Time to play one of our favorite games: "Where's the leak coming from?"

yeah I’m gonna say that it hasn’t.

 

Is it standard practice to supplement the diff gasket with Toyota FIPG? I've seen some people online doing it but the manual just says to throw a gasket on and bolt it up.

 

Gasket only. Or FIPG only.

Gasket is easy to clean if you ever need to do it again. FIPG not so much.

 

Um, this is my breather


Took a few months but I feel like I’m finally getting to know this truck, sigh…

 

Man, it’s an old truck. Clean it up with a needle scaler and rattle can it. That leak probably isn’t from the housing. Good thing about the needle scaler is you’ll find out quick if the metal is thin.

I doubt you need a locker. If so, I’d stay away from the factory lockers. Way too problematic.

I like using gaskets on diffs, but FIPG works just fine.

 

Change fluid, replace breather, clean up leak as best as possible, get rid of any loose metal, then paint it and see if your leak persists. May just be pushing past a seal due to no breather for pressure differential. May be difficult to get the rest of that breather out without getting any pieces in the axle though.