2018 TRD ORP 50k miles. Took it in to the dealer this morning for a Trans Fluid exchange. As soon as I left the dealer I noticed a strange noise right side about where cooler lines are while accelerating between 1st and 2nd. Only when accelerating. No noise and low speed or in higher range gears or low rpm.

Turned around and went straight back. 4 others from dealer drove the truck and noticed same noise. They gave me a rental and told me a Toyota Service Specialist would have to come and diagnose the problem. WTF!!!

I am for taking it in to dealer. I have done all the maintenance myself since new. I had a $50 off coupon so decided to let them do it. So pissed!

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated

crazy! but not surprised. My question would be "Shouldnt a 'toyota service specialist' be doing the work in the first place?"

they always seem to have the lackeys doing the "service" work.

I would be seriously pissed and demand that they take you back into the shop and check the trans level in front of you as an assurance that everything is right.

Thank your lucky stars that your still under warranty! I bet money that if you were outside the warranty, they would tell you it's normal.

I'd have to hear it to have some idea of what could possibly be causing it. Otherwise it's just guessing.

Good luck.

I'll be sure to post the outcome. Hopefully its a good one!

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Kind of sounds like fluid running thru a line. Or air in a line. vary faint. similar to when fluid is running thru the heater core in dash. But very faint. I know thats kind of vague reference.

Dealer is saying its the Rear Diff causing the noise. And that it needs to be replaced. Doesn't sound right to me. Who knows....They are covering it under warranty.

I had the same EXACT thing happen to me! It was low fluid after a transmission fluid change. Mine went about 1 month before I noticed and it temporarily resulted in some harsh shifts(almost like a torque converter lock up issues).

Fortunately the lead tech went on a ride along with me and I was able to show him the sound and the unfortunate effect of the low fluid shifts. He flushed and made sure to top off the transmission properly. I'm guessing some of the rookie techs aren't following the proper procedure of the transmission fluid swaps and aren't bring it up to temp or something.

Its been 6 months and nothing has happened again. My vehicle was out of warranty but the tech performed it all for free, probably to avoid litigation.

I hope this helps.

sub'd ...

I would never, ever take my vehicles to a dealer. I can do the job faster and better than the time to and from plus the waiting. Just not worth it and I have the peace of mind knowing it’s done right.

I wonder if the fluid level is low? They might be one of those dealers that has a contract with someone like BG/Valvoline and do machine flushes? I remember the BG guys were trying to sell us that their machine doesn't require you to have to set the level. Me and a couple guys never bought that BS and found the fluid levels to always be off and needed to be adjusted after the service.

Another possibility is the technician forgot to install the fill plug. We've had a that happen once or twice with... persons who are no longer employed at my shop... we'll just leave it at that...

But if they're warranting the rear diff, that doesn't seem like a "oops we didn't do it right" issue.

Biggest lesson to learn from this is Do Not take it to dealer for anything unless they are a known trusted group. I'm an aircraft line mech for a major airline. I am sure they are having trouble finding quality workers just like we are.

I still don't believe its a Diff. This vehicle has been flawless in operation. Diffs don't just all of the sudden go bad. Ive had experience with Bad Diffs in other vehicles so I am familiar with those sounds.

I believe its just what the other guy said above. Not enough Fluid in the Tranny.

I left a message this evening for service manager to call me. I want to know how they determined the noise was coming from the Rear Diff. What actually has failed in the Rear Diff. The Service provider told me that I probably put the wrong fluid in it when I did it at 30k. I said ahhh no I put the Toyota 75/85 gear oil. He said oh but you did not put any conditioner in with it. I was like say what. Then he back pedaled and said look we are going to make this right and get it fixed thats all that matters.

why bother with a transmission fluid exchange at only 50k miles?

I'd just be like, "Why would I need to add conditioners? I used a GL-5 75w-90 gear oil as specified by Toyota, it should already have the correct additives and formulation for the application." Unless said advisor is confusing his services with an older LSD rear diff.

I agree, the rear diff seems a bit suspicious to me also; but I have no idea what the sound is or what they determined. But yeah, I'm guessing a fill plug was left out or something unless they did a 4WD service on your vehicle and forgot to fill the diffs... which would be a whole other issue.

Not a bad idea, if you look at your maintenance schedule it does specify a "severe conditions" interval (despite it supposedly being a "lifetime fluid"). Almost all our SUVs/Trucks in this area qualify under Toyota's "severe conditions" guidelines if not by geography/climate, by modifications and uses. I did the first transmission fluid service on my '04 at 100k and follow the manual with 5yr/50k coolant services and also do my transmission fluid at the same time for convenience rather than waiting until 60k. I also have my doubts that the fluid really holds up that long in anything other than constant freeway cruising.


Post Note-

Thank you for mentioning the group thing, most people forgot/don't realize that dealerships in the US are not Toyota, they're private franchise entities owned by companies/family groups and so how one dealership operates is not equivalent to all dealerships.

I had the power trans flush at our local Toyota dealership recently, at 146,000 miles (I know... crazy to have waited that long). They said after 150,000 miles they won't do it if you haven't done the fluid flush/ exchange before.

Everything seems fine except it's a bit more reluctant than before to downshift while gradually pressing down on the accelerator.

Could this mean my tans fluid level is a bit low?