Toyota Recalling Virtually All 2016 and 2017 Tacomas - Rear Differential May Lock up

A possible differential leak has Toyota recalling all of its 2016 and 2017 Tacomas.

Every off-road enthusiast knows that a truck is nothing without a locking rear differential. However, having the rear diff. lock up unexpectedly due to a loss of fluid while driving on-road is a bad thing.

Tacoma Rear Differential Locking Defect
Toyota is recalling virtually all of its current generation Tacomas because the rear differential may leak fluid and eventually lock up. Toyota says, "The involved vehicles have rear differentials that may leak oil. If a vehicle is continuously operated in this condition, the rear differential could become damaged, which can result in noise and reduced propulsion. In some cases the rear differential could seize, resulting in a loss of control of the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash."

Which Toyota Tacomas Have The Potential Problem
According to Toyota's announcement, approximately 228,000 vehicles are involved in the U.S. from model years 2016 and 2017. We did a little back of the napkin math and multiplied the approximately 16,000 Tacomas that Toyota sells in the U.S. each month by the approximate number of months the new Tacoma generation has been on sale and we came up with about 228,000. So pretty much every Tacoma is being recalled of the current generation. You can use the handy Toyota Recall Lookup to check your VIN.

What Is The Rear Differential Defect Fix
Toyota says that owners trucks will be looked at closely to see if any leak is occurring. If one is not detected the fasteners in the rear differential will be tightened to the proper specifications. If one is occurring, then Toyota will replace the gaskets, and then fill the diff with the appropriate amount of fluid.

Tacoma Recalls 2016, 2017
So far, the new Tacoma has been relatively free of recalls. There was one prior in October of 2015 before many were built that addressed an issue with fasteners in the knee airbags of the Tacoma. There have been seven TSBs, four of which are related to the transmissions in the new Tacoma. One important one we reported on earlier is to change the way the transmission shifts and feels.

Tacoma Reliability
The Tacoma is one of the most reliable vehicles available. However, the notorious frame rot issue and the related leaf spring defect has muddied the record of the top-selling truck in the segment. These applied to prior generations of the Tacoma and were addressed by Toyota with repair campaigns.