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

2017 OR - early 8/17 build date.

Shims. No howl.

 

6/17 TRDOR.

Howl and Shims.

 

How many miles? My howl didn't start until 1200 miles.

 

1109 miles. Lol

 

Some of you may not know this but this is my second TRD off-road 4x4 that I have gotten. The first one exhibited the same symptoms my current second one is at this moment, which is rear differential howl or whine at 50- 55 miles an hour.

The first truck I had the dealership acknowledged that the rear differential was bad per the Toyota engineer that came out.

I thought I was hallucinating when they giving me the replacement truck and right around four or five hundred miles .I heard another howling/whining sound on the new truck and brought it back into the dealership. Talk about an awkward moment and situation since they did me a huge favor by replacing the truck with another only to have it happen again.

Tonight,I was as I was driving home on the interstate. I heard a semi loud whine coming from the rear end at 50 to 55 miles an hour again, accompanied by a burning smell while climbing hills.

I asked them at 500 miles to check the differential fluid and transmission. Which they claimed they did. If that is the case why the burning smell and 2nd differential going bad?

I'm leaning towards bad gearing/defective design.

 

I would continue to celebrate quietly, my friend. LOL. I hope yours never starts but Toyota says its normal so that would make yours abnormal if it stays quiet I guess. Best of luck.

 

Do you guys experience the howling 100% of the time when feathering in your 55-65 range? Or on occasion? I noticed tonight that I couldn't hear the howling at all on my way home about 6 miles ish going 50-65. Some days it's pretty noticeable. Tonight it was as if it never existed...food for thought.

 

Yes, though it is most pronounced holding a steady 60MPH on a flat road with an ever so slight decline.

Holding 60MPH on an uphill, it's not nearly as noticeable because there is more pressure on the drive side face of the ring/pinion.

The coast side of the ring/pinion is where I'm fairly certain the problem lies.

 

Yup. When I first started hearing it, it was on the same part of my commute home everyday. I thought it was the road at first. Turns out it's a decline that makes it worse. That part of my commute it downhill around 55-60 mph usually with light throttle.

It's absolutely ring and pinion related. Improperly set backlash or crush sleeve. This isn't new innovative stuff that Toyota messed up. This is shit that's been around for decades that they didn't get right.

 

Ditto. I can reproduce the issue 100% of the time, but you have to be feathering the throttle. Its not as simple as just going a certain speed. It has something to do with the amount of throttle applied or load on the drivetrain, and it has to be in the 45-55mph range for me. Unfortunately, this is a significant part of my daily commute. Drives me insane.

 

I'm dropping mine back off at the dealership again today. I drove by yesterday and talked in length with my service advisor. I told him about all the research I've read " have you been reading the fourms". Ha.

I told him I'm not making this stuff up. They all acknowledge the gasket recall TSB but act stupid when you mention differential howl/whine. Anyways, I'm supposed to go on a test drive with a mechanic/tech today so I can replicate the issue exactly.

Little do they know, I marked my fill plug with white pen so only I, know the previous orientation. I did check the level yesterday, it's about 1" low I believe. I did see some black mealltic dust in the oil/ drain fill plug.

I'm thinking i should try and obtain a sample of it before turning into Toyota. That way thru can't just dump thte fluid and put new in and say there is no " whinning/damage".

 

Someone could go to an independent shop, have them locate the issue and then contact Toyota with threat of class action law suit to get them to get this fix this fast.

 

I found a Toyota Centric shop willing to do the work and take Toyota on. Other shops at not want to go into it with Toyota and they just basically told me to file a claim.

The shop that I'm talking about who's willing to do the work is actually called literally the truck shop and they have Toyota mechanics used to work at the dealership.

 

Any idea on a cost estimate? Set up a GoFundMe and I'll chip in to offset the cost. If you are taking one for the team we could throw in some cash to reduce your outlay. Especially if it provides the rest of us with a fix.

 

you probably wouldn't have to put up any cash if you tell the shop to Test drive the truck first before tearing it down. Most qualified Drivetrain specialists can pinpoint the issue(if there is one)just by listening to it.

 

Where is this shop? Also, if I do not get anywhere with Toyota I will either LL the truck or fix it at my expense. If we have someone willing to identify the cause, fix it, and testify later, it will use be great to know. I am the holdup in my case due to some family issues and work or else I would already be moving on this.

 

what would you fix? you haven't even found out if there is a real problem yet.

 

Yes, I have verified I have an issue. I do not share all the details one this forum. I have a noted howling and as you know from reading these posts, Toyota is all over the place with regards to what is causing it. What will I fix? The howling noise. How will I fix it? By paying someone else to fix it.

 

I can't find a good shop around me unfortunately

 

One of our new operators showed up on-site yesterday with a 2016 Tacoma CCLB. We got to chatting and while he did not know what the "howl" was, he claimed there was a whine at the speed range described on this forum. He was kind enough to let me drive the truck early this morning. I could hear it most on light acceleration at around 60 mph. Sounds fairly faint but once I could hear it I could pick it out repeatedly. At first I thought it was the kind of noise you get when you got on some groovier PCC pavement. If I put the truck into another gear at that speed the sound went away.

31K miles on the truck. Says he notice the noise on a long trip about 8 months ago but has not taken it to the dealer.