T-SB-0046-12 4WD Rear Propeller Shaft (Driveshaft) Clunk/Thunk Noise

good idea ill take it in with me when i go, there is no arguing with the bullitin....

so i just took my fj in to get serviced and while i was there i showed them the TSB and they had two different mechs. test drive it and couldn't confirm it had a clunk so they said until they test drive it and feel it they can t do anytihng......

fjdarrell wrote:

so i just took my fj in to get serviced and while i was there i showed them the TSB and they had two different mechs. test drive it and couldn't confirm it had a clunk so they said until they test drive it and feel it they can t do anytihng......

Here we go! I love this explanation that some dealerships choose to provide.... This type of behavior is a sore point of me. I think it's hilarious that a dealership would think that we customers take time away from work, away from our families, duing the weekdays to come to the dealership for "fictitious" problems. It is a great big scam that we customers run. My personal favorite is sitting at a dealership for hours waiting for your vehicle to be fixed, only to find out that hours later the "problem cant be replicated". I have tried to look at it from both sides, however after a customer dedicates time and effort to come in and have their vehicle fixed, for a known documented problem, we should not be turned away with the simple excuse that the problem can't be replicated. I wonder if when a customer comes in for a problem that they will need to pay for, will the dealership spend all this "diagnostic time" to replicate the problem or do they just go ahead and fix, um let's say a whole rear end, then hit you with the bill??

The reason this pisses me off so much, is that I had an issue with my wiper motor and had to come back to a dealership 3 times after they told me that the issue can't be replicated. I explained in great detail the circumstances surrounding the issue could not be easily duplicated. Mine was an issue where my wiper motor was bad but it would only start making noises after it had been run in the rain for 20 minutes or longer. Three visits to the dealership in about 9 hours total, I was told it couldn't be replicated. When a rain storm hit and I was on my way home from work I drove right over to toyota and I showed them the problem. 1 service writer and 2 meechanics witnessed the problem and scheduled me to come back on a saturday. I'll bring the truck in thinking I'm going to get fixed, four hours later the shop foreman came out and said..... the problem couldn't be replicated. I almost blew a gasket, I demanded to speak to the dealership manager, and insisted that they fix this. I found the service writers and 1 of the 2 mechanics they verified my story and I have to leave the truck with them because it was taken apart and they had to order the part.... I asked for a loaner or rental car, they put me on that. Again I went to the dealership manager and I end up with the rent a car.

All of this is done when the truck is only 3 months old , so because it was a warranty repair the did not want to do it I also spoke to the same dealer about this tsb and look long which I have, and I was told once again they would ta it for a test drive to see if they could replicate the problem. The bad thing about this particular issue with a drive shaft is a believe it is going to be subjective to what somebody thinks is a problem. Bottom line is some dealerships put the customer first other dealerships just want to replicate the problem...

Ryland,
How's this going after a few months.

paulwardinc wrote:

Ryland,
How's this going after a few months.

Great so far. No return of thump or clanks so I'm pleased.

about two months ago I printed off the TSB, walked into my dealer, eplained the problem and handed them the TSB.

They test drove it, heard / felt the problem and replaced the propeller shaft - no problems.

I have a 2011 with 20k miles

This is not covered under the extended warranty by the way. I asked and they said nope couldn't do it.

Ive had the same problem for about 2 years. They kept telling me its normal and wouldnt do anything about it.

CarolinaCruiser15 wrote:

Ive had the same problem for about 2 years. They kept telling me its normal and wouldnt do anything about it.

Well the new axle from Jim Berkley is $650 so if you aren't strapped for cash you could always swap them out plus you will have a spare axle.

yota15 wrote:

CarolinaCruiser15 wrote:

Ive had the same problem for about 2 years. They kept telling me its normal and wouldnt do anything about it.

Well the new axle from Jim Berkley is $650 so if you aren't strapped for cash you could always swap them out plus you will have a spare axle.

Nah. Its been doing it since day 1 almost 4 years ago; no better no worse. If it gets worse I may look into that but I think Ill be ok for now.

Just an FYI. I had this TSB done about a month ago and have not had the problem since. I think this fixed it... at least for now.

Thanks for making this a sticky. I'd dealt with the issue since my FJ was new, and had taken it to Rice Toyota twice about this problem, both times after the TSB was put out. The service writers didn't say anything about the TSB, and nothing was really done. Found this, got mine in, and the drive shaft is now on order from Toyota. Can't thank you guys enough for making this visible, because the dealership certainly didn't make any effort.

Still going strong with my fix. No issues at all.  I'd call mine fixed.

I took mine in like 500 miles before the warranty was up. Couldnt replicate it... now I just have to live with it...

If its documented at the dealership I wouldn't think there would be a problem.

Yeah it is just recreating it. I guess if I stopped lubing it it may start again.