[mashburned]

Took the 4r for my free ToyotaCare 15k service - which per toyota recommended maintenance includes the driveshaft lube and torq. I figured the dealership would not readily include this, so I politely questioned them this morning about it....long story short: I don't believe they did it.

1. Can I visually inspect the driveshaft to see if fresh grease was pumped into where it should be? I read a couple threads about driveshaft lube on here (which seems to be a slightly mysterious topic...) and I can certainly visually check areas connecting rear diff ---- transfer case -----front diff. Should I be able to see some grease oozing out of somewhere?

2. How important is lubing the driveshaft every 15k in terms of long term reliability and performance?

3. How long should it take a tech to hit all the lube points? A quick 30 minute job or less? What would they charge for that service? The invoice doesn't specifically list greasing the shaft.

- the nice lil ladies at the customer service check in had no idea about this driveshaft lubing, so they called in a service manage who didn't really help. I whipped out the daggon maintenance and warranty booklet to show them. that turned into "oh yea that's part of the multi-point expection"....which i said idk, and again pointed to the maintenance booklet showing exactly what toyota says, and this is not a regular visual inspection sort of deal. They all assured me oh yea its' good, we'll take care of it. I should have poked and prodded more.

However, I did get them for my free entune nav upgrade (which I negotiated at purchase) which also baffled them or at least got them order the SD card which costs $169 and will install it for free when it arrives, so the trip was not a total disaster.

Yea, I'm a noob who should probably learn this stuff myself, but not happening. I just want to make sure my new vehicle is being taken care of, and will look at different mechanic options after my free toyotacare is up. I'm really irked that a damn toyota dealership would play dumb about a warranty required service like this. But I also understand I could drive this thing for a long dang time and never have any sort of issues from not lubing the drive shaft.

Thanks for any info. I really just wanna know if I can visually verify my driveshaft was lubed today or not.

[1000MPH]

Yes. You should be able to see if there's factory paint on the zerk fittings.
I'll see if I have pics.
You probably shoulda asked this question in the existing thread.

Edit: the pics are in the 13th post in this thread.

[mashburned]

Ok, thanks for your quick respons.... I can definitely locate those zerks. Now what exactly will the factory paint on them tell me? If it's all fresh factory black paint looking, that means no grease was pumped into them? These zerks, you attach the grease gun to them? Or are they removed?

[85straight]

Should take 5 min to hit all the zerks. Unless you specifically asked them to do so it’s very very likely they didn’t bother because your vehicle is so new. Most new vehicle don’t even have zerks anywhere compared to say 10-15 years ago.
It’s really not a huge deal, not going to hurt anything by not greasing them evey 15k

[1000MPH]

Mine we not greased during my "free" service period even though I specifically asked and paid for it (long story, 5k service). I already had the dreaded clunk by 15K and it was then saw it was never done.
Yes, look at the pics of the zerks and you will see the ball is still sealed with factory paint in several of them.

[mashburned]

Thanks for the info. What special conditions caused you to need grease at 5k?

I dont' really know what a driveshaft in need of grease feels like. I've heard about the dreaded clunk...when you stop, right? Idk. I read in another thread just now that shifting out of park would feel rough and clunky if it wasn't greased? Is that right?

* Also, I found out today there's a recent TSB about the driveshaft. They thought that's what I was initially talking about. Said it didn't apply to my 2017, and they didn't tell me specifics when I asked, just said it's a driveshaft TSB to extend warranty or something.

[renau001]

At least on the u-joints you should also see remnants of some fresh grease. They should have pushed all the old grease out of the bearings and would have had to wipe up all that grease. Very difficult to get perfectly clean so there will be some leftovers. See link in sig for links to more info.

[cbreze]

I had similar concerns with whether or not the dealer here was giving me the straight scoop regarding drive shaft greasing. I only once had a service writer who was believable when he said it was properly done. Amazingly the service writer is always different when I come in for service. The next time I asked more emphatically about the need for good lubrication and they over greased it to the point of it flinging excess around underneath the engine. The grease jockey either doesnt know what he's doing or was pissed at my request. Maybe both. I wish I could do my own work but am not physically able any more so I depend on a good shop and since I'm out of warranty now I will be looking for one. I've had a couple recomendations but wouldn't mind another if anyone in the Bend Oregon area is listening.
I'm past due for the 30K service and will be getting it done next month.

[1000MPH]

Originally Posted by mashburned

Thanks for the info. What special conditions caused you to need grease at 5k?

I dont' really know what a driveshaft in need of grease feels like. I've heard about the dreaded clunk...when you stop, right? Idk. I read in another thread just now that shifting out of park would feel rough and clunky if it wasn't greased? Is that right?

* Also, I found out today there's a recent TSB about the driveshaft. They thought that's what I was initially talking about. Said it didn't apply to my 2017, and they didn't tell me specifics when I asked, just said it's a driveshaft TSB to extend warranty or something.

That's kinda the problem with preventive maintenance, you don't really know if you really need it.
The early 5th Gens had a 5k service interval listed in the warranty manual that included oil changes and shaft lube.
They updated the manual several months later to the one you can find on the Toyota website with 10k intervals.
My driveshaft was replaced under the TSB that I had to bring in for them to honor. That one may have been pre-lubed but it had the zerks sealed with factory paint as well.
They're smart enough to know they'll get more business down the road by not doing the maintenance you're hoping and paying (and praying) for.

Originally Posted by cbreze

I had similar concerns with whether or not the dealer here was giving me the straight scoop regarding drive shaft greasing. I only once had a service writer who was believable when he said it was properly done. Amazingly the service writer is always different when I come in for service. The next time I asked more emphatically about the need for good lubrication and they over greased it to the point of it flinging excess around underneath the engine. The grease jockey either doesnt know what he's doing or was pissed at my request. Maybe both. I wish I could do my own work but am not physically able any more so I depend on a good shop and since I'm out of warranty now I will be looking for one. I've had a couple recomendations but wouldn't mind another if anyone in the Bend Oregon area is listening.
I'm past due for the 30K service and will be getting it done next month.

I feel for ya. Last time I did an oil change I messed up my back for a week. I would pay dealer prices for a trustworthy mechanic.

[mashburned]

Originally Posted by 1000MPH

Yes. You should be able to see if there's factory paint on the zerk fittings.
I'll see if I have pics.
You probably shoulda asked this question in the existing thread.

Edit: the pics are in the 13th post in this thread.

Ok, not my zerk, but for reference.....this zerk from the 13th post of that thread you linked is factory painted over and flat on top, you can't see the lil ball in the middle, correct?



My front one didn't look like that, you could see the lil ball bearing in the middle of the zerk meaning the flat paint top has been punctured by grease gun? Amiright? I can maybe post a pic later, just did a quick check...

Went from the front diff to the middle transfer and I couldn't really see a zerk there, one was pointing up couldn't view it, but I did see the part of the driveshaft that expands and contracts there was grease there, had to be fresh. Nice kind of metallic grey like color. Just a little bit of it.



^thats' an example of the part that "expands and contracts"...whatever that's called, where you see the fresh steel. Mine was lubed up.

Anyway, I think my stuff's been lubed, and if not, I ain't worried about it. That's why I drive a 4runner. Ain't nothing gonna stop this train anytime soon.

Thanks for info guys, I learned some things today. I'll take a closer look around the rear later tonight and see what's it like.

*everything I just typed could be totally wrong, idk. Thanks for bearing with me.

Oh, and Renau, your nice list of scheduled maintanence items is helpful. I actually printed that puppy off here when I got my 4r a year ago. I keep it with my maintenance book and other papers. It's a quick and easy reference. I should of took it with me to the dealership and said "see, right here, Renau says 15k (18months) grease the shaft."

[1000MPH]

Sounds like you're good.
Here's another thread with pics if you're bored.

Drive shaft grease?

[1000MPH]

That's probably it. I got the clunk when taking my foot off of the brake after medium hard braking. Coming off of a freeway off-ramp up to a red light was the easiest way to duplicate it.
Exactly like other people describe it, like getting a little bump from behind.

[Anand]

I have nothing useful to add to this other than I recently had my 15k service done, specifically asked the service advisor if the diff fluids were checked, prop shaft lubed and retorqued and I got a blank stare, followed by "oh that isn't part of the 15k service, it's a tire rotation and multi-point inspection; your vehicle uses synthetic oil so you don't need an oil change until 20k miles"

I informed him that the owners manual as well as Toyota's website both state that it is included, he gets up to "confirm it was done", talks to another service writer, comes back and says "oh yea, that's all part of the multi point inspection, that's why it isn't listed separately". I got home, crawled under the truck and confirmed, nothing had been touched. It was ironic because the MPI was not filled out correctly at the 10k service, and I made mention of it when the dealership CSR called to follow up, she assured me that to win my trust back they would make everything great at the 15k service... Which didn't go as planned.

I contacted Toyota Customer Care, and a few hours later I got an extraordinarily apologetic phone call from her and explained the entirety of the situation. Needless to say, I've now ordered the lube, lube gun, etc to just handle it all myself

[wbstru]

I have a 2011 trail with 112000 miles..I grease the driveshaft every 6 months with Mobil 1 synthetic grease,the red stuff..Absolutely no problems

[Bluepatrol]

WTH I just had an oil change done and asked to grease the driveshaft and the Toyota dealer said its all sealed and their are no fittings to grease.