Rear Differential locked at 315,000... fix or sell as-is??

Hey,

Nice to find this site...

My brother's 2009 Tacoma's rear differential locked up the other day and his mechanic said a rebuilt rear differential may not be enough to fix it, he might want to replace the entire rear axle assembly. My brother is underwater helping take care of their baby and working, etc., so I'm trying to help him out and get some advice on decision making.

I found a rebuilt diff from East Coast for $900 (4.10 gears no locker) or a correct 85,000 mile rear axle assembly for $1250 plus shipping (maybe we could pick it up if it fits in my SUV and we can lift it).

His check engine light has also been on for awhile, and he's wondering if it's worth fixing the truck at this point. I suggested it was (cheaper than replacing it), but does anyone have any thoughts on value and fixing vs selling as-is?

What's a Tacoma like this worth with this mileage with and without a locked rear-differential?

He just had the frame replaced by Toyota not too long ago, but when the dealer did it they messed up the AC (it worked before frame job, now it doesn't), and they won't take responsibility for breaking it, so the car isn't perfect. CD jams, etc..

Other than the check engine light, it's still a nice looking truck, and he uses it in his gardening business. It looks like older Tacomas near me are over $10K even with very high mileage, but I'm not sure of the value as-is needing a new rear end (not drive-able).

Thank you for any help.

Aaron

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld
Lots of posts on TW about locked up rears turned out to be nothing more than stuck brake shoes. Was the truck moving when it locked or did it just refuse to move from being parked ?

 

What codes are you getting with CEL

 

My truck is currently having it's third member rebuilt. I think the first thing to do is really diagnose what's up.

In my case I did the following:
Jacked up truck with rear wheels off the ground.
Transmission in Neutral, turned driveshaft by hand. (Failed to move more than a 16th of a turn).
Next, turned a rear wheel by hand. My opposite wheel turned backwards, so spider gears were at least still working, brakes weren't frozen, and didn't feel like a bearing had failed. Spun nice and freely.
Then I took out the third. Great how to on that here

Until you get the third out, gonna be hard to know how bad things are.

 

A 2nd gen owner in my local Toyota off-road club had the rear diff fail as well. He found a salvage yard rear axle on Car-Part.Com at a reasonable distance and swapped it in.

The third member (rear diff carrier) can be separated from the axle housing relatively quickly at a salvage yard, so you can take that in your SUV and leave axle housing behind, if space is a concern.

 

Welcome to the forum

There are lots of these trucks in wrecking yards with rust issues, get a used axle of the proper ratio and bolt it in.

 

Why post twice?

 

A running truck with frame replaced by Yota has some value. It’ll all depend on your research and negotiations.

The thing about TW is that a truly unique issue in a 2nd Gen is pretty rare nowadays. You’ll find a ton of info here using the search feature.

Welcome and good luck

 

He doesn’t need a new rear axle assemble he needs a new mechanic

 

Thanks for all these responses. I only posted twice (newbie thread) because I got an email saying to post an introduction in that newbie thread, after I posted here; it felt redundant, but I thought I'd do as I was told

This is all great information. I think he was driving it when it acted up, but not sure. Not sure of the CEL code, it does run, I figure it can't be too bad.

I agree I'm not keen on the mechanic's lack of detail, it sounds like he is too busy to get into it right now, and is just being discouraging without details. He told my brother the last time he ordered a used rear axle it was bad, so I think he's shy to spend my brother's money that way...

Hopefully we can find a different path here with this advice.

 

Might post where your bro is located. Locals might like to help, otherwise we could at least recommend a good mechanic!

 

What’s going on with the ac, does the ac light blink and put out uncooled air (common for our trucks, could very well just be a coincidence and not related to the mechanics), stay on or not. He may just need to replace the magnetic clutch relay, if that doesn’t work then maybe the ac compressor pickup sensor too, do in that order. Relay is located on the fuse box, easy peasy, pickup sensor is a bit more difficult but still an easy job. If his light is blinking, I’m willing to bet one or both of these will most likely correct the issue. Won’t cost and arm an a leg either.

 

Thanks, I need to get a look at the truck myself if I can... not sure what's up with the AC, only that it worked before the dealer replaced the frame, and didn't after...

I'm the DIY type, he's the take to mechanic type.

He's in Western Massachusetts (Housatonic), it's about an hour or so from Albany NY and Springfield. Lots of local good mechanics, his seemed willing to fix the truck, but won't have time for 6+ weeks. His other mechanic he uses didn't want to touch it. It's at the mechanic's shop now, but I'll see if I can look at it.

 

Best of luck!
This thread saved my butt!
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/a-c-light-blinking-troubleshooting-guide.440200/

 

Thank you!!

 

Great news, I found an 85K mile 4.10 gear no locker rear axle and the mechanic went to install it and it was just a locked rear brake as mentioned here. My brother's mechanic misdiagnosed it (and we never double checked him). So, the truck is fixed and now I am looking to sell the rear axle

 

What a shitty mechanic haha

 

So you bought the rear end without diagnosing what was wrong? Wheres @Dm93...Glad you got it fixed!

 

Yeah, went by what the original mechanic had diagnosed, and mechanic obviously failed on that... he was actually discouraging my brother from fixing the truck due to the rear diff, a check engine light issue and high miles...

I never had time to diagnose it myself before I left town. My brother had it towed to his mechanic when it felt locked up, his mechanic said the rear differential was locked, based on what people said on this site, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a brake issue, but I didn't have time while I was in town to look at it myself, so I had it towed to a better mechanic and ordered the rear axle since it was a low mileage one out of a running truck, didn't want to miss out... all's good, lost the gamble, I should have trusted my instinct. Check engine light was small fix as well.

 

Glad you got him hooked up! Youre a good brother!