Transfer case spat it at 11k

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Hi all,

It is good Friday and i should be sitting out in the bush somewhere, but instead i am back at home We packed up this morning and headed from Loxton to Lameroo, stopped for our final "real toilet break" no problems. then drove about 10k out a very good unsealed road to the Northern entrance of Ngarkat CP, we stopped to let down tyres and register at the park entrance. As soon as we got out of the car we could all smell a problem, A quick look under the car revealed oil dripping of the rear diff, a closer inspection after sliding under the car showed more oil heading back to the front of the car. It didn't take to long to find a hole in the casing of the transfer case. It looks like something? has shot out the side of the case leaving a small hole about 3-4mm in diameter. The alloy is burred from the inside out so it wasnt anything we hit, besides which it is tucked up behind the prop shaft and almost impossible to hit even if you tried. Our wagon has only done 11,000kms plus change. :evil: No Bangs, no clunks, no funny noises at all. Just a hole and lots of oil under the car.
The car is now sitting in the Local Toyota dealers workshop and i wont get a verdict until after Easter sometime, should be a straight forward warranty claim but you never know. We have done a total of 470,000kms in the 4 Toyotas we have owned and this is the first problem of any note. :shock:




Our RAA Premium Plus paid for its self today.



I could not find any threads suggesting this has happened to anyone else, i would be interested to hear if anyone has heard of this before.


Cheers Andrew

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Andrew, sorry to hear that. Hope Tojo doesn't give you any grief and all is sorted soon.

[FlyingBushPig Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close FlyingBushPig]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Sorry to hear of your trouble. It's always a frustrating thing when events like this ruin a nice planned trip away.
Hope it's sorted with no worries and as soon as possible.

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Geeze thats a tiny little hole but something has shot out with great force....bugger when your all packed and off to enjoy some time away..

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

on the bright side, ive got all weekend to

Mow the lawn :evil:

Weed the garden :evil:

paint the spare room :evil:

i really didnt want to go camping and 4WDriving this weekend, so now i get to do all those jobs ive been hanging out to do :roll:

Cheers Andrew

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

BUGGER!!!!!!

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Here is a quick update of todays events,

Phone call this morning from Toyota head mechanic to ask what the problem was as he has checked under the car and can find no hole. :?

I politely told him where to look for hole :roll: he went back to check again.

A while later got a call from the service manager, they have located hole and it was definately caused by something piercing the transfer case from the out side as the hole is much larger on the inside.

I asked if they had dismantled the case, he replied no. :roll: I suggested i would call in on my way home from Adelaide.

Called in and had a look, they had dismantled the case by this stage (the hole is no bigger on the inside than outside) unfortunately looking at the inside it appears that it was pierced from outside, but the oppisite applies if you look at the outside. The internals af the transfer case seem to have no damage and nor are there any foreign objects inside. The current theory (not mine) is that the prop shaft picked up something, probably a piece of wire, spun it round with out hitting anything else knocked a hole in the case and then pulled it out and flicked it away, again without hitting anything.

Given that there is no foriegn object inside and no other damage anywhere else and what ever caused the hole was at 90degrees to the cars travel direction, and it looks like it could have gone from either direction my current theory is that there was in imperfection or contamination of some sort in the casing which has expanded/exploded causing the hole.

we will see what conversations take place tomorrow.

Cheers Andrew

[Big Fella Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Big Fella]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Geez mate they seem to be a smart bunch down there :shock: . Even Lacey says there's a porkie pie being tossed around by Toyota. Maybe they don't want to admit a manufacturing error as they are probably running out of money from all the buggered cars in the States. Mate, going by what you say I'm leaning towards some sort of contamination in your casing as you have said. I just can see from those photos how something could have been picked up from the prop shaft, been spun around, popped a hole in the case and removed itself again without leaving any evidence. If it was strong enough to put a hole in the case you would think maybe some of it would be still on the shaft, especially if it was wire there would be marks on the shaft where it wrapped around and tightened.

I hope it all works out for you though and I'm sure you had a better time doing your chores around the house than you could have had camping and relaxing :twisted:

[rumble11 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumble11]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

What bollocks.

If the prop shaft had caused it as described there would be other evidence. There would be scratches, scrapes, paint flicked off, metal shavings and/or other damage on the body and the prop shaft itself!

Further, which direction does the prop shaft travel in relation to the hole's position on the transfer case. Does the hole provide a trajectory of travel? Does this trajectory support his ridiculous claim?

[FC_Holden Member Find all posts View Profile Close FC_Holden]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Here is a quick update of todays events,

The internals af the transfer case seem to have no damage and nor are there any foreign objects inside.
Cheers Andrew

If it was punched from the outside in then the piece of casing would be inside the transfer case, if not there and no spare bits of case then it came from inside out faulty casting does not seem right as the hole would be from the fault either in or out not a nice hole right through the wall.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Hi,

The service manager was back at work today and he rang after looking at the hole, he told me it was caused by a 4inch nail being flicked of the drive shaft and this is what caused the problem. Dont ask me how he knew it was a nail, let alone a 4inch one. Anyway he told me it is definately not covered under warranty and for around $100 they can drill out the hole tap a thread and insert a plug, the 100 bucks is only for the drilling, tapping and plug and any work already done plus gaskets and labour to reasemble will be extra. The car is at my local toyota dealer but i bought it from CMI in Adelaide (easiest 10 grand i ever saved). i rang their service department this arvo and they tell me in this type of situation, the protocol is to take photos and send them to Toyota for them to decide, it is not the local dealers call unless it is a straight forward issue. they also said in cases like this, where it is difficult to tell the cause a compromise can be negotiated.

From my point of view, even if i did pull of a "milion to one shot" and managed to flick a nail of the tires and onto the drive shaft,surely the transfer case should be strong enough to withstand a one of hit from a nail? After all we are talking about a 4WD built by the largest car maker in the world and marketed as being tough, reliable and go anywhere, not a korean built sewing machine.

I guess i will wait to hear from Toyota.

Cheers Andrew

[rumble11 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumble11]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

What absolute bullsh!t!!!!

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Obviously not as tough as nails!! Don't buy this rubbish of an excuse. Ask him to qualify his crappy story.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Well here is the final verdict on my transfer case. Early last week the service manager called to tell me the hole wasn't caused by a 4 inch nail as previously thought, it was definately a tech screw :roll: the casing being flared out was caused when the tech screw "screwed into the transfer case" after flicking of the front tyre and bouncing onto the drive shaft blah blah blah! they sent photos to Toyota technical services and they agree. Well last friday my wife gets a call because i was out of range and is told, the bill is up tp $240 for dimantling (already done) around $100 for repairing hole, similar labour cost to put it back together as the dismantling + oil, gaskets etc so around the $700 dollar mark. she told them not to touch it until she spoke to me and then hung up. I called them a bit later and after the explanation as to what caused the hole i was just about to get stuck into the service manager when he said, We will fix the hole and have the car back on the road, total cost to you $200. I said do it, and i now have the car back and all seems ok although i have only driven it 20kms on the bitumen.

Well i really don't know how to fell about this episode :? the end result was not unreasonable given that no one really knows what happened, and from fairly early on i was suggesting some sort of compromise could be reached. the Process to get to that compromise, and the absolute BS (they are stating this as fact) about what caused it, leaves a bit of a sour taste.

Cheers Andrew

[Big Fella Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Big Fella]

Re: Transfer case spat it at 11k

Glad to see it's all fixed AJ. Still don't believe their BS about what happened. Main thing is it's fixed and your on the road again. $200 is better than $700. Hope it all goes well.

How did they end up fixing the hole?