1992 Toyota Previa change a differential or not

MARIA CHUPES

MEMBER
1992 TOYOTA PREVIA
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
147,000 MILES

I just purchased a previa, but I have been having a problem with mechanics being honest with me. One told me I should change the gasket for the diferential on a 1992 toyota previa with 147,000 miles because it is leaking oil and another told me that I should replace the diferecial with another one from a 1993 toyota previa which has 228,000 miles because the 1992 looks like it has leaked oil near the rear wheels, the mechanic said the van was probably used to transport heavy stuff and that the differential will probably not last, the differential on the 1993 previa looks dry. The lady which I purchased the 1992 previa from did tell me that the van was used for constrution work. I am wondering if any of this could be true. Can a differential go bad if it has leaked oil. What should I do?

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

HI there,

I would be changing the gasket and changing the oil, if the diff is noisy then you will have to look at replacing it, diff noise is very easy to detect, it will whine and build up with road speed and when you back off the throttle the noise will change pitch, wheel bearings just whine at the rate of road speed. Do the gasket first.

Mark (mhpautos)