93 Ls400 Rear End Grease Leak

[jimH93]

My 93 LS400 has grease sprayed on the under body next to the differential on both sides. The CV boots are not ripped or wet around the edges but there is grease on the car like the cv boots were open. It is not 80/90 diff oil but grease. can anyone comment on this or ever see it before? The differential flanges are wet but not dripping.

Thanks

Jim Holbach :o

[tansupplyman]

There are grease seals in the diff housing that contain the diff grease; these are on each side at the side shafts.

you have to remove the side shafts, remove the rear cover; there are 'c'clips around each side shaft accessible from the rear--these pull out. almost like old GM products.

you will need to use a slide hammer tool that will bolt to 2 opposite bolt holes in the shaft flange[that the inner CV joint bolts to] to pull it out---don't distort the seal cover pressed into the side shaft.

The seals pry out , hammer new ones back in.

reassemble.

Just don't let the rear end run dry before you schedule this!!

[tansupplyman]

re-read your post--saw you said it was grease ---not diff oil.

the grease should be black moly grease.

if it is loosen the inner bands, put more grease in the boot. and thoughly clean the places where the boot goes on and the inner edge of the boot--then put permatex #1 or siml on this before you slide back on and clamp. if it is grease it would have to be coming out here if the boot is intact.. anybody else??

[tansupplyman]

Jim, if it is diff oil--post--more you should know since the diff has to come down.

[jimH93]

Richard it is not diff oil. The grease is caked up & stuck to the bottom of the floor pan & some on the exhaust. If it was 90wt diff oil it would have migrated around. Have you ever heard of this or have seen it before where the cv grease comes past the ss band? I just took the car for a 800 mile trip so it could have happend then but I realy don't know. I saw it when I was doing the trans filter.

I like your idea of removing the clamp & reloading the boots. Do you know if the bands are available?

Thanks for your advice this is a great form, glad I joined.

Jim Palatine Ill.

[tansupplyman]

don't know on band availability. guess you could call toyota or lexus on that one(may come as a complete unit tho)--I have used nylon zips[after a glue situation] but not on my Lexus-you can't use SS worm clamps due to outofbalance. But you should be able to see if the boot is loose at this point and grease should be visible around where the metal is adjacent to the boot.

SO:::::another point the grease could come out is the end cap on the CV joint.

it is clamped between the assy and does have an inner gasket against the CV joint. The book says to use sealant around the gasket(both sides I would assume)

you have to remove the bolts holding the inner cv joint to the side shaft flanges, then you pry the end cap off with a screwdriver. BUT be careful since the 'innards' can fall out [ring and balls].

you will need to get a plastic pouch of moly grease at a autoparts store.You also should fill the 'dimple' of the end cap with grease.

will have get gaskets at a Lexus dealer.

then put it back together.

FIRST--IMPT. : index the cv joint to the side shafts BEFORE disassemby so things can be assembled exactly as it was !!!!!

[mejojo]

Jim,

The obvious question that I haven't seen answered is:

Are you the original owner of the car, or do you know by some other way that the CV boots have not been torn and replaced in the past?

I'd like to think that a person would clean up the grease mess under there if doing the work, but you never know.

Joe

[jimH93]

Joe

I am not the owner but have had the car 2 yrs and added about 40K. It now has 120K. I cant say when it happend but because it is not very visible even on an oil change. When I had it up on four jack stands to do the trans filter I noticed it setting up the rear jack stands then took a closser look. I will crawl under it again & look it over tonight but Richards obsrevation on the cv seals might be it. The R & L side of the diff housing where the cv bolts up was completely wet but not dripping. So it's grease there as well as grease sprayed on the underbody. If it were comming out of the boot I think the boots would have some grease on them but it's hard to say. I do drive the car daliy on the inter state at 70 to 80 mph for 20 miles each way to work so at high speed & some heat the grease could get the diff wet & spray the underbody. The strange thing is that it is on both sides at the same time. The RS is more but still strange. Thanks for your input Joe & Richard. Any other thoughts would be welcome.

Jim

[jimH93]

Joe

Last post should have said

I am not the original owner. But you already new that

Jim

[jimH93]

OK thanks to Richards advice I bought new clamps at Napa. Repaced the clamps after cleaning all the grease with solvent, then applying some RTV to the boot seal area. Tightend the clamps & let it cure for 2 1/2 days. Yes I put new grease in th eboot prior to sealing it. So far so good no grease leaks after a week

Jim H