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

Folks...just chiming in to add to this thread that unfortunately I'm another disappointed 2016 Tacoma owner.....Have owned Toyotas for MANY years to include my 2011 Tacoma that I traded for the 2016.

Was really enjoying the 2016 until it started whining between 50-60mph with no or light throttle....it's also doing it right around 30mph which I could live with as I rarely am cruising at that speed.

I've got 4K miles on it and really hate to be dealing with a rear end whine

I'm going to take it to the dealer tomorrow to at least get it documented but am not expecting them to admit to any wide spread problem. I'll post whatever info I get from the dealer.

 

I think reporting it to Toyota benefits all of us as the sooner it is reported and the more who report it, the more likely toyota is to make it a priority fix. The problem is root cause is still a mystery. Putting a new rear end in our trucks is obviously not helping. If it is something more complicated to fix (drive angle) we will have to wait and see how toyota addresses it. It could be easy and cheap or it could be expensive and complex. If it's documented as an issue on your truck and you can get it fixed down the road by Toyota it might be worth getting it noted by the dealer at a minimum.

The worst part about sitting at the dealer is the calories....I've consumed a least a gallon of coffee and a dozen donuts in the past 30 days at my dealer.

 

Gonna cost Toyota a lot of money if they ever decide to fix all these diffs!!! Should have done more testing on these trucks.

 

If it's an angle issue, we may have trouble getting it fixed. Seems like they just want to put new parts in and hope for a fix!

 

No donuts at my dealer.....the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and popcorn are gonna kill me though

 

They'd have to fix it with shims

 

Wonder why that hasn't been tried yet? That we know of at least.

 

May not be driveline angle. That's purely speculation. Engineering solutions are usually applied and tested pretty thoroughly before making official. So it could be they're in test phase of potential solution.

 

Now they decide to test!!llol

 

If you aren't getting vibes, angles should be okay.
Everything seems to be pointing to the pinion bearing. I've seen a couple posts now mention, this was the point of failure.

 

I'm getting vibes at 1800 to 2200 rpms approx.

 

Shouldn't a new rear diff fix that?
I'm not a mechanic. Just asking.

 

No vibes for me, or at least not any that I have noticed.

 

Is pinion bearing part of carrier assembly? Or is it reused when carrier assembly is replaced? All they replaced on mine was the carrier assembly.

 

OK so the FTS rep was not in town today but they are going to have me come back down to the dealership to have him take a test drive with me next time he's in town.

However I did meet with the Head Service/Tech chief for the entire franchise of my dealer (I think they have 8 different dealerships) so he is not specifically a Toyota Tech as they have many brands of vehicles.

He seemed to be pretty honest and candid with me although I didn't care for what he had to say. Basically he wants to see what the FTS says about the issue but his thoughts are it is something that will be deemed a characteristic of the vehicle. He said my service notes only said "premature wear on differential" because they have to check some type of box when they submit for warranty work...basically they needed a "condition" so they made one up. But since they replaced and it did not fix it, he thinks it's probably just the nature of the gearing. But I reiterated to him that I still feel the noise is not right, it's an issue, and the fact that it gets worse /louder with mileage is also an issue. He agreed but basically said he didn't have an answer for me.

He also told me that all brakes make noise. Thats the "recipe" they use in brake pads these days. He says all the makes/models of cars have brake noise issues. I called BS on that as our 2016 4Runner purchased about the same time as my Tacoma and about same mileage does not squeak. Just more lip service I felt.... He did say when the FTS comes out they'll take my truck back and try to clean the brakes again.

Lovely...

Waiting for them to get back to me to tell me when FTS will be here so I can ride along with him.

 

Damn this isn't what I was hoping for....Got my fingers crossed for better news on Thursday

 

All brakes squeak? Mine don't. Sheesh...

 

I'll give Toyota a year or so to make the differential right. If they can't, or won't, I'll take it to a differential shop that I know does good work and not only have them document the problem but fix it. Fixing it will prove to a logical person that there was a problem in the first place. I can always take Toyota to small claims court for the cost. It doesn't cost anything and I think the case has a chance.

Even if I lose, it'll be part of the public record and they couldn't deny that they've had reports of similar problems after that point.

I have no doubt that a competent shop could set up the rear end where it wouldn't howl. ECGS comes to mind.

 

He said it's just the recipe they use these days to make brake pads, that at some point they will all glaze over and make "some" noise. He then tried to tell me maybe I needed new brake pads because maybe Tacoma brake pads are due to wear out at 12k miles. My vehicle is over 13k miles... so I asked the service manager at the dealership how many miles Tacoma brake pads are expected to go and he said usually over 30k miles.....

They said they are wanting to get it fixed because if I lemon law the truck they will be charged back by Corporate for the rear diff they replaced.

This is how mine squeak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzYyPj1Qua8

 

I told the dealer this as well, I said basically if the FTS tries to tell me it is "normal" for the rear differential to howl/whine like ours are doing, I will be taking it to at least two outside driveline shops to get their professional and expert opinion documented. I said if two outside shops feel it is normal and not a big deal, I'll shut up about it. If they say it's not normal I'll be taking it back up with Corporate.