lost the battle with Toyota corp on my differential

I don’t know if I got lucky or what but I had a slight howl in my diff around 20k miles. I brought it in and had all fluids changed. Transmission, front/rear diff, and transfer case.

It is pretty much completely gone however it was minor to begin with. I was concerned with it and a few other minor issues on my brand new truck, so I sent a very professional and concerned email to the Toyota North America CEO and his office responded and gave me a free 125,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty.

I now have 60,000k miles on my truck with no issues. I’ll probably take it back in and have all the fluids changed again soon just as routine maintence. I’m sure they tried all of this with you so that’s a bummer I’d be pretty upset too if I had a loud howl.

I’m just going to drive the shit out of mine either way. I really hated the truck for a time but I learned to just drive it hard and not care and it seems to have made a difference. Having the warranty does put my mind at ease but the harder I’ve driven it the better it seems to run. I don’t beat on it and do maintain it very well. But I drive a lot and pull a boat for hundreds of miles at a time. Who knows maybe I got a freak 3rd gen or maybe just everything on it will blow up at once.

sorry you are getting the run around I completely understand how it could just ruin your day every time you drive it.

 

Toyota is a disgusting company?? LOL. Its just that the 3rd gen is a piece of shit!!! Ugly as fuck, broken as fuck.

 

Great advice. I already have a lawyer in mind. He literally told me that Toyota is worse than mafia. He has done cases against Toyota before. They haven't exactly explained as to why its " normal". " normal" to them, of course it is. To the real world, where shops rebuild differentials all day and see these issues its quite obvious its a piss poor gear setup. Its obvious. Toyota likes to insult their customers. They figure that about 98% of them are push overs or uneducated and will just go away. Most are buying Carollas, Camrys, Prius.

They haven't offered any type of extended warranty or any compensation for me. I think part of that is they denied a issue even exists in the first place. So in their eyes I get nothing and case closed. I asked for all that stuff in the beginning. I just gave them all 0's on their customer surveys gotta leave a mark.... I'd actually asked them to check fluid levels. They always respond " its in spec". Really?? where does it say that on paper??
Toyota has a nasty habbit of coming to a conclusion without properly documenting it.

 

Most just tell you what they think you want to hear in hopes that you just go away.

 

And people continue to pay $35K to $40K on average for a Third Gen slapped together with third world manufactured parts by a $2.00 an hour laborer down in Tijuana Mexico. Defies all logic.

 

The irony of your screen nAme and your post ....

Do workers who build tacoma in Mexico get paid less than the workers in Texas who build them ?

 

You do know it's also the 2nd Gens. Also the plant location is Tetcate, not TJ.

 

There is no Diff howl

 

OP, my rear diff seized up and my truck grinded to a halt on the middle of the freeway and died.
Then I called my dealership and explained how I'm blocking rush hour traffic at 6:30pm on 805 south bound, and they sent for a tow truck to have my truck towed to their shop.
They kept my truck for more than a month. About 38 days I think before I got it back with a new diff. All this was before the rear-diff recall. I had showed them two days after my purchase that the truck's leaking diff oil, and they shrugged and told me, it's no big deal. It will stop after a bit as my truck gets broken in. Break indeed it did.

Your post is now worrying me. I wanted to take my truck back because the head unit Bluetooth is now not connecting to my phone. I tested it with two other phones as well. I hope they'd replace that under warranty.

 

...@Flytmech this entire thread is addressing @EMT760- rear diff howl/whine.

 

@Flytmech

 

Tacoma 10 worst list for 2017.

https://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/consumer-reports-worst-cars-2017.html/6/

 

Fake

 

I take it back. Totally legit, but #1 best truck is Ridgeline, so pick your poison I guess.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/honda/ridgeline

 

@TacoJonn
...maybe being associated with list like this will prompt Toyota to go back to their roots! Reliability, quality, can't kill these things...

 

I dig all those 'negatives.' Note that it said 'early model reliability.'

How much of the underpinning stretch back to the 1st and 2nd Gens?

Yeah, I'm a noob defending my purchase. But, hey . . .

 

@tonered ...how does the 2017 MT shift compared to 1st & 2nd gens? Any idea what type clutch system is in the 3rd? Thanks

 

Hey, Bulldogs.

This is my first truck. I test drove a two owner 2007 SR5 MT with 141k on the odo and new rear leaves twice (auction truck out of Florida), a 2009 Base MT once, and two 2017 Sport MTs. All were AccessCabs. I rode right seat in a 1st Gen MT ext cab. It felt good, but no idea on the real character of it.

The 2007 felt identical to the new Sports except the clutch on the new ones had a slightly longer stroke with an engage point that was further out on the pedal (still at mid stroke). I've been commuting with mine for the past 3wks and almost 1,000mi (highway and back roads) with no issues. The clutch throw was only a thing pulling out the very first time. I was really surprised how good the 2007 felt. That said, my 2017 had 8mi when I test drove / bought it. By the time I was done with the first tank, the MT became stupidly smooth. The syncros definitely broke in quite a bit. No change since.

The 2009 4cyl 5MT felt different. The clutch was fine (about the same as the 2007), but the MT was notchy and suspension wasn't the same. The 4cyl felt pretty good. I could have probably lived with it, but it was priced a lot higher than the 2007, which was priced high also.

The 3rd Gens have a hydraulic clutch. I believe mine, being a Sport shares the brake reservoir.

One caution is that I did fine a slight clunk going on and off the gas in 5th and 6th. This was cured after properly torquing the U-bolts. All eight were loose.

Have a good one.

 

The diff issues go back all the way to the beginning of the second gen. This is not a new complaint with Tacomas. I wish people would stop acting like it is. If you think this is just a third gen issue, then read the attached pdf and educate yourself.

We upgraded our third gen to 4.88 gears for several reasons. We had the work performed late last week.

The shop that did the differential work found no damage with regards to the stock setup....no abnormal wear. Completely reliable and experienced shop in the Bay Area with a somewhat national reputation.

3,200 miles on the truck, howling for the last 1,500 or so miles.

 

I originally got pretty worked up on the issue. After seeing my teardown and talking to the people who actually do the work, I've decided that facts have been trumped by opinions and guesses....not in a malicious way and not on purpose.

I understand that this happens, I understand that a vehicle is an emotional purchase on many levels and when things go wrong (or are perceived as going wrong), it creates an atmosphere of anxiety, doubt and sometimes anger.

However some claims have been made and presented as fact that I now know aren't always true. I believe that these claims were not made to deceive anyone, but conclusions have been made that probably should not have been made.

After reading the diff threads, I was convinced I had a potential issue on my hands. After speaking with several mechanics, I was a little bit mollified but still doubtful.

After our gear swap and after talking to the shop that did the work, I think that there are some assumptions being made in these threads that are wrong.

I wish the OP the best in his quest for a quiet diff.