Toyota recalling 228,000 Tacoma's due to oil leaks and possible loss of control of vehicle

?

 

Recall done today. I'm at work and that is a log on a GPS tracker that they install on all their vehicles. It's pretty cool so I kept it.

 

I told my service manager it was leaking but because we both knew there was no official fix yet out, we didn't bother inspecting it. He said he'd call me when the release was out so they could officially identify it as a leak and get everything ordered, which we did today.

 

Cool. I was also saying in general too.

 

Took my 2017 Limited DC in for recall yesterday. No leaks. No problems.

 

After a morning email to "CEO Jim Lentz" I received a call from I think his assistant. After a interesting conversation with her. She went on to say she directed and contacted the "Head" Dood of the recall in our region and he called the Service Manager at my Dealership. After the talk with the Service Manager! Jim Lentz people are "astounded" that the San Luis Obispo Dealership received "not one" of the items to fix differential issues. She assured me things will start moving in the right direction but still could not confirm when I might have my case resolved. I think it's worth a email to Jim Lentz to continue to stir the pot...

 

So long story short....

Took my Off-Road in at 15k service, and showed them the weeping around the rear diff. This was like a month and half ago, before the "fix" was released and parts were in, etc. Anyway, being a Off-Road, we all know that it's not covered under recall, but under warranty. Anyway tech at the time just tightened bolts and wiped the diff clean.

Here it was at that time (approximately 1 & 1/2 months ago):





Anyway, told the service rep when I picked it up then, I'd be back if it started again...

Low and behold here I sit at the dealer right now. This time I took in the recall paper work, again which my vechile isn't officially a part of, and said here, "Toyota considers this a oil leak"


This is what mine looks like a month and a half after they tightened and cleaned the diff. (picture taken in dealership service area, before walking in):


Now, I understand I'm not part of the recall, but my truck is obviously experiencing the same issue that the recall describes. Moreover, Toyota considers this a leak via the official Toyota instructions. Therefore the remedy, which is now available, should be the same, just covered under warranty... We'll see who I get to argue with, service rep, technician, or service manager.

Anyway, here I sit waiting for the tech to "inspect" it again.

 

Took my 2017 TRD Sport (2400 miles) in today to have the differential inspected. I had previously inspected it myself and was 98% confident they could not find a leak. However when they told me if they did find a leak they would have to take my truck, I said fine, but I want a truck in return. Sorry all out. I said I have to have a truck, so go rent one for me if it is found to be leaking (Especially since they said they just had one with a very small amount of oil on the top that they could barely feel on their finger!!! This made me uncomfortable so I insisted on a replacement truck!) They took the necessary steps to insure I had a backup truck from a rental car company if mine didn't pass. YAHOO it did pass, so I left after they tightened the bolts and checked the differential oil level to see that it was not drastically low. I told them I knew the prescribed procedure to check the oil level, but I just wanted to know that it was not massively low like some have been reported here from the manufacturer. They checked it and said it was close to full. Excellent. I left happy and satisfied. Good customer friendly dealership!! (McCarty Toyota in North Little Rock AR).

Only disturbing thing was, I asked them to grease the ujoints. NO GREASE FITTINGS??? They showed me there were no fittings on mine. I thought I had read there were two fittings on the Sport drive shaft. Anyone know? Was I wrong? Mine appeared to be the old school sealed fittings!

 

Just so everyone knows... ^^^This^^^ is apparently "normal", and there is no fix.

Dealership sent pics to TAS, whoever the fuck that is, to see about getting any kind of warranty work approved. They said, nope that doesn't qualify as a leak, so any warranty work can't be done. So service rep. said, I can't tell you to call corporate, as he was nodding his head up and down.

So, they re-torqued the bolts again, which I thought was kind of funny, since they were just re-torqued 6 weeks ago, and I've doubt they've loosened since then, and cleaned the diff.

I was on the phone with corporate before leaving the dealer lot. They put me on hold and called dealership. Then corporate tells me even if there was a qualifying fix for my model, which there isn't, but even if there was, my issue wouldn't meet the qualifications to be covered.... So yeah, that weeping I have on either side of my diff... That's normal. Good to know. Fuck it!

 

Just received my recall info in the mail yesterday.

 

They have to pull the bed for a leak up front???

 

The leak is at the the seal behind the cab on the drivers side and water flows through the side channel to the front.

 

Hope mine doesn't start..

 

The 17 models have a true gasket the 16 is just silicone

At least it appears that way ! The truck he showed me where the leak was coming from was on a 17 model and it looked like a black gasket as mine is clear silicone goop..

 

Service manager at my dealer says there are no part numbers for the replacement parts. Find that hard to believe. Who's on first, what's on second,.....beginning to believe Toyota is becoming the next Chrysler. Fed up with no reliable information, happy talk, BS, etc.

 

Part #'s on page 3 of attached.

You should print that out and show it to him... Seriously.

At least your truck is capable of leaking... Mine is apparently not.

 

Funny...I'm not part of the recall and here I am waiting parts with the same weeping. It's the dealership that's the problem here.

 

Update: Continuation. 1. Emailed Jim Lentz today at 8:00am. Jim Lentz assistant called me at 11:00am. My Dealer called me at 5:00pm to inform me the "fix it" parts where expressed shipped to the Dealership "mysteriously" and my Tacoma is repaired and ready for pickup. Amazing...

 

Yeah that is total bullshit

 

Nice one Gene !
Could you share the email you sent to Jim with us?