3rd Gen Poll: Rear End Noise howling when feathering throttle

I had a 2004 WRX, drove it hard for 11 years and Put 185k miles on it. Engine was like new when I sold it. Sorry to hear about your suby. Ok...back on topic....tacoma noise!

 

I’m buying my next to youngest daughter a new 19 Forester and the people I know that have Subies have always loved them. Subaru did go through a rough period where many of their engines were drinking oil like a wino at a wedding but as I understand it that issue has been resolved for a few years now (the litigation did help speed that process up, FWIW). Horror stories exist for every manufacturer and no company is exempt. Some hate on the Taco yet mine have been great. I’ve also never had an issue with my Ford trucks yet some of the earlier EcoBoost engines gave all kinds of trouble. My life with GM has been a mixed bag. My son’s Cherokee Trailhawk has been fantastic without a single issue the osme people claim everything Jeep makes is awful. As we know, every company makes it share of good and bad. After buying 5 new cars for the kids, I only have 2 more to go.....

 

I thought I remember hearing something about Subaru having CVT Problems on a business channel last year, think there was some sort lawsuit going on. Glad to hear of good luck with the other vehicles and sounds like you are almost done buying cars for the kids, lol.

 

Went through the same thing with my two children. I stuck with Hondas, Subarus and Toyotas for them and also my wife. Never had a problem with any of them. Son loves Subarus. Wife loves Hondas. Daughter loves Toyotas and just bought a new crew Tundra 5.7 4wd lol.

 

I hope I am done soon. . Geez! Like many others on here, I’ve owned a bit of everything over the years and have learned some valuable lessons along the way. One thing I do now is keep cars longer than I used to so I can get my money’s worth. They simply cost too much now. I’ve been guilty of over researching over the years and that has worked in some instances and not so well in others. I love German cars and usually keep one around but once they start giving trouble they are outta here.

 

No European vehicles here lol. Now, if a Supra comes out...

 

Glad to hear you got it sorted. When they did my consumption "test", they overfilled the engine by one quart AND zip-tied my dipstick in place, marking it with body colored paint so they'd know if it had been tampered with. I still have photos of that little stunt, along with photos of the dipstick showing how overfilled the engine was. If I hadn't cut the zip-tie off and checked the oil, it would have appeared as if the car hadn't burned any oil after three thousand miles, since the level would have been right at the full mark.

 

Wow! That dealer’s behavior was straight up fraudulent.

 

Anyone else having issues with the dealer not having the parts to fix the TSB? Are the parts on back order?

It’s been over a MONTH.... still no parts or follow up phone call... pretty irritated.

Took the tech on a test drive, and identified the problem, that was related to the TSB.... just waiting. Will call them up today.

 

They ordered parts 2 days after the TSB dropped and it took 7 weeks to get mine addressed. I can only imagine it's going to get worse. Another reason why I'm sure they are trying to hold out against the 2018s and ACs getting it addressed.

 

Me and a few others got our parts order the day after it dropped, think it was Thursday or Friday. The parts were in the next Thursday for us.

As for the number of parts Toyota initially ordered, the only data point they had was to scrub thru service records and look for diff whine. Thru some of the responses here it seemed many dealerships didn't acknowledge it on the service records.

 

Post Dealer Update: Just got back from dropping off my Rav 4 loaner and picking up my Tacoma. The Toyota FTS(sp?) drove my truck to check for the howl as well as the harsh down shift from 2nd to 1st. That's the one that feels like someone hit you from behind or a heavy load slid forward in your bed. He was able to duplicate them both. The howl is obvious and cant be missed. The harsh down shift only happens every once in a while so I am a little surprised they were able to duplicate it. They put about 15-20mi on my rig so they did drive it a bit.

Unfortunately the dealer can't do anything about either, but I knew that (2018 SR5 so no TSB). The shop manager said the harsh down shift is a transmission logic issue and all of them can do it. He is hoping for another transmission update to come out, but he hasn't heard of one in the making. Not holding my breath for that one haha
The howl he said is the same howl that the 2016-2017 TRD's have a TSB fix for (no surprise there).
From what he has seen the TSB is reducing the howl by about 80-90% on the TRD's. Thats great, but its still not available for 2016-17 non TRDs as well as any 2018 Tacomas.

The kind of good news/cool thing: The shop manager said he is using my truck as his very first example to send to Toyota. He is submitting DPR's (Dealer Product Reports) to Toyota for my rear end howl as well as the harsh 2nd to 1st downshift. I guess these reports are used to document out of ordinary issues or issues Toyota is not acting upon. He sounded pretty excited that he was going to do that so thats cool ha He said there is more than enough data out there for Toyota to move on extending the howl TSB and updating the transmission logic, BUT the customers (us) need to notify their dealers (like I did) and the dealers need to start submitting DPR's to Toyota. The more customers that have their dealer submit these reports the better chance we have at getting TSBs issued.

So if you have a Tacoma with a rear end howl that is not currently covered by the TSB then please have your dealer document it and submit a DPR. Same goes for the harsh 2nd to 1st shift.

Like Nike says, Just Do It haha

 

Yes. Going on a month--all they have is the leaf springs but no dampers.

 

Out of everyone who answered yes to having the howl on this poll, was your truck a 2wd or 4wd?

 

Is there a certain mileage you are hearing the noise at? I feel like I’m hearing a high pitched humming resonating noise at said mph. Don’t mind too much but don’t want any damage being done. Also. If I change my rear diff oil will this affect them doing the tsb or say I messed something up by changing the oil. I’m at 4K miles and would like to swap my front and rear diff oil out.

 

There's something to this, there really is.

My "rear diff howl" got progressively worse over time, by the time I hit 20K I could hear it all the time when I was at between 52 - 60mph, and it was pretty loud (loud enough for my wife to wonder what it was). When the truck was new I only kind of heard it right at 54mph, so I was actually getting pretty worried about it. I figured that if something eventually failed, that it would most likely be covered under the drive train warranty.

Then I got a lift for it, and I got new Dakar leafs installed when I did it. My howl has almost completely disappeared. If I REALLY listen, and turn my radio down, I think I can still barely hear it occasionally. It's such an almost imperceptible sound though, it seriously could just be the wind.

Like he says above, I completely agree that it's a combination of things that get you that exact noise at those exact speeds. Oddly enough, springs seem to have a lot to do with that, at least they did in my particular case.

 

Its been 4 weeks and still waiting on back ordered parts.

 

My parts were ordered 3/16 and I was notified yesterday (3/30) that they were in. I'm scheduled for the TSB on 4/4. I'll update after that!

 

Just dropped mine off yesterday morning. They completed my TSB for the howling LCAs, but did not have 2 pads that dampen, that were necessary for the TSB with the rear whine. They said they might get them in 4/26. I will pass 36K on my Tacoma by then, so they will complete it through good will. I want to say I'm surprised, but I don't think anything is surprising with this vehicle experience, anymore.

Also, my service advisor and the tech were confused with the wording of the TSB regarding the long-bed and "super long-bed." They called Toyota Corporate and determined my DCLB is the "super long-bed."

I did enjoy driving the '18 SR5 4Runner, for a couple of days!

 

You would think they would just call them short bed and long bed like 99% of the population does haha

I don't think you are the only one on here waiting for the dampers. I have been waiting on gunny to give me a quote for the TSB parts, but it sounds like I wouldnt be getting them anytime soon anyway.