Brand new 22 Tacoma smoking!

I have a 22 trd or bought brand new have 7200 miles and it started smoking, so I crawled under it and oil was hitting cross member and hitting the exhaust from there and causing smoking. So I take it to dealer and they say front seal is bad, but the entire axle is on backorder nationwide so is leaking axle a common thing for any of you? Truck is all stock and never been offroad other than dirt road! They wouldn't give me a loaner and said it was fine to drive leaking like that.

 

That sounds weird. All seals are replaceable. I don't know why they would replace the entire 3rd member for a leaking seal.

 

I said the same thing the whole situation makes no sense!

 

The best thing you have going for you is that they are covering the replacement and maybe they found something else wrong when they checked the fluid. I would let them replace it and drive it as is for the time being. Its a 22 with onlyl 7k miles on it so doesn't sound like you drive it too often. The smoking is an inconvenience but hopefully they will make it right.

 

Where is it leaking exactly? Exhaust and crossmembers are far from the rear axle. The front CV axles don't have exhaust pipes under them either.

Is the leak at the rear main seal on the engine? Front seal on the transfer case?

 

Keep a fire extinguisher handy

 

The front seal of what?

 

It's the axle seal from the front diff that is leaking and when driving wind blows it back its all over even on my tailgate I see spots from where it's leaking.

 

Did I read this correctly? The dealership says you have a leaky front axle seal and they want to replace the axle? Either they didn't fully explain the issue to you or the service writer was smoking something at the time. Either way I'd try another dealership and get a second opinion.

 

What he said was they couldn't just replace the seal that it was part of the whole axle. Which doesn't make sense to me because I used to work on cars!

 

Ah ok. Mine was leaking on the driver's side with less than 17,000 miles on it. Didn't bother with warranty at the time as I was planning to install the ECGS bushing soon anyway.

The driver's side seal is only $4 aftermarket. National P/N 710596: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1927202&jsn=266

Passenger side is National P/N 710595: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=2480322&cc=3441741&pt=1860&jsn=11

The National seals are identical to OEM.

 

I'm not aware of any seals that aren't replaceable in the 3rd member. I would get a second opinion.

 

That is wrong information. Go to a different dealer, indie shop, or just DIY if you're handy. Easy enough to pull the CV axles to replace the seals on a year-old truck with minimal rust.

There's only about a liter of oil in the front diff, so don't wait long or you'll burn up the gears.

 

This. Go to other dealership. Or local mechanic shop. Just replace seal. Your dealer must been smoking with something.

If you have warranty, let them replace axle, at least you take the truck home with new axle. If it was me, just replace seal.

 

But why are the axles on national backorder? He said he was going to call Tuesday but still no call or text. I think the dealerships down here are all a joke and pretty much all the same!

 

Yeah, if OP's truck is under warranty and this dealership wants to give him a full new front axle for a damn leaking seal, let them!

 

@sethstacoma

I guess it's just not making sense at all.

How is a front diff leak, at your cv axle, causing smoke? You said it's smoking stating oil was hitting the exhaust.

You would have a valve cover leak if oil was dripping down into the exhaust manifold.

So what exactly is it?

As for seals, tons are available directly from Toyota and replacing a cv axle seal is a half hour job (more or less depending on gen).

If it's the CV axle itself, you'd get grease flinging everywhere from a torn boot.

I'll be one to say that you should take pics and post them here cause nothing makes sense.

 

If you look under your truck the exhaust pipe crosses right by the cross member that is where it hits it and causing smoking.

 

If you get no help from any dealer or they charge you for axle work but you have warranty if you bought the truck with it, call Toyota Corp. They will kick the dealers' asses.

 

Yes there's one pipe that hangs low.

Can you just take pics? Takes seconds.

Tons of people here work on their trucks and can provide a better assessment.