Rear diff getting replaced

Well, I took my truck in for its 10,000 mile service and mentioned that it has a fairly loud whine from the rear axle when going between 50 and 60 mph with light throttle. After a bit, they let me know that my diff is bad and will have to be replaced, so I get the fun of driving around in a Camry for a few days. The truck has 9,700 miles on it, but has made noise for a while.

I'm a little annoyed that they wouldn't turn the seat belt reminder off, but they did take my concerns about the noise seriously instead of telling me it's a normal Tacoma noise, so I'll give them a pass.

 

Sigh if only the dealerships i’d gone to had been so willing

 

That is a common harmonic noise so don't be surprised if it's still there after they replace the diff.

 

Shakerhood, I really expected them to say that and hadn't said anything to them about before today since I had read a number of reports of it being a normal noise. I just felt mine was rather loud and that it wouldn't hurt to say something. I am prepared to still have noise when I get back, though.

 

Curious to see if it does in fact stay away or if it comes right back. As far as I could tell my truck did this from the moment I left the lot brand new.

 

Sounds like you have the right perspective, good luck with it and hopefully it will cure the noise for your truck.

 

Just curious as to why they said your "diff is bad"? Just the noise makes it "bad"? Did they give you a reason why its making the noise? I've heard mine for many miles and I think it's always been there. Just debating whether to go thru the trouble with mine.

 

Mine howls very loudly too. I think it's unacceptably noisy personally, but not much I can do about it. It's the only thing I dislike about an otherwise perfect truck IMO.

Don't want to speak for the OP, but my opinion is that many dealer techs are falling back on conventional logic, and conventional logic tells you that *any* diff noise means the diff is bad. However, this logic is not always right... small noises can be amplified by the axle tubes, springs, and frame, making it sound a lot louder than it actually is at the diff. This is Toyota's official stance on the noise as laid out in their TSB.

 

Realistically it’s a failure of NVH engineering regardless. I feel mine is /unacceptably/ loud too. But what can you do? Once they say it’s “normal” it’s game over

 

So what can happen down the road?

 

I would say crank up the radio, but on mine, I can hear it above the music at almost every volume level until the speakers start distorting

 

Yea had mine replaced at 3,800 miles with no fuss at all from the dealership. Everything went smooth, got truck back in 2 days. Whine showed up before I got home 40 miles. Have around 7,500 miles now and it’s worse than before. Hope everything works out for you. Keep us posted

 

That's what I'm hearing. So they just replaced with the same diff as before with NO upgrades or anything new? That's why I think I'm not even going to bother with it.

 

They didn't tell me what was actually wrong with it. I should have inquired a bit more, but, hopefully, they'll have some details in the write-up when it's done. They claimed it'll only be a day or two as they should be able to get a new axle in stock tomorrow so I won't have long to wait to see if there are any results. Who knows? That seems awfully quick to me, but, then, I had to wait over 3 weeks when the Ford dealership replaced the cam phasers in the 2017 F150 3.5 Ecoboost I traded in on my Tacoma.

 

That’s Interesting. they’re ordering an entire axle? Usually they just replace the third member.

 

I'm not sure. I thought he said they'd get an axle, but that seems pretty excessive and I probably just misheard or I'm a bit mixed up due to thinking about axle noises and diffs and all that.

 

Just replaced the 3rd member, said there was no shavings present and everything looked ok. Lasted about 30-35 miles. Called when I got home explaining what was happening, they said they would document it. Going back soon to see what the next play is

 

Keep us posted.

 

Will do

 

My rear diff was replaced at 963 miles after I heard the whine. They found “metal shavings” and per Toyota corporate replaced it. I now have 16,000 miles and I still hear the noise and I also have a popping/clicking noise from the rear.