Might be stuck midway through diff breather mod...

Hey all, had a slow night at work and decided to do the rear diff breather mod, how hard can it be?

Well... Looks like the factory decided to cross thread the original bolts, take it off, then helicoil it, poorly...
I couldn't get the new part to thread in by hand, just sat there spinning. So I took a look at the old part, the threads are destroyed by force, upon installation. No way I did that taking it off.

Anyone have previous experience? Is an open diff okay to drive a few miles to the dealer or should I make them tow it?
For a truck that has 2k miles on it, a clear factory defect should be under warranty right?

Pics below.

I have a few hours before I have to make the decision to leave my truck at work and Uber home...
Thanks!

 

You should be alright. One thing you could do is find a paper towel and fold it over into a small square, a few plys thick, then duck tape it over the now open hole in the diff. This will allow it to breath, and also keep potential debris out.

As for the dealer, good luck. I would not be surprised if you get the runaround, even though it clearly was not you that caused the damage. Worst comes to worst, I'm sure you could fix it yourself without much trouble.

 

You main concern will be oil coming out that hole, which it will when you start driving. This is what you are up against:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yG3D3JBRs

 

LOL, exactly. Neat video and exactly what I was worried about...
I'll do the duct tape method and drive home at idle lol. Then call Toyota to get towed tomorrow.

 

My main concern would be where did the cuttings go when they tapped it for the helicoil?! Did they go down the breather hole?

 

Agreed, but...........

If you were the dealer, how would you know that? Just because he says so? 99.9% of dealer techs have never touched a diff breather, much less seen a TacomaWorld mod to one. So the question becomes 'why was this guy taking it apart?'

@Alnmike will the OE breather thread back in at all? That would make a better plug than a paper towel and duct tape if it will.

Best of luck getting it all sorted out. Hopefully you will have a cooperative dealer..............

 

I didn't even try. I'm not going to do anything that could possibly damage it. Metal shards were flaking off the threads of the old breather. I cleaned it with a paper towel to get a good picture of it.

I'm going to rely on the pure logic of: in order for this situation to be in its current state, I would have have to removed the breather. Then installed it incorrectly doing damage. Then take it off and "fix it". Then install it again destroying the bolt itself. Then take it off and try to put on the hose adapter, failing to do so. Then tow it to a dealer.

Orrr, why wouldn't I have just replaced the breather with the part I wanted to replace it with in step 1? I sure didn't throw it away, I still want it on there lol. It's threads are pristine, I sure didn't cause the damage with the new bolt...

Keep in mind, this truck has just over 2k miles on it, never even been serviced lol.

 

Very good point. While mild steel slivers are probably not going to do damage to hardened gears, there's still seals and such to worry about. I'll bring this up. Ask to open the diff housing and inspect or at the veeeerry least do a drain.

Second point piggybacking off yours: is it possible to helicoil that diff at that location without dropping the springs and getting room? It was cramped enough for me just taking the damn bolt out, granted I don't have a lift.. (and none of the bolts anywhere will show wear marks that weren't there from factory)

 

Of course your logic is solid.

My concern is if the service writer likes thinking logically. I hope so!

As I said,

Be sure to finish the story for us!

 

I was thinking of seals too. Perhaps ask for a fluid change?

When I put in my diff breather it was hard to thread as well. And as for room, I think they would have done the breather tapping before even installing the rear axle. Hopefully even before installing the gears and closing the end and filling it with oil. I wonder where the diffs are manufactured, I bet it was their repair.

 

Welp, what we all thought would happen, happened lol. Dealer couldn't refute my bolt evidence, just that it was "weird" and "they've never seen that", and they don't have the tools to fix it (drill/tap) anyway. Not denying the claim or that it happened, they just can't proceed without corporate go-ahead.
But good news, they didn't even blink on my roof weather stripping issue that another dealer flat out refused lol.

Called corporate and gave the full lowdown, they'll get back to me Monday since it's Friday. Now to secure a car rental for 3 days....

PS: service manager states there's no way a helicoil was used. I just see how the threads near the top are still attached to the bolt, and the gigantic gouge in the bolt is in the tightening direction. We'll see.

Anyone have experience with A) small claims,
And/or B) a way to let them know (without being a dick) that I'm absolutely willing to take it to another shop, get it repaired, then actually follow through with small claims?

 

Fixing it yourself would be a whole lot easier, and unless your time isn't very valuable, cheaper than small claims court as well.

 

FWIW, my old diff breather came off fairly easily and the threads were fine, but when I installed the new union, it only went on by hand a few turns then stopped. It took quite a bit of force with a ratchet to tighten down. I expected the new union to thread on by hand the entire way until it needed to be final tightened with a ratchet.

 

^ Same with mine. I was going to use PTFE tape, but it was tight enough I pulled it off and went with pipe thread sealant instead. Def never coming off. Just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if the OP's was simply over tightened. Could have stripped during assembly, or when he pulled it. (or more than likely, both)

 

I also thought about using Teflon but it was way too tight. Didn’t bother using anything since the OE part didn’t have anything. I sure got an arm work out ratcheting that damn thing down.

 

What a cool vid. Really didn't think about why the housing its shaped how it is. interesting.

 

If you try to take them to small claims they’ll just bump it to civil court which makes you get a lawyer

 

JB Weld

 

Thats because the diff breather has pipe thread, which is tapered. The threads on the breather piece is designed to seal against the axle as it is tightened. No need to any sealant.

 

Could you rent a tap and die kit from autozone and restore the threads possibly?