Initial quality complaint

I only measured in-out on transmission. Not on front diff. Filled until equal with fill hole. I wanted to know how low the trans was so intentionally overfilling slightly then draining until correct level is only way to know.

 

It doesn't matter-that measuring is a tactic for the transmission for those who don't want to actually know if it's filled correctly.

 

My miss sorry for the confusion. Transmission I get it and have done this with my old Tacoma. Not as important because it has a dipstick to measure the level. Great piece of mind how much came out is how much goes back in.

 

Bullet proof method is OBD bluetooth scanner and app to see real time trans temp. OBD Fusion is one choice that many like. You can be under the vehicle and monitor the temp as it climbs into the check zone.

 

Because I was curious, I sent a note to the salesperson I dealt with to ask him about this. He confirmed with their service department that differential and transmission fluids are not checked during a dealer PDI.

 

I found a copy of an official Toyota USA PDI checklist and these items were not included which is surprising to me. Oil, coolant, break fluid, PS fluid but no trans, diffs or t-case.

 

I think it comes down to what is easily viewable in engine bay or has a dipstick. Anything else they are not checking.

Something anyone popping the hood can easily check. No going on the lift and removing drain/fill bolts.

 

Obviously we’re in the middle of a discussion about the consequences of this, but can you imagine adding that step to a PDI? First of all, the guy doing the PDI isn’t guaranteed to be a knowledgeable tech (I was doing PDIs for Lincoln/Mercury at 18).

I’m not sure I’d trust that tech with anything that requires replacing a crush washer. It’s a risk to add one more opening/closing/torquing sequence to all four holes under a brand new vehicle.

 

Surprising situation. I come from the auto manufacturing world and I would have been surprised if even one out of 10,000 vehicles from any major OEM would be underfilledfrom the factory. The level of error proofing in the auto mfg world is pretty high these days.

 

I have seen a rash of underflled posts on the Rav4 forums. Pandemic cars...

 

Well….. I just did the check procedure on the trans. First I added a half quart and then started it up, got it to temp with the cheat code bs. Pulled the check plug and got around a half quart out. Peace of mind for my OCD.Now I can sleep

 

Good to know.

 

I stated in my first post I would report back here on the case number I had with Toyota Brand Engagement regarding the under-filled state of my front Differential. I got a call this AM from my case manager. Toyota is giving me $500 in parts or service redeemable anytime to reflect their desire to keep my trust. I can go to my dealer parts counter and get $500 in oil, filters, gear oil, etc today. Simply go to the appropriate website on Toyota.com, complete the reimbursement request with case number and they issue a check. I plan on doing that. They know I just bought a 4 Runner in April and looking to buy a Rav 4 (or possible another 4 Runner) soon. I am impressed. They said it did not meet their expectations on initial quality. And they believed me because I sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I think they appreciated the idea that I only put 10,000 per year on the vehicle and indeed I may have had a first problem after the warranty had expired. They could have told me to forget about it. So it makes me feel good about the intentions of some in Brand engagement.

 

I think that is a fair offer. It was not underfilled enough to do any damage, especially at that mileage. Sounds like everyone is happy.

 

Yes, a fair offer. Nothing was damaged as I only have 1050 miles, with probably only 2-3 off road. Just enough to make sure all the systems worked properly. But again, most people would not check levels for possibly 30,000 miles or longer. I endorse verifying properly filled critical fluids

 

Wow, that is an excellent response on Toyota’s part! It’s very nice they took you for your word and acknowledged the problem. Around here, if you took it to a dealer, the service writers would probably suggest you were lying or brush it off.

I know a toyota tech that told me your best bet if you have an issue while under warranty, is to first file a claim with Toyota directly. That way, they tell you to go to the dealer with a case number in hand. It seems this forces the dealers to address the problem more formally, and without getting various screening tactics from the service advisor. Don’t know if this is true, but based on the resolution you got from Toyota HQ, it might have some merit.

I wonder if filing a claim first would help for when dealers want to charge you a fee after saying “could not replicate”.

 

I can speak from experience, When we would get contact directly from Infiniti regarding a sensitive issue with one of our clients, They did get an additional level of attention when their vehicle was taken in for service.
Several times we would be working around technical engineers flown in depending on the severity/type of issue.

 

Bumping this as I finally got around to checking my front differential fluid. While it wasn't near as low the OP, according to the "fill it until it drips out" technique, it was low.

Wasn't enough for me to be concerned about, but thought I'd post for those who might be on the fence about checking their fluid levels.

I didn't weigh the bottle beforehand so all I have to go off of is how far down the bottle the level was after I was done. I used Royal Purple and, assuming the oil was about to the top, the level ended just at the top transition line. Using the number on the bottle which says "1qt 946ml". I weighed it after and it weighs 725ml.