Tailshaft Clunk

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

According to ToyoDIY the same part for 120 series and 150 series.

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

I was told it has some special coating on the splines...some reference to diamionds if I recall (no pun intended)

I was also told about a special coating Riv, but didn't know anything about diamonds!

Cheers,

Jeff

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

It has a DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating on the spline interface.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond-like_carbon

[Joe Lighty Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lighty]

My 2012 GXL D4D was experiencing this "clunk" and today it went into Toyota for them to assess. The car only has 11,000km on it. They performed the greasing/lubrication at no charge - I can confirm they used the instructions from TNF59/11.
I'll give it chance to work - seemed ok on the short trip home, but at least I know the end result (if required) is a new tailshaft!

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

Hey Joe Lighty. I am curious as to what kind of driving you have been doing in your 11k...? More specifically did you get it wet/dusty and also do you know if your tail shaft was greased at 1,000km and/or any time since?

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

I bought my 2010 auto td with 52000 on the clock previous owner had it looked at around 48000 and 50000 under warranty. Both times greased. When I bought it I noticed it straight away. That said its not that bad now at 53,000. I think ill still push for replacement as it will be the third attemp but truth be told its not that noticeable at the moment.

Cheers

[Joe Lighty Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lighty]

Hey Joe Lighty. I am curious as to what kind of driving you have been doing in your 11k...? More specifically did you get it wet/dusty and also do you know if your tail shaft was greased at 1,000km and/or any time since?

Hi Gordon - I've only done very light highway driving since I bought it 3 months ago (had 6000 km on it when I purchased it) - the previous owner towed a jet ski, but it was in immaculate condition - I don't think it saw much water/dust.
Toyota suggested that the tail shaft greasing was NOT done previously.
All the best!

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

Hey thanks Joe, this makes sense. My theory is that prop shafts are being diagnosed as faulty because the servicing dealers can't tell their customer that they haven't been greasing them on every service. Your dealer could tell you that because it was (I assume) serviced somewhere else prior. Nobody I've spoken to up here as seen the problem, as the harsh environment dictates that to avoid certain self destruction the greasing has to be done every 10k at least. I'm on Prado #3 with no issue despite loads of dust, corrugations, and all the mud and the guts and the beer.

Anybody that does their own servicing had the problem... I am preparing to be shot down.

[D4DDave Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4DDave]

Gordon,

I haven't done my own servicing (yet) but my new Prado started doing it at about 6000-7000km and it's seen only about 100-200km of dirt and one water crossing about 25cm deep so far! Even if the dealers don't grease them properly during service, surely one would expect the factory does?

Mine goes in for the 10,000km service next week and they've already told me they're only going to grease it. When I raised the issue when booking my service, initially they told me "we used to replace them but now we just grease them", but when I pushed them (based on the knowledge from this thread) they did acknowledge the existence of the replacement tail shaft of a modified design. I asked if they would replace it if it reoccurred after this service and they said something along the lines of "that's a road we could possibly look at going down". No real commitment though.

David.

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

Hmm. Thanks for the headsup and good luck with the remedy. I had the prop shafts on my 120 replaced under warranty for a different reason (grease was getting past the welch plugs and not going to the telescopic spline) and after they were fitted I checked them. They were only lightly greased as per assembly and didn't have the big ooze factor from inside the hollow of the shaft. Same situation on my 150 when I took delivery. I agree with you that the factory greasing should last at least til the 10k service especially during clean driving, but maybe a good squirt shortly after delivery could make the difference. And I am talking about grease.

PS another theory: maybe it isn't such an issue out here because the tailshafts get more of a workout along the range of their extension, whereas running in on urban roads could wear them in the same place for too long...?

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

You say was first reported last service ?? was it still in warranty then or out ?? If it was still in warranty then tell them to stick the labour charge up their clacker and you want it fixed under warranty........ Cheers Steve

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Hi Bendman, mine was also reported while it was in warranty but the factory warranty has now run out. I've had it greased twice now whilst in warranty and I still get the occasional clunk. I'll be interested to see how you go with the labour charge, haven't pursued the issue any further yet but think I should.

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

BTW Bendman, you probably know this but it is only a half hour job at most, so don't let them slug you more than around $70 for the labour, which I agree you shouldn't be paying for anyway. Alternatively just tell them to hand it to you and don some safety glasses and a 14mm spanner. And while you're down there a nice squirt of grease wouldn't go astray...

Just another question (curiosity). Is this always the rear shaft or are people having problems with both?

[Riv39 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Riv39]

BTW Bendman, you probably know this but it is only a half hour job at most, so don't let them slug you more than around $70 for the labour, which I agree you shouldn't be paying for anyway. Alternatively just tell them to hand it to you and don some safety glasses and a 14mm spanner. And while you're down there a nice squirt of grease wouldn't go astray...

Just another question (curiosity). Is this always the rear shaft or are people having problems with both?

Gordon

Only the rear shaft has the problem. When you think about it this shaft has the most movement.

BTW amongst numerous normal regreasing my old shaft was also removed and regreased and the problem persisted returning after less than 5k. The only permanent fix is replacement with the modified shaft.still

[Gordon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gordon]

Gordon

Only the rear shaft has the problem. When you think about it this shaft has the most movement.

Haha of course! The front extending shaft would only be there for the wobbling around between the transfer case and the front diff. Clearly I didn't think about it.

Bendman given it is an easy job my logic is that the dealer shouldn't take much persuasion to wear the cost themselves. But I fully understand the notion that such a small amount of money may be well worth it to escape yet another argument with snotty condescending arrogant service staff (sorry to all the good ones out there - if you don't start every day with the mantra "the customer is always a gullible idiot trying pull something on us" then you don't fall into my bad category).

G.