Brand New 4 Runner Needs Front Differential

I owned an Audi S4 for about 12 years and I think they are amazing vehicles, but damn the parts are expensive and there is just so much little shit that breaks over time. That said, the core functionality of Audis is pretty solid but they just nickel and dime you consistently at $1,000 a pop for pretty much anything, even if you do it yourself. Long story short, I loved that car but I'm also glad I don't own it anymore!

 

Sounds just like boats and airplanes. The base currency unit for maintanance is 1000 dollars. Lol

 

That's why I'm happy to be a part of a flying club so I don't have to worry about the maintenance, haha! And yes, there's even a term for $1k in the aviation community, the AMU (aviation monetary unit).

 

THAT was the term I was looking for. Lol

 

There is also the term B.O.A.T. Which is bust out another thousand.

 

Update: Toyota came and got the 4Runner Wednesday afternoon. They said the cv boot clamp was not tight causing it to allow the grease to come out on the axle. They ordered a new boot kit that evening. The vehicle was ready to be picked up around noon on Thursday. They did a poor job removing all the grease is my only complaint. I decided to just take it home and clean the grease off myself because clearly they don’t care about attention to detail.

 

That sounds like par for the course for any dealership I've ever dealt with, unfortunately. Definitely not unique to Toyota.

 

Why the heck wouldn’t they replace the axle???? They don’t care to acknowledge the fact that their MAY have been insufficient grease in the boot to keep everything running cool and make sure you are taken care of?

for reasons like this I’m glad I dumped Toyota service.

 

Yea I’m not sure why they didn’t just replace the axle instead of doing a boot kit. Fortunately, Toyota gave us a free 7 year 125,000 warranty due to our issues. Crazy thing is I owned my last Tacoma for over 10 years and my wife’s last 4Runner for 7 years. This 2022 has been to the service department more than both those vehicles together.

 

yeah, but would you want them working on your vehicle again? a factory warranty always sounds nice in principle, but if that's the quality of work that accompanies it i'd stick with my personal mechanic for other repair services, even if it costs me $$ out of pocket.

 

Exactly, I would much rather work on my own vehicles because I know that I will do the work correct. But I am trying to be positive about the situation lol

 

It’s important to stay positive. That grease really should be spread all around as much as possible to keep rust at bay. I recommend Woolwax to coat the rest of the frame if the mess your dealer made isnt enough to finish the undercoating job. Lol

 

Now that’s a good way to look at it. They were just helping me prevent rust.

 

Maybe you should open your fuel door so some of that grease can get on those rusty rivets.

 

use mineral spirits a cleaner , with some skin cleaner with water in the cleaner .. I clean my skin/clean rubber/paint/and many parts ... then I spray silicone on the rubber boots ...my 2000 silverado front axle boots look like new .. no cracks flexable ..

 

I've posted elsewhere with the long story. 2021 Premium been doing it since 7K, probably just didn't hear it in the summer. They replaced the front diff, still did it. The service manager put in a TAC report, I put in a complaint twice to Toyota directly. Regional Toyota tech drove it, heard it. The info I have now is the parts need to be manufactured after April 12, 2022 to be "reconfigured." Going in tomorrow (6/27/22 for new front axle and it's second replacement front diff (which means this is the 3rd front diff). I'll keep all posted!

 

OK..My new 2022 was manufactured in April of 2022 does anyone know how I find out what day in April my ORP was made?

 

I hate to say it, but I wouldnt hold my breath on what a dealer said about part revisions on this needle bearing issue. The initial TSB was supposedly a revised needle bearing…then came a supposedly revised diff replacement… Either way Toyota’s fix seems to resolve the problem 50/50.

From all indications, all they have to do is use a needle bearing that is a bit smaller I.D. But maybe nobody manufactures the needed size? But they could also do CV shaft with a bigger O.D. But it really doesnt seem to be the mystery toyota has made it to be. I have to think that Toyota has determined this is not a longevity issue…although it looks pretty stupid when you can move the CV axle up and down as much as it does.

My bet is that all 4runners have this noise to some degree at some temp condition, new replacement diff or not, regardless of date of manufacture. If you don't hear/notice it, you probably dont drive it much, or dont experience the same outside air temperature ranges as others with the noise.

I bought the ECGS bushing replacement, but honestly, Im hemming and hawing if I should install it. Mine only makes the noise at a specific temp during fall and spring. I’ll probably replace it when it pisses me off enough…but I talked to a guy at ECGS that said you cant pull the bushing back out if needed. For example, if you drive it in too deep when installing it, or if it wears out (albeit it doesnt seem to wear). He said it basically needs to be cut out. So that spooked me a bit.

 

That would make me a little Leary as wel and hope that if I had someone replace it they do it right the first time, so far the new differential is 100% good after a few thousand miles so far.

 

When they did my front diff in early 2020, the service manager told me the new differential had a different part number.

I will say that the noise has not returned in probably 27 months and about 50K miles. But, the fact that 2021's and 2022s are still having the issue makes me doubt they actually solved anything.

 

My invoice had a different part number for the replacement differential, but maybe they just do that to make us feel better lol.

 

If your lifting your rig just get the bushing installed. After lifting the front of mine 2.5 i didnt wait for the angles to weaken the needle bearing i just got it done to avoid future disaster. Just have to find someone that know what they are doing. We are lucky in Socal as offroad shops know about this issue and stock the ECGS bushing.

 

What is the exact thing to tell a shop to order the needle bearing? Not trying to sound like a dumbass here I know the brand to have them order but when they ask what needs replaced is there a specific part or is it literally just the needle bearing in the front differential?

I felt like mine had started groaning slightly around 25,000 now I'm at 32 and it seems to have actually gone away

 

Over on the BMW motorcycle forum, BMW is Bring My Wallet!

 

your model year 4runner ? 25,000 miles ...did you lift up the runner ? the CCP parts are a bearing ..

 

2019 SR5 premium yes lifted 1.75 in the front 1 in the rear

 

I believe the replacement part from ECGS is actually a bushing, rather than a bearing. It should be easy to find the right part on their website.

The dealerships are replacing the whole differentials. I lifted mine after the differential was replaced, and no issues yet after ~53K miles.

But, I've never heard a complaint about the ECGS bushing.

 

Here's my update:
The Toyota dealer replaced the front diff and the driver's side axle. This is the second front diff they did. The "correction" on the work order reads, "Replace SOP front differential (post countermeasure date of 4.12.22 or newer per FTS") I don't know what SOP is!
The new part number of the replacement front diff (not just the needle bearing) is 4111035A92. "Cause" on the work order is "mismatched front diff and LF CV axle per FTS." The axle part number is 434306008284. It's a re-manufactured shaft and "clean" core. They drove it 15 miles during the service (not sure if before or after or both).

Driving home from the dealership the steering felt much tighter and no noise, no vibration - the truck felt new. I assume the first replacement diff was just a swap with another "bad" one and either they mucked up the CV axle or it was, as they say, a mismatch. I will be keeping track and updating as time goes on but the real test, I assume, will be when the fall and winter temps arrive. For now, I've driven it about 2000 miles and it seems to have resolved this really hard to fix problem.

 

Has anyone replaced it themselves? How hard is it?

 

If you have mechanical skills it's about a 2 hr. process. And I know that things go much easier when it's on a hoist! I've heard of people doing the ECGS bushing in an hour and a half, but that must be humpin' right along, one other thing get the tools required from ECGS, I'm sure there are alternatives, and it's like 'how many times are you going to use them', mine sit on my shop bench after one use.... oh well.