1999 Toyota 4RUNNER

REAR AXLE HOUSING DEVELOPS PREMATURE AND DETRIMENTAL METAL SCALING AND RUST, CAUSING DIFFERENTIAL BELL HOUSING TO LEAK GEAR OIL. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN REPORTED ON A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF 1999 THROUGH 2002 4RUNNERS IN A CONSISTENT MANNER AND PATTERN. TOYOTA MOTORS HAS FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR RESEARCH THE PROBLEM AND USES THE DEFENSE THAT THESE VEHICLES ARE OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY PERIOD. HOWEVER, A CONSISTENT PATTERN OF QUALITY IN THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM SHOULD WARRANT AN INVESTIGATION BY NHTSA AS TOYOTA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HIDE AND DISTORT CLAIMS BY THEIR LOYAL CUSTOMER IN ORDER TO COVER UP THESE TYPES OF PROBLEMS. PLEASE SEE HTTP://WWW.4RUNNERFORUM.COM/FORUM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=1948 FOR ONE OF THE MANY THREADS RELATED TO THIS TOPIC THAT DEMONSTRATES THAT THE PROBLEM IS PERSISTENT AND TOYOTA HAS FAILED TO RECOGNIZE IT. *TR

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) I HAVE A 1999 TOYOTA 4RUNNER. BACK IN SEPTEMBER 2009 THE GAS PEDAL GOT STUCK AT FULL THROTTLE WHILE I WAS DRIVING IT. I APPLIED THE BRAKES - PULLED OVER AND TURNED OFF THE KEY. IT SCARED ME TO DEATH. MY DAD LOOKED AT IT AND FOUND THAT THE THROTTLE CABLE PLASTIC COATING WAS COMING APART AND GOT STUCK IN THE CABLE SHIELDING. I CALLED TOYOTA AND THEY SAID IT WOULD COST AROUND $300 TO REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE CABLE. IS THIS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH 1999 TOYOTA 4RUNNERS? SINCE THIS IS DEFINITELY A SAFETY ISSUE, WHY WON'T TOYOTA FIX IT AT THEIR EXPENSE? I CONTACTED TURNER TOYOTA IN MONTROSE COLORADO AND TALKED TO [XXX] IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT. [XXX] *TR

1999 TOYOTA 4RUNNER, THE LEFT REAR WHEEL AXLE SEAL IS LEAKING GEAR OIL ALL OVER THE LEFT REAR WHEEL AND BRAKE. I HAVE HAD THE REAR AXLE SEALS REPLACED 5 - 7 TIMES: DECEMBER 2006, JUNE 2007, DECEMBER 2007, JUNE 2008, DECEMBER 2008, AND NOW AGAIN IT IS LEAKING FEBRUARY 2010. THE INDEPENDENT AUTO REPAIR BUSINESS WHERE I TAKE MY VEHICLE SUBSCRIBES TO "ALL DATA' WHICH ASSISTS MECHANICS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY IN SHARING WORK DONE ON VEHICLES; ASSISTING IN DIAGNOSING SIMILAR PROBLEMS, ETC. THERE ARE A TREMENDOUS NUMBER OF SIMILAR LEFT REAR AXLE SEAL FAILURES ON TOYOTA 4-RUNNERS AND PICKUPS 1999 - 2001 WHICH USE THE SAME AXLE LISTED IN THE ALL DATA WEB SITE. MANY OF THESE LIST MULTIPLE TIMES THE SEAL AS FAILED ON THE SAME VEHICLE. . I MY CASE WE HAVE BEEN GETTING THE SEALS FROM TOYOTA. THE REAR BRAKE ON THE LEFT SIDE IS COVERED IN AXLE GREASE WHICH IN MY OPINION WILL SERIOUSLY LIMIT MY BRAKING ABILITY AND COULD CONTRIBUTE TO AND ACCIDENT. I WAS NOT ABLE TO STOP AND REAR ENDED ANOTHER VEHICLE IN THE SUMMER OF 2007. FORTUNATELY NO ONE WAS INJURED IN THIS ACCIDENT. *TR

THIS IS THE 4TH TIME IN 4 YEARS THAT MY 4RUNNER HAS HAD A LEFT REAR AXLE SEAL PROBLEM. THE VEHICLE ONLY HAS 69,000 MILES ON IT, SO THIS PROBLEM ARISES ABOUT EVERY 11- 15K MILES. EACH TIME THE SEALS AND BREAKS HAVE TO BE CHANGED. THE AXLE SHAFT WAS REPLACED LAST TIME, BUT I AM STILL HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. THERE ARE TONS OF PEOPLE WITH THIS VERY EXPENSIVE RECURRING PROBLEM AND ITS RIDICULOUS THAT TOYOTA KNOWS ABOUT IT BUT DON'T DO ANYTHING. *TR

HAVE A 1999 4RUNNER WHICH SUFFERED RIGHT REAR AXLE GASKET FAILURE AT 59000 MILES. SAME 4RUNNER SUFFERED LEFT REAR AXLE GASKET FAILURE AT 110000 MILES. HAVE OWNED SEVERAL 4RUNNERS (DIFFERENT YEARS) THAT HAVE NEVER HAD REAR AXLE PROBLEMS. HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD SAME PROBLEM. BOTH PROBLEMS WERE DIAGNOSED AT DEALER AND WERE CONSIDERED SAFETY HAZARDS BECAUSE GREASE WAS LEAKING ONTO REAR BRAKE PADS. WOULD ADVISE OTHER OWNERS OF THIS YEAR TO HAVE REAR AXLE SEALS EXAMINED BY DEALER FOR SAME PROBLEM. OTHERS HAVE HAD SAME PROBLEM AND HAVE POSTED REAR AXLE SEAL FAILURES ON WWW.TOYOTA-4RUNNER.ORG. *JB