Rear differential failure other problems to follow ?

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted by Carbon

I doubt that.

If you bothered to click on the pdf Junebug posted above, you would clearly see the multi clutch design.

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted by friendly_jacek

Back in 2007 (IIRC) when RAV4.3 were fairly new, someone in Australia racked tons of km in new RAV4 and had rear diff failing right after the warranty period. I posted about it on this forum back then. It was an early indicator that the diffs are not the strongest point of this car.

I actually did find that old link. It was from 2008 and not 2007 as I remembered: Rear Differential Rav4 - Rav 4 Club - Toyota Owners Club - Toyota Forum

[cheesypoof]

My 08 rav4 with 90,000 miles has the whining noise coming from the coupler/carrier assemblies that many have talked about here and on other threads. The dealer wants around $3000 to fix it with new parts. So, I've decided to try replacing it myself with a used one from a newer 2011 rav4 at around 35% of the cost. Does anyone have the service manual section for just changing out the differential? It looks to be a straight forward job but I would like to have a guide. Thanks

[ed011826]

Originally Posted by anchorman

The rear diff on a RAV contains a multi plate clutch. Normal wear of this clutch means the oil gets contaminated with wear debris. It is vital that the oil be changed every 2 years or 10k miles. Otherwise the debris will destroy the diff bearings.

So in my case your suggesting changing the rear differential fluid every six months? That seems so wrong

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted by RF Overlord

Does anyone know if the electric coupling is lubricated by the diff oil...I would ass-ume it is...or is it self-contained?

I studied the drawing linked by Junebug and don't see how the diff fluid is shared with the coupling. I could be wrong though.

[Carbon]

Originally Posted by friendly_jacek

If you bothered to click on the pdf Junebug posted above, you would clearly see the multi clutch design.

The control clutch uses a multiple metal plate type clutch, and the main clutch uses a multiple wet plate
type clutch.

I guess we could infer that the main clutch is not all metal then.

It says the main clutch is wet. So are you thinking the fluid is sealed and not the differential oil?

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted by Carbon

So are you thinking the fluid is sealed and not the differential oil?

Yes, I saw a Japanese paper on similar electric couplers and they used ATF fluid inside. I believe they are sealed.

[vanib]

You rear differential is still working even if you are not towing, especially in snow and mud. That's why I changed my lube at only 25K miles/4 years. It already had lots of metal particles and the lube was dirty dark green. I can't imagine what it looked like at 80k Miles.

rear differential and transfer case gear lube

BTW, mine is 4cyl 4WD and I don't tow.

[pepepeter]

Originally Posted by vanib

You rear differential is still working even if you are not towing, especially in snow and mud. That's why I changed my lube at only 25K miles/4 years. It already had lots of metal particles and the lube was dirty dark green. I can't imagine what it looked like at 80k Miles.

rear differential and transfer case gear lube

BTW, mine is 4cyl 4WD and I don't tow.

Same here.. 08 I-4 AWD with 51k miles and I dont tow.. both transfer case and rear diff were dark, dirty green with grease up shaving on the the drain plugs.

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted by vanib

You rear differential is still working even if you are not towing, especially in snow and mud. That's why I changed my lube at only 25K miles/4 years. It already had lots of metal particles and the lube was dirty dark green. I can't imagine what it looked like at 80k Miles.

rear differential and transfer case gear lube

BTW, mine is 4cyl 4WD and I don't tow.

I don't understand why it looked so bad at 25,000 miles without towing. I did mine at 22,000 because I towed some, and while the rear was a bit dark, the transfer was like new. Mine is V6. Does the I4 transfer/rear diff work harder/hotter?