Bad Differentials?

So I just changed my diffy fluid for the first time in my 2022 SR5 4x4 Taco & I know some metal shavings could come out from the magnet but I literally had spirals of metal come out. I don’t see anyone online post as much metal damage as Ive had & my Taco only has 31k odo so it’s still new and under warranty. Should I ask a toyota dealership to replace my diffy under warranty if I show them the video of all the metal damage? I took screenshots of a video I recorded on my iphone because idk how to post videos here, this is my first post. But I have a video of me unscrewing the drain plug that I can show as proof to a dealership.

 

It's manufacturing debris.
Assuming the magnet grabbed it all, you won't see it again.

 

Ive never seen anyone post or mention debris from the manufacturer looking like this. Some videos on youtube show the first diffy changes on tacomas and it looks completely normal. It’s confusing and did these manufacturer shavings mean it wasn’t installed or aligned 100% accurate? The truck sounds and drives fine as far as I can tell.

 

It's not the norm, but I've seen it. Again, I'd hazard a guess it's nothing more than manufacturing debris you'll never see again. No harm done.
It wouldn't worry me, and I worry a lot.

Dealer isn't going to swap out the diff, but I'm sure they'd be happy to document it.

 

A pic from someone else's 3rd gen diff a month or two ago.
Also no associated issues, just junk.



And another..





And another..

 

No new diffy. drive on.
While not pretty or confidence inspiring; those little things would get turned in to shavings, had the magnet not caught em.

 

That definitely looks like chips from holes being drilled. If there were something really wrong with your diff you’d be seeing chunks.

 

yeah... like these:

 

yep,,,, those are the bad ones,, that's when you feel and hear a pop and engine spin free!

 

You mean when you get in your truck to drive away and the truck can move about 1 foot back and forth. Don't ask me how it gave up the ghost after backing into my driveway and parking, lol.

 

I don’t know what everyone else thinks but that diffy gear oil looks like it may have water in it. OP, do you go off-roading and drive through creeks?

 

Was just about to say the same.

The swarf isn't nearly as concerning as the water......

 

That looks like manufacturing debris from a drill bit of some sort, not a broken off part of a gear. If you’ve ever done some metal or wood working, you might have seen something similar on the shop floor. No worries.

I’m surprised Toyota doesn’t bother to clean that crap up. Is it that expensive to do? I’m guessing it has something to do with the order in which they do things that makes it hard to clean up. Idk.

 

This has been discussed a bit here recently. Agree with all comments above and this is another good reason to change all oils after 500-1000 miles in a new vehicle.

My rear diff and transfer case were fine, but I had a lot of black metallic flakes in the front diff. This took two flushing to clear up.

 

If those pieces of metal had been causing problems with the gears, they would be ground up and the oil would have silver dust in it.

 

Just don't take it to Diffy Lube and you should be fine.

 

Woo hoo post number 500!

 

My theory with the front diff is any foreign material is not under pressure while the diff is not in 4x4 use, it is turning with no pressure between the gear teeth. The left front wheel turns, turning the axel shaft, turning the left side gear, turning the spider gears with the ring and pinon gears stationary most of the time. Thus, not much to go wrong with the gears just moving in a bath of oil.

My front gear oil was sent into Blackstone for analysis with them not determining the source of the metallic material.

 

This definitely made me feel better thank you

 

I’m not following you. The pieces of metal in the photos did not incur any significant interference with the gears in the diff. If they had, they would be ground into much smaller pieces.

I’m also skeptical of the value of sending gear oil out to be tested. It’s not exposed to same stresses as engine oil. TBQH, I would never send even engine oil out for testing unless I was performing a personal nerdy experiment of some sort. I am a bit of a nerd, so it’s within plausible possibility.