Rear Diff Gone Bad At 48K Miles???

G

Georgia-4Runner

New member
Hey everybody,

I have been hearing a whine-type noise from my T4R ever since I bought it about 10K miles ago. I thought it was noise from the old tires I had on it, but I put on new tires about 4K ago and the noise is still there....and getting worse. I took it into the dealership this weekend and the entire rear differential and right bearing are coming to pieces. The rear diff fluid was FULL of metal flakes.

I was very surprised to hear this news with only 48K miles on the car. Has anybody heard of this happening? It has done some towing of a 4,500 lbs. horse trailer, but nothing extensive. Oh, I have the V8, 2WD, LSD, Sport.

The whole repair is covered under warranty, but was still curious. Thanks for your help!

Steve
 
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Sometimes that happens. It all depends on who setup the gears. It was a carrier bearing that went bad? At least you caught the problem before the bearing siezed and destroyed more parts and left you stranded.
 
JeremyH said:
Sometimes that happens. It all depends on who setup the gears. It was a carrier bearing that went bad? At least you caught the problem before the bearing siezed and destroyed more parts and left you stranded.
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That is true..s**t happes sometimes, haha. Not sure which bearing went bad...don't know enought about whats in there!. Agree that I am glad I took it in before it failed and before I do the 1,500 mile round-trip mile Christmas drive. Even more glad I am getting it fixed while under warranty!!
 
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Well, they should fix it under warranty. A properly setup gearset should last the life of the vehicle without failure. Bad bearings happen, but it can sometimes be onset by a chipped ring gear tooth or pitted race or something like that.
 
Just had mine done at 60k miles.

(1) Carrier Assy, Dif - replaced
(1) Gasket, Dif - replaced
(6) Gear lube

See my previous post "whup-whup-whup noise from rear".

2007 Sport V6 4WD
 
Gotta be a defective unit, Toyota makes good diffs. My brother's bro-in-law heard some bad noises under his Land Cruiser. My bro is a guru of Land Cruisers, so he checked it out, and the front diff was dry inside. They filled it, and he never did anything else to it. I suppose he checks it more often after that, but they never opened it up. That was at 300k, he's over 350k now with no problems.
 
scottm said:
Gotta be a defective unit, Toyota makes good diffs. My brother's bro-in-law heard some bad noises under his Land Cruiser. My bro is a guru of Land Cruisers, so he checked it out, and the front diff was dry inside. They filled it, and he never did anything else to it. I suppose he checks it more often after that, but they never opened it up. That was at 300k, he's over 350k now with no problems.
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I'm wondering how different the LC setup is from the 4R? I have had a few FJ80's and they are known for their bullet-proof axles. Doesn't seem to be the case anymore, at least on the 4R...
 
Georgia-4Runner said:
I'm wondering how different the LC setup is from the 4R? I have had a few FJ80's and they are known for their bullet-proof axles. Doesn't seem to be the case anymore, at least on the 4R...
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The LC front axles are strong, but not as strong now that they are IFS, guys grenade them in the trails on occasion. The 100-series rear seems every bit as strong as the 80 was, although no more locker on the newer ones. My 4R weighs nearly the same as my 80, with more horses, and I've heard good things about the drivetrain in general. These are built for more rugged markets, like the LC used to be, so I'm expecting mine to last at least mechanically.
 
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I have the same problem w/ my 2007 t4r sr5 with 40,000 miles. I started hearing it under 40,000 and i thought it was the front brakes coz it was coming from the front, i brought it to the dealership to do the brakes and have it check it out, they said it wasn't the brakes they tested it and found that the rear differential is bad... They're going to fix it on tuesday Dec. 29. Noise is very annoying.
 
I just had my entire rear diff replaced under warranty.(18,000 miles) Whining at 65-75mph while under acceleration since 1,000 miles. Complete carrier & diff assembly replaced. The new one has a light harmonic tone at 35-45mph and decel whine at 65-55mph. I am not really happy with the repair. I change out the gear oil at 500 on the new diff and no real heavy metal. But the new one is about 1/10th as noisy as the original.

I'll run it 5000 on the new gears and see how it is. But the SM at the dealer says it is within acceptable noise level whatever that is. :nono:
 
iRCaDiKz said:
I have the same problem w/ my 2007 t4r sr5 with 40,000 miles. I started hearing it under 40,000 and i thought it was the front brakes coz it was coming from the front, i brought it to the dealership to do the brakes and have it check it out, they said it wasn't the brakes they tested it and found that the rear differential is bad... They're going to fix it on tuesday Dec. 29. Noise is very annoying.
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An update: Brought my truck to Grossinger Toyota service & they said it's the gear inside the differential, they will order the parts and will replace it on monday or tuesday.
 
I brought mine in also for this rear end noise. There at 75-80 mph and stops when I let off the accelerator. I also got the TSB done for the sunroof rattle, rear hatch paint chipping on the corner of the trim, cat converters for that nasty smell and they are replacing the driver side speaker that rattles with base. When I get it back ill let you know what they found. But for now they put me in a smokin hot silver 4 cylinder Rav4 (front wheel drive) as a loaner.
 
If you have the limited slip diff, there is a chance that the previous owner changed the gear oil but did not add a friction modifier additive. It's probably unlikely since it doesn't call for a gear oil change at that mileage interval. Just to be on the safe side, I changed the gear oil in all 3 of my diffs with Mobil 1 75W-90 at 30k miles. I'm glad I did, especially since the rear diff gear oil looked pretty bad considering the miles and that I don't tow.

The diffs on these 4R's should last well over 100k miles with oil changes when needed. It is probably a bit of a fluke that this happened to you, as this is the first I have really heard of this on 4R's with less than 200k miles.

Hope everything works out OK.
 
blown diff

I have an 06 v8 sport 37k.Ive had this whine since new.speeds between 50to 90 mph when your foot is lightly pressing the gas pedal if you press harder on the pedal or let of it stops whineing.Toyota dealer said they cant here it.I changed to synthetic gear oil at 20k.The gear oil that came out was very clean.It did'nt change the noise.I hope my diff is'nt going to blow up.
 
G.I.G. said:
If you have the limited slip diff, there is a chance that the previous owner changed the gear oil but did not add a friction modifier additive.
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What 4Rs came with limited slip? I thought that was gone with traction control? I'm planning to baseline all my fluids after I finish my month of training down in Dallas, don't want to screw up my diffs!
 
iRCaDiKz said:
An update: Brought my truck to Grossinger Toyota service & they said it's the gear inside the differential, they will order the parts and will replace it on monday or tuesday.
Click to expand...


update: Dealership changed the gears and it didnt fix the problem... noise is still there.. they gave me a loaner until 2moro.
 
G.I.G. said:
If you have the limited slip diff, there is a chance that the previous owner changed the gear oil but did not add a friction modifier additive. It's probably unlikely since it doesn't call for a gear oil change at that mileage interval. Just to be on the safe side, I changed the gear oil in all 3 of my diffs with Mobil 1 75W-90 at 30k miles. I'm glad I did, especially since the rear diff gear oil looked pretty bad considering the miles and that I don't tow.

The diffs on these 4R's should last well over 100k miles with oil changes when needed. It is probably a bit of a fluke that this happened to you, as this is the first I have really heard of this on 4R's with less than 200k miles.

Hope everything works out OK.
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All 3 differentials?

I thought there were two. Is the front differential hard to access?

Simple drain and pour?

How may quarts did you use up?
 
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