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

At this point I could care less if it’s just harmonic or actually a bad ring and pinion, etc. When the howl can be heard over the radio bumping at 30+ that ain’t normal nor fun. Especially since half of my work commute is 55-60. Exactly where mine howls.

 

I'm on this boat. Mine is pretty faint. Most days I have to listen for it to hear it. If I wasn't on this forum I probably would never have picked up on it.

 

I know mine has become incredibly loud. If I turn up the radio enough to not hear it then my door panels and front dash rattles to no end. Absolutely no support from the dealerships or Toyota. They've tied my truck up so I can't even get it repaired or inspected at a dealership on my own dime. So they have about a year maybe a year and half before I can unload this vehicle to get it straight which I am not counting on. The fact that I'm stuck paying money on something that is obviously defective and completely unbearable to drive is disheartening.

 

But it’s not defective. There’s been less than 5 3rd gen diff failures on this forum.

 

If it annoys you every time you go for a drive it's defective.

 

Time to do some donuts until that rear diff explodes---then have a buddy tow it to a car wash and then tow it to the side of the road then call toyota.

 

Folks....I’m wanted to change my rear fluid and the manual States Toyota 75-85w gl-5 fluid or equivalent. Only thing I can fin is 75-90w gl-5. Valvoline has this in synthetic as does Mobile 1.

Question is any issue with using 75-90w since this is slightly different than the toyota specified fluid?

Also all the synthetics all were labeled with Limited Slip. I have 2018 DCLB Sport so I’m assuming is ok, but just wanted to verify.

 

Many have changed theirs with 75-90W GL-5 No issues. Others have bought the OE fluid from Toyota. There's really not much of a difference. I will be changing mine at 10k with 75-90W

 

Ok so I got my 2018 TRD OR 4x4 DCLB "limo" (which has 200 miles, most of them are form going to the dealer and back home) back after the dealer acknowledged the howling as an issue. The service repair sheet lists "rear diff pinion bearing excessive clearance." "Replaced rear diff carrier assembly". It cost them a pretty 3k I saw on their copy, and there is no difference in the howl, still exists and becomes apparent in the same driving conditions. When I went back they wanted me to drive another one on the lot to compare and see if it howled, but they didn't have any others on the lot that were my exact configuration. So from there the service manager was going to contact toyota and see what they think, I should be hearing back shortly and will keep this updated. My thought to the manager was, if the last one was making the exact same noise under the exact same conditions and you discovered a problem, what makes you think theres not something still wrong and this is normal.

 

I feel sorry for you. I am in the same boat. If this is a truck you wanted to drive for a long time and it's intolerable, demand a full refund NOW. Nothing less. These dealers are fully aware of the problem and you didn't get a discount for taking a flawed vehicle off their hands.
I noticed the howl on the second day, the dealer says don't worry well fix it, diff replaced not fixed, dealer says they all do it, Toyota gaved me a 7/100 platinum warranty, but i am not sure ill ever be happy with this truck. Not all these trucks make this noise. Your dealer is looking for a truck that makes the noise so they can say all these trucks do this, but not all these trucks make this noise. You got screwed.

 

For me its not intolerable, it only happens within a small range of mph decelerating, my concern is more so reliability and damage to other components.

 

Well, just expect it to get louder as it wears in.

 

2018 DCLB 2018 Sport with 1100 miles. Had a 2016 DCLB that had a very noisy rear (howl/whine...whatever you want to call it, but it was always there above 55mph)
The 2018 has started to exhibit the dreaded deceleration whine as it passes through 55mph. At this point it is nothing compared to the 2016 and is very tolerable....just got fingered crossed that doesn't get worse.

I just replaced the rear fluid with Mobil 1 75-90w. Not that I expected anything to be magically fixed but more to just know that it was full and to know there wasn't any crud in the fluid indicating any type of abnormal wear. It was slightly low and there was nothing bad in the fluid, just a small amount of black film on the drain plug which I assume is from normal wear.

My main question is that I was only able to get 3.5qts on fluid in it? Book list several quantities based upon transmission/engine. My interpretation is that it should have taken 4 quarts.

Anyone out there have any insight on this?

 

How long did you let it drain and were the fluids warmed up? Were you perfectly level?

Also do you happen to know the model code for your truck? (That GRN3XX-XXXXXX code). The way the owners manual reads is obnoxious.

OA

 

Fluids were warm.....I did not put a level on the vehicle but it was level and certainly not visually on any kind of incline in any direction. Let the fluid drain for about 15mins and it was just a slight dribble when I put the plug back in.
I don't know the model number. My interpretation of the manual is that it needed 4qts. I can say that it now has more in it than I took out....as it was about 1/4" below the hole when I 1st checked it....now it is at the hole.

I saw another post where the person said to seal it up for a bit and let the fluid run down the tubes? Regardless, I was just going to run it up and down our long driveway a couple of times and check it again.

 

Just a thought.....
Some people may be able to hear the pitch of the noise a lot easier than others. Could explain why some hear it and some don't, or why some hear it more than others.

 

So....regardless of what the manual says, I drained 3qts of fluid out of the rear (the level was about 1/4" below fill hole when I started) and I put in about 3.5qts. Drove it a short distance and let it sit and then was able to get a very small amount more fluid in. If anything it was 3.6qts...well short of 4qts (assuming that is what I was suppose to put in)

So....the short story is it was at least 1/2 quart low from the factory. Suspect it's not critical, but not the best situation either given the situation.

 

My interpretation of the manual is that in trucks without the rear diff lock (like your Sport), the rear diff takes either 3.1 or 3.22 qts, depending on model number.

 

There's a reason there's a fill hole like that. Fill it and run it. Who cares about the numbers. It's full or it ain't.