2016 Tacoma rear axle cover with holes blown outward from ?

Yesterday I drove the truck and noticed a whining noise that varied with speed on my way to store. On way back the noise was gone. Today I heard a grinding noise on way to store and on way back as well, I also smelled burning oil.
Well I looked under the truck and found this hole and outward dents on my rear differential cover that is welded in place. The truck had the rear differential leak recall fix installed a few years ago at 10K miles, truck now has 55K miles.

I looked up the factory drive train warranty and it is for 5 years or 60K miles so I am over the time constraint by 2 years, bought truck in April 2016.

I suspect I will need to replace the differential and axle with a new one and just reuse my existing axles and brakes. Other option is to buy a used one from junk yard which is always risky that I may be buying somebody's else nightmare.

Question: Has anybody else had this same problem and was it fixed under some warranty?

 

Uh... that diff, housing, and axles are all fucked... the junkyard is your friend.

 

Something came apart inside.
That picture is deceiving, it’s hard to tell the holes are blown “out”.
But there’s only one way for that to happen. Something inside let loose.

 

It grenaded for sure. Maybe dealership will offer good will if you have been a regular customer. Otherwise you are on your own. If you are not doing this yourself I'd look for a specialty 4x4 shop that specializes in Toyota's or an axle shop.

 

My guess is a ring gear bolt backed out and got jammed between the spinning gear and the housing.

Junkyard axles are relatively safe bets (unlike, say, an engine or transmission), and some yards offer 30 or so day warranties. If there's an issue, you usually can tell before leaving the yard by any roughness in the bearings when you turn the pinion by hand. Also check the fluid condition if it hasn't been drained (should be a clearish-yellow to a clearish-black, if that makes sense, it should not be fully opaque or have a thick gray metallic sheen to it).

 

Junkyard axle and be on your way.

 

Thank you all for the quick response. Tomorrow I will be calling the dealer that did the recall work on the rear axle to see if he has any pictures that shows the ring and pinion gear.
I will also be calling the local junk yards for replacement, if no luck then I will have to brake the piggy bank and buy new.
The dents and hole are all pushed out as if something inside was banging around then finally shot out like a bullet.

 

If you’re on the east coast,ECGS without question.

 

Holy hell, you don't see that everyday.

 

Someone posted a few months back stating that a "grenaded" differential was a warranty issue. But the explosion occurred after a rapid succession of drive/reverse/drive/reverse/drive/reverse/etc changes in a parking lot. Not sure if *that* OP ever understood that differentials are not indestructible.

 

Well, you now have the opportunity to regear and add a locker if you dont already have one.

 

Post pictures when it gets opened up!

 

That’s some low miles on a 2016

 

Www.car-part.com is your friend for searching nationwide junkyards for a new rear end. (Ok that sounds dirty but trust me…)

 

He's most likely gonna need a whole housing including shafts. I wanna see it opened up. Curious

 

It would not hurt to share where abouts are you. After pulling the third member I would inspect for the possibility of welding up the damage to the housing.

 

I wouldn't touch it!
Take it to the dealership and see if Toyota will cover it under Warranty?
You are still within the 60K warranty.

The Toyota Axle should be expected to last far past that amount of use regardless of the time.

 

Yea, you done blowed up! Any current or old leak won't be responsible for this. Has the truck been regeared? Mostly likely, as mentioned, ring gear bolts came loose. But it still could also be a simple gear/bearing/carrier failure that set the carnage in motion.

Imo, the housing and shafts are likely salvageable. It's going to be gears, bearings, and carrier that will need replaced. Keep us posted.

 

Re-creation of said bolt or object exiting the axle...

 

Warranty is expired based on time, regardless of mileage.