Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AXLE ASSEMBLY | |||||
| 5098B | 06/10/2005 | 10015475 | Differential locking system - suspension and axle. repair manual correction. 00400-rm100-2u2. *tt | 07/25/2005 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 09/19/2011 | |||
| I am concerned about the rear axle housing on my 2003 toyota tacoma. the metal on the reward side of the ring gear housing is very thin and will rust out and begin to leak. i have personally seen gear oil leaking through pinholes in the rear axle on two other toyota trucks. the thin metal and lack of anti-corrosion treatment on the axle housing creates several significant hazards. 1. eventual failure of the mechanical components if leak is not detected. if the failure occurs while in motion this can cause an accident if it is a severe failure that locks up the rear wheels. 2. structural integrity of the rear axle housing. the metal is weakened due to the corrosion and can possible cause the housing to bend or break. again causing an accident. 3. pollution. the leaking gear oil through the rusted axle housing causes pollution of ground water and other environmental concerns. | |||
| 09/01/2011 | 106235 | ||
| Rust out of the differential cover. all of the oil in the differential leaked out. no parts are available from toyota. the complete differential must be replaced at a cost of over $ 1,000.00. this is a major problem as per many toyota forums on the net. toyota will not stand by this repair and will not admit to any problem about rust. | |||
| 09/12/2010 | 1 | ||
| 2003 toyota tacoma. consumer is having a number of issues with the vehicle. front drive shaft broke due to rust, frame rusting, and transmission cooler was leaking. *kb | |||
| 04/04/2005 | 20310 | 3 | 07/06/2004 |
| Once in a while when i am driving my 2003 toyota tacoma vin 5tegn92n73z261238 it starts going off the lane and requires extra power to get back on track. this has happened 3 time so far on the local surface streets here in tempe. i have not experienced this behaviour on highway. also after that the hand-break light will come on and it will not go off. i did not even put hand break. the hand-break light will go off after a while. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 06/11/2010 | 146000 | ||
| On june 11,2010 i was changing the anti freeze in my 2003 toyota tacoma.the vehicle was in park and running to warm engine to open thermostat to get more coolant from the lower block . well i decide to boost the engine speed by manually moving the throttle .to my surprise my truck lurched back before coming to a stop i check the shifter it was still in park .but a futher exam the vehicle stuck in reverse and will not go into any forward gear. i m' going to check to see if the linkage needs ajustment everybody i talk with said it was not suppose to move unless the brake was applied first | |||
| 500 | 50 | ||
| Vehicle has a history of problems that the dealer cannot determine the causes. vehicle does not properly shift into gear, has a rough idle, and a knocking noise in the engine. dealer could not duplicate the problems because they were intermittent. *ak | |||
| 12/05/2003 | 5000 | 1 | 05/05/2003 |
| After approx. putting 5,000 miles on my tacoma 2003 double cab, i started noticing when normally bringing the vehicle to a complete stop, there is a cluncking sound from the rear end. the harder you stop the vehicle the worse it gets. it's like getting slightly rearended by another vehicle. if it doesn't make this cluncking feeling and sound as you come to a stop, it will do it once you let off of the brake pedal to idle/roll forward to advance at a traffic light, stop sign, etc. this appears to be getting worse as i continue to drive the vehicle which now has 24,000 miles on it. i took it to ron carter auto world and the service department tells me that toyota is aware of this and considered it normal. if this is normal why don't other vehicles do this? it gets annoying looking into the rear view mirror every time this happens thinking that you've be rearended by another vehicle.*jb | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - COLUMN SHIFT | |||
| 1 | 01/18/2003 | ||
| About two weeks ago driver accidentally bumped the shifter and it went into neutral without pressing the lock. consumer considers this to be a serious safety issue. the dealer was contacted, who stated this is normal for that vehicle. *ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - CLUTCH ASSEMBLY - PEDAL/LINKAGE | |||
| 09/01/2006 | 50000 | 2 | 03/30/2005 |
| Clutch pedal bushing is made out of plastic & should be made out of rubber, it wears out & starts to squeak real bad and eventually there is metal to metal contact which causes the whole clutch assy. to fail. *nm | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE - DIFFERENTIAL UNIT | |||
| 06/21/2005 | 21000 | 1 | 08/21/2003 |
| At 21,000 miles heard loud noise for differential, and bad glunk when leaving stop light, toyota never put in gear lube to cover up the bad welds on right end of differential (that would have leaked if they did put in gear lube), no reply from e-mails, phone calls, talking to cust. rep, (requested arbitration forms by phone and e-mail 6 times, never received them even though toyota lied and said they will send them.) . *nm | |||
| 08/15/2005 | 21242 | 1 | 10/28/2003 |
| Differential made a bad noise at 21,221 miles checked gear lube only to find it empty. took it to toyota city where they said it was fine. took it to independent repair shop, said obvious leak on pass. side end of diff, axle. i had 15,000 mile service done at toyota city ($165.00), they never checked the diff, gear lube even though the owners maintenance book says to inspect diff, gear lube. (no repairs were even attempted at toyota city). brought the missed diff. fluid check to cust. service reps attention, said she will talk to service department, a month later, and still no reply . *nm | |||
| 07/24/2005 | 21000 | 1 | 10/28/2003 |
| Truck always pulled to the left since new, took it in to toyota dealer 4 times, they said nothing is wrong with it. at 21,000 miles i heard a bad noise coming from the differential, i pulled over and removed the fill plug only to find no oil in it.so i put in 4 oz. short of a quart of 80w90 gear oil. (pulled to left because a wheel bearing wasn't getting and lubrication). returned to dealer, they said we can't find a leak, 50 miles later i pulled the fill plug and found the oil to be black as can be with metal in it. dealers answer is to come back when it breaks. so now i am stuck with a 2003 tacoma with a 200,000 mile differential. (what a shame). | |||
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||
| 02/15/2006 | 29000 | 1 | |
| The clutch on my 2003 toyota tacoma became jammed while trying to shift in the middle of an intersection. the bushing where the clutch pivots dislodged and jammed the clutch so it was unable to be depressed. a car was coming straight into the side of my vehicle when i stomped on the clutch as hard as i could, breaking the bushing and letting the clutch depress. if i had not acted quickly it could have been a fatal accident. this was on a highway intersection. i took it in to toyota and they did not tell me the bushing had broke and was missing they just put grease on it so it would stop squeaking. i just found out this year at toyota that the bushing had exploded and fallen out and now the warranty has expired. i am more concerned about someone else being stuck in a situation and not being able to get their vehicle in gear. *tr | |||