Hope I'm wrong.

[ISUZUROVER]

Is it an IFS or solid front? I am no toyota expert, but if it is an IFS front there should be no way that grease can get into the diff - unless from the inner CVs - which I doubt. If it is a solid axle, there should be a seal between the swivel and the axle tube - possibly this has failed.

I missed the part about the warranty replacement - perhaps it had a noisy diff, and the dealer just filled it with grease and said they had replaced it?

[LuxyBoy]

$10 says it is emulsion. The Toyota diffs are know to leak; fit a diff breather kit then flush and replace all oil in diffs and see how you go. This would be the cheapest fact finding too.

[Area54]

If you have leaky inner axle seals the oil will dissolve/mix with some of the grease from your cvs/wheel bearings and the grease will settle in the diff housing.

[Tiny]

If you have leaky inner axle seals the oil will dissolve/mix with some of the grease from your cvs/wheel bearings and the grease will settle in the diff housing.

on an IFS????? and a workshop should know what water in the diff looks like something seems dodgy

[Tubby]

The diff was replaced because it blew up when I was doing a scenic 4WD track in the Flinders Ranges, it had only done 40,000km at the time......

OK....went 4WDING over the Christmas holidays and all was fine, some tracks were steepish but they were all in good condition......

The CV Boot is getting replaced as it has split.........

But I don't think that this would have anything to do with the grease in the diff...........

[Tubby]

Well had tubby into toyota today and asked them about the grease.....

There first reply this morning was 'Are you sure there was grease in the diff' and if there is, it isnt a warrenty issue.

On pick up, they had checked the diff, there was grease in it and the explanation given was that the mechanic that fitted the new diff, greases the bearings prior to installation to reduce start up wear, a common practice at toyota apparently.

I have spoken to my mechanic and he said that it is strange but the grease wouldnt cause any harm.......

Anyone out there heard of this?

[ISUZUROVER]

On pick up, they had checked the diff, there was grease in it and the explanation given was that the mechanic that fitted the new diff, greases the bearings prior to installation to reduce start up wear, a common practice at toyota apparently.

I have spoken to my mechanic and he said that it is strange but the grease wouldnt cause any harm.......

I thought about this possibility. I have always been told that you definitely should not grease diff and gearbox parts on assembly (use gear oil or special assembly oil instead), as grease is not as good at lubricating bearings as oil and some greases are very difficult for the oil to wash out.

[Tubby]

On pick up, they had checked the diff, there was grease in it and the explanation given was that the mechanic that fitted the new diff, greases the bearings prior to installation to reduce start up wear, a common practice at toyota apparently.

I have spoken to my mechanic and he said that it is strange but the grease wouldnt cause any harm.......

I thought about this possibility. I have always been told that you definitely should not grease diff and gearbox parts on assembly (use gear oil or special assembly oil instead), as grease is not as good at lubricating bearings as oil and some greases are very difficult for the oil to wash out.

Thanks ISUZUROVER............. I think I might get TOYOTA to put it all in writing......just in case............

[V6XtraHilux]

I blew up my front diff at somepoint and noticed diff oil stains on the inner shaft seal (just off to the right of the diff pumpkin). When I drained the oil, I found the busted teeth wrapped in a great blob of grey/black grease.
When the diff was replaced with an Air locker (cheaper to fit a locker by somebody else than get a warranty inspection by Toyo ONLY) then would have to pay for labour and new diff is they knocked back the warranty claim, so I went ARB instead.

Anyway, found that the grease had come from the mashed teeth ripping up the right seal and grease working its way into the diff.
As for the greasing up the bearings in the diff? My mechanic told me the bearings are a sealed unit (from toyo) and shouldnt need greasing, they will run in the diff oil.

Sounds all a bit suss to me as well.

my 2 cents worth!
Karl

[Tubby]

Anyway, found that the grease had come from the mashed teeth ripping up the right seal and grease working its way into the diff.
As for the greasing up the bearings in the diff? My mechanic told me the bearings are a sealed unit (from toyo) and shouldnt need greasing, they will run in the diff oil.

Sounds all a bit suss to me as well.

my 2 cents worth!
Karl

Going by what I've read and what I've been told about the IFS, this isn't possible?

Like the only way to get grease in there is to put it in...............

But what someone said is that TOYota got an apprentice to fit the diff and he automatically thought that you grease the bearings.......... as you would..............

Sounds feasible....... well its the best explanation I've had this week..........

Anyway...... I'm heading out bush tomorrow to give it a good work out......... stay tunned

[oozuk]

I blew up my front diff at somepoint and noticed diff oil stains on the inner shaft seal (just off to the right of the diff pumpkin). When I drained the oil, I found the busted teeth wrapped in a great blob of grey/black grease.
When the diff was replaced with an Air locker (cheaper to fit a locker by somebody else than get a warranty inspection by Toyo ONLY) then would have to pay for labour and new diff is they knocked back the warranty claim, so I went ARB instead.

Anyway, found that the grease had come from the mashed teeth ripping up the right seal and grease working its way into the diff.
As for the greasing up the bearings in the diff? My mechanic told me the bearings are a sealed unit (from toyo) and shouldnt need greasing, they will run in the diff oil.

Sounds all a bit suss to me as well.

my 2 cents worth!
Karl

sorry to burst your bubble but i've replaced heaps of smash IFS hilux diffs and there do not have a sealed carrier bearing, it's not even shimmed, it's just like a regular banjo diff centre with carrier preload adjusters

[Tubby]

sorry to burst your bubble but i've replaced heaps of smash IFS hilux diffs and there do not have a sealed carrier bearing, it's not even shimmed, it's just like a regular banjo diff centre with carrier preload adjusters

Well since you have replaced a couple............have you ever heard of anyone greasing the bearings of a diff?

[Busiboy]

about 10 years ago when I owned my hilux, I had the hub seals leaking.

I had sunk a bit of cash into the rig and wasn't too flush with cash at the time, I spoke to an old guy who had done up Numerous cars, to concourse winning standard, early model fords etc. Anywho, I told him of my dilema, and he said I had two options.

Get the $x00 seal kit and buggerise around fitting it, or drill and tap grease nipple into the cv housings and fill the sucker with grease.

Just to get everybody really worked up, I always drove around with my hubs locked in too. So here is this diff, chockers with grease (no oil leaks though ) being driven 50k kms a year with the hubs locked. (I did a lot of site driving etc so unlocking the hubs never really happened)

Diff loved it, was quiet and never leaked. Sold it ages ago .

Was grey YN65 single cab with a petrol engine. SH976 number plates, think it is getting around still but now with a V8.

Don't think it will do much damage.

[V6XtraHilux]

sorry to burst your bubble but i've replaced heaps of smash IFS hilux diffs and there do not have a sealed carrier bearing, it's not even shimmed, it's just like a regular banjo diff centre with carrier preload adjusters

Burst my bubble???? Im not going to loose any sleep over what somebodies opinion is and what isnt!

anyway, the diff centre out of mine had 2 bearings, and neither one was greased, but a selaed unit.
Whether the early IFS diffs were the same, I have no idea.
AND as im NO MECHANIC (hence why i take the bus to a mechanic) i rely on their opinion (true or not....the age old problem with mechanics!)

I might take a picture of my old diff centre, and OOZUK can educate the rest of us NON mechanics

[oozuk]

sorry to burst your bubble but i've replaced heaps of smash IFS hilux diffs and there do not have a sealed carrier bearing, it's not even shimmed, it's just like a regular banjo diff centre with carrier preload adjusters

Well since you have replaced a couple............have you ever heard of anyone greasing the bearings of a diff?

The thery is right about keeping it lubed for initial run in but wrong lube..

i use mories heavy duty oil stabiliser on the bearings during assembily it's super tacky oil

[GUJohnno]

From what i can tell the worry is:

Is toyota pulling a swifty and disguising a problem as this vehicle is just running out of warrenty? If so should we pursue it?

Or is it, as the say, just some nieve apprentice doing what he thinks best and we have nothing more to worry about?