98 T4R rear differential problem

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nerijusj

New member
Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. Just bought a used 98 T4R Limited. Everything is in good working order, except for some growling noise that comes from rear differential ( I think ) when I decelerate. When I touch the gas lightly again the sound goes away, and comes back on deceleration again. I had a chance to search this forum yesterday for similar problems, and found a couple threads that describes what's making that noise. I came to conclusion that it's bad bearings in rear differential ( pinion bearings? main pinion bearings? carrier bearings? ) So that sucks, I bought somebody's headache and probably a costly repair :( .

Now I have a few questions for you fellas. How much do you think it should cost to fix that (I'm in MASS)? Does the whole rear end has to be changed? Or can it be taken apart and only worn parts be replaced? How big and complicated job is this? I brought a car to a mechanic ( not dealership ) this morning, and he said he would change the whole rear differential :confused: and he didn't get back to me yet with the estimate. I'm assuming that'd be A LOT...
Oh, btw, car has 131k miles.

Thanks to all in advance. This forum rocks!
 
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I'll give you a bump so hopefully someone can help..sorry i can't help you myself..

have you checked over at yotatech.com? they seem to be geared more towards the 3rd gen 4runner
 
Ok here's my .02 cents....

Not knowing the exacts of a Toyota rear end I'm going to use my knowledge of a GM rear end.....hopefully some of my ramblings will be helpful.

If it is any bearing inside the differential itself, those should be replaceable, not necessarily by you, but they should be replaceable. As for the pinion bearing (I believe on my Silverado) there is one that is outside the diff housing that can be replaced fairly easily with hand tools, but there is an inner bearing that requires the pinion to be reset and I don't think I'd attempt that one.

Hope this helps and I'm sorry I can't help you with the exacts of your rear axle.:(
 
Ok, here's a few different websites I've found......

http://home.4x4wire.com/erik/diffs/

http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/buy/Toyota/Drivetrain/Differential_Bearings

I knew there is a difference between your axle and American truck axles.....after seeing the pics, I now remember, your differential's pinion and ring gear are all pre assembled within their section of the housing and then bolted onto the axle as once piece.....American axles have a solid housing that the pinion and ring gear are attached to a and then a rear cover covers the back side of the diff housing.

Hope this info helps you understand what's going on.....:confused:
 
brad6841 thanks for your input. I decided to start with simple lubing the driveshaft to see if the problem goes away, as I'm not sure what's causing it ( differential bearings was my guess ). It did not help, the noise is still there. Although, when lubing the rear driveshaft I noticed some play in it. I tried to turn it clock/counterclock wise ( like it normaly turns when you're driving ) and it was turning maybe a half inch back and forward ( I mean it had a play of about a half inch ). The trany was in neutral though. Is this kind of play in rear driveshaft normal ( note: car was in neutral ) ? Does that have anything to do with the noise I described earlier?
 
Again, for your 4Runner, I'm not sure if this will apply.....but that sounds like acceptable play to me......:confused:

If I jack up the rear axle of my truck and try to turn the wheels, while the truck is in park, I will get about that much play front and back on the tire. But that could be added play within the axle shaft and not the driveshaft and tranny.....:confused:

I'll see if I can dig up some more info.....:biggrin2:
 
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Well I spoke with a few people that are more knowledgeable then myself and they stated that the 1/2" of play is acceptable and that the growling is most likely misaligned gears, which could be caused by worn bearings, as you stated earlier....:D

Hope this helps.....:)
 
Brad6841 thanks again! I hate to think something's worn inside differential, but I'm closing up on that. Tomorrow I'll try to jack the car up and check the wheels for any play in them, maybe it's wheel bearing, which I doubt...
 
So today I took the car to a mechanic. He said the rear differential needs to be rebuilt. Estimate $600-700 just for labor, plus parts. So that sukcs! :mad: But I bought a car fairly cheap ( I think ) for $6800. Carfax shows 1 owner and lots of dealer maintenance. Overall it's a great car and everything else seems to be in good condition. I'm considering now to sell it as is or put a grand plus in repairs and keep it? Any suggestions for that matter?
 
nerijusj said:
So today I took the car to a mechanic. He said the rear differential needs to be rebuilt. Estimate $600-700 just for labor, plus parts. So that sukcs! :mad: But I bought a car fairly cheap ( I think ) for $6800. Carfax shows 1 owner and lots of dealer maintenance. Overall it's a great car and everything else seems to be in good condition. I'm considering now to sell it as is or put a grand plus in repairs and keep it? Any suggestions for that matter?
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Just pony up. What year/mileage? Just look at similar cars on CL and cars.com and see what the prices are. Basically what it is going to come down to is the only way you will make money out of the deal is you pawn off the problem to somebody else without telling them. Kind of a dick move. Just sales tax on a used vehiclse is going to run you $500. If you aren't ready to put this kind of money into your vehicle you might as well get a compact, because 4runners aren't going to be cheap to fix.
 
kingbiscuit said:
Just pony up. What year/mileage? Just look at similar cars on CL and cars.com and see what the prices are. Basically what it is going to come down to is the only way you will make money out of the deal is you pawn off the problem to somebody else without telling them. Kind of a dick move. Just sales tax on a used vehiclse is going to run you $500. If you aren't ready to put this kind of money into your vehicle you might as well get a compact, because 4runners aren't going to be cheap to fix.
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It's a 98 limited. 131k miles, but it looks VERY good for it's age inside/ outside even underneath. I'm not saying I'm not ready to put the money for fixing the car, but on the other hand I bought a Toyota to be "problem free" car as everyone praises them for reliability and stuff. So it kinda sucks to shell out a grand plus when I just got a car...
 
nerijusj said:
It's a 98 limited. 131k miles, but it looks VERY good for it's age inside/ outside even underneath. I'm not saying I'm not ready to put the money for fixing the car, but on the other hand I bought a Toyota to be "problem free" car as everyone praises them for reliability and stuff. So it kinda sucks to shell out a grand plus when I just got a car...
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In california that is a really good price for a one owner vehicle who serviced it well. Just chalk it up as an addition to the price. $7500 is still a good deal for it.
 
kingbiscuit said:
In california that is a really good price for a one owner vehicle who serviced it well. Just chalk it up as an addition to the price. $7500 is still a good deal for it.
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Yeah, I like the car very much. Here she is....beauty....
 

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nerijusj said:
Yeah, I like the car very much. Here she is....beauty....
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Yes quite beautiful. Much better than my $8K recent purchase of a 1998 with leaking axle seals. :( It does have a few less miles though 116K.
 
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