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From: brosell on 22 Aug 2006 10:10
Hi all,

I've seen several posts about the differential problem associated with
4-cyl camrys. I've been told by the dealer that my differential is
bad. Symptoms are a shake in the front end thats doesn't manifest in
the streering wheel.

I've replaced tires, cvs, rotors, drums, pads, shoes. Had a road force
balance done on all four wheels.

There is no noise in the bearings.

Anyway the dealers quote for a used tranny was $2,000 and a new for
$3,300 (installed).

I know I can get it done somewhat cheaper at a tranny shop or Aamco or
something.

What I want to know is if the Diff can be replaced without going with a
whole tranny?

thanks
-bert

From: Stubby on 22 Aug 2006 11:31
Pricey. Maybe you can get a different car for that money.


brosell(a)gmail.com wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've seen several posts about the differential problem associated with
> 4-cyl camrys. I've been told by the dealer that my differential is
> bad. Symptoms are a shake in the front end thats doesn't manifest in
> the streering wheel.
>
> I've replaced tires, cvs, rotors, drums, pads, shoes. Had a road force
> balance done on all four wheels.
>
> There is no noise in the bearings.
>
> Anyway the dealers quote for a used tranny was $2,000 and a new for
> $3,300 (installed).
>
> I know I can get it done somewhat cheaper at a tranny shop or Aamco or
> something.
>
> What I want to know is if the Diff can be replaced without going with a
> whole tranny?
>
> thanks
> -bert
>
From: Daniel on 22 Aug 2006 17:05
brosell(a)gmail.com wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've seen several posts about the differential problem associated with
> 4-cyl camrys. I've been told by the dealer that my differential is
> bad. Symptoms are a shake in the front end thats doesn't manifest in
> the streering wheel.
>
> I've replaced tires, cvs, rotors, drums, pads, shoes. Had a road force
> balance done on all four wheels.
>
> There is no noise in the bearings.
>
> Anyway the dealers quote for a used tranny was $2,000 and a new for
> $3,300 (installed).
============================
I would definitely get a second opinion.
Have never heard of a differential going bad unless it was run without
fluid.
The differential is at the inboard end of the axles unlikely to cause
shaking at the wheels. The differential should last the life of the car
as long as the fluid is changed regularly. It only ever does anything
when you're going around a corner, otherwise it simply transfers power
straight through.
I don't know if it has any relation to the gear clearances, but when I
changed the axles, the axle seals in the differential looked like new,
as did the gears.
However, I did have some shaking at the wheels under acceleration at
high speed.
The Toyota manual calls for regular inspection of the ball joints, and
in checking mine I found one had clearance and required replacement.
You simply lift the car, put a wood block under the wheel, lower half
the weight onto the block and then check with a pry bar under the ball
joint. Maximum clearance is zero.
Then in replacing the ball joints, when I reattached the control arm, I
used a pry bar to gain clearance for the bolts. In doing this, I
noticed a new tear in the rubber bushing at the back of the control
arm, so I also replaced the control arms.
The big surprise is that when the control arms were removed, I
discovered the inside of the rear bushing, hidden while installed in
the car, was split all the way through on both left and right control
arms.
So I would check the ball joints and visually inspect the rear control
arm bushing for cracking.
There are some other items in the factory service manual, such as
checking the axle bearings with a dial indicator and checking the wheel
hub with a dial indicator, but both of those checked out fine.
See:
http://oregonstate.edu/~tongt/camry/index.html

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