Dealership Woes / Whining Drivetrain

I bought a used '02 Tacoma 4WD from what's supposed to be a stand-up dealership.
It's got 67K on it and the tranny/clutch whines when the rpm's are above 2,500. Mostly I hear it on the highway in 5th gear b/c of the rpm aspect. It sounds to be like a high pitched bearing noise. It's VERY obvious and it's volume is directly related to the amount of load I put on the drivetrain. When coasting at those rpm's it's slight, when accelerating or climbing a hill it gets louder. On the highway it's loud enough to justify blasting the radio.
It sounds to me to be coming form the front of the drivetrain.
They refuse to fix the issue even though it's still under warranty claiming it's "Normal Noise" and "They all do that".
B.S.
Any suggestions on how to approach the dealership or fix the issue? Would having another dealership/mechanic look at it help my case?

 

go to a different dealer...if you get the same treatment, contact Toyota.

 

Thanks man. I don't believe it's a Toyota warranty, rather a dealer warranty. I'll check into that though.

Thanks again.
J

 

You could go to another dealership to get a *second oppinion*.
Hopefully, you'll get some new & fresh ideas of what the problem could be. THen - you'll have bargaining power when you go back to the original dealer for warrantee work.

When was the last time the transmission fluid has been changed?

Does it squeel at all when you're sitting still & not in gear? At idle?

 

Thanks Janster,
Your interest and input are much appreciated. I'll be heading over the another dealership this afternoon for a second opinion.
I don't know about the tranny fluid history. I plan on changing all tranny, diff, etc fluids very soon just to be on the safe side.
It's not as much of a squeal as it is a high-pitched whine.
When stopped I can rev the engine up beyond 2,500 rpm's and the noise doesn't occur.
The following hold true:
1. Only occurs when the clutch and transmission are engaged with each other.
2. Only occurs at and above 2,500 rpm (from what I can hear)
3. Gets louder with increased load once the noise is present
4. It seems to be originating from the front of the drivetrain (though this could be a false perception)
5. Seems to be present in all gears, but most notably in 5th (I'm not sure why)

Thanks again for your help.
J

 

First of this is a great thread. You came in with a great description and information on your problem. This is very rare but awesome from a newer member!

I would get a mechanic or other dealership to look at it. Don't ask for service or warranty work, just ask them if they can diagnose a problem. Then take your findings back to your dealership and try again. If they still refuse, call toyota and get a case number. They will contact the dealer and hopefully sort things out.

On a separate note, nice find. A '02 4x4 with only 67k!

 

My first car had an issue similar to this, except it was in first gear. Turns out the primary shaft in the tranny was FUBAR, from either abuse, high mileage, improperly installed clutch, or WHY. The gear teeth were not meshing properly and grinding each other into nothing. In any case, it had to be replaced. When we drained the fluid from the tranny, it was like liquid metal from all the ground up cog floating in it.

You could try taking a little bit of the tranny lube out of the case and taking a look at it. If it looks like liquid metal, or has a lot of metal flake in it, you have yourself a serious tranny issue.

Good luck.

 

Yuck I am expecting something similar from my diff when I change the differential fluid for the first time

 

And I appreciate your input, dgerm.

Yeah, I was just planning on having the second dealership simply diagnose the issue.
I didn't know Toyota would issue a case number if I went to them with a truly diagnosed issue and it's great news to hear. It may go nowhere but it's at least hopeful. It's empowering to know you have possible avenues of leverage when being bullied by the big guys.
I hate shady dealerships.

Thanks for that bit of info, dgerm.
Just what I was looking for.

J

 

Guys,
Thanks for the heads-up on the fluid.
I'll try changing that tonight if I can get home before dark. Tranny and Diff.
I know this can be objective and turn into another thread altogether, but brand of fluid? My extensive research seems to suggest Amsoil.

 

I have no idea for tranny fluid, but for diff:

Amsoil is great, as is mobile 1 and royal purple. Are you going synthetic?

 

I guess I meant to day it can be a subjective question.
I usually go syn and stay syn with all vehicles.
I'll try to track any of those down.

Thanks again.

J

 

Ok synthetic is the way to go in my opinion. I'm sure others will suggest other brands, but from my experiences and research those are the three I would trust!

 

OK.
Well, we'll see how the second opinion turns out.
Thanks to everyone for their time.

J

 

Sounds like it could be a throwout bearing. If it is, fix is to pull the clutch and replace the bearing. Most mechanics don't want to do that until it fails. I had a '79 Toyota P/U thatt did that forever and I listened to it whine for several years.

 

That's exactly what I think it is.
The dealership doesn't want to own up to fixing the issue and they know the warranty period isn't going to hold out much longer.
Normal noise my A$$
I'm not looking forward to legal action.