OK, so I bought and drove home a new 2003 4Runner Limited yesterday... and made a stupid mistake based on NOT READING THE MANUAL.

So you can lock the center differential on the Limited's AWD system, but you cannot turn off All-Wheel-Drive... I got a bit confused and thought that I was turning off the AWD, but was instead locking the center diff. I drove home (straight paved highway) from the dealer and around town for 30 miles with the diff locked. I did not realize what I had done until I noticed that I could not turn very easily and thought to myself "that's funny, it feels like the truck is binding up." Idiots delight on my first new car *ever*.

Any chance I screwed something up? I never bound things up to the point of popping, but did drive on the highway up to 65 mph and plenty of slow turns at lights and parking lots. It seems to me the highway driving was the worst offense.

Crap!

 

Actually the highway driving was probably the least of your concern. Straight-lines at speed with the center locked does basically no damage.

Turning slowly is where it's tough on the drive components. If nothing popped, the only thing you probably did is wear your tires a little hard. I wouldn't worry about it.

Al

 

Most likely just extra wear on the tires,

 

After posting this question to the board (thanks for the replies!) I also wrote an email to Toyota of North America and explained what I had done.

I received their response last week and it was pretty helpful. They said that (of course) you should not drive on dry pavement with the center diff locked, but that I did not harm the 4Runner. At worst, they suggested, was that I may have super-heated the lubrication in the diff and caused some leaking.

Along with this they set up an appointment with my dealers Customer Care guy and had the service department change the differential fluid, relube and inspect the truck. Which they did while I waited. All gratis.

Thumbs up to Toyota for excellent customer service, even when I was the one to make the mistake.

 

With so many negative contact stories from so many members, its nice to hear a good story every now and then.

The dealership I go to for service has always been great. Good to see that yours was too.

 

Good to hear that Toyota stepped up. Really, it's an admission that the dealership screwed up by not demonstrating every feature upon delivery as required on the pre-delivery checklist. They did give you a copy of the PDS service checklist, no? If so, you'll see that a complete demo is part of the delivery process. Glad you were taken care of. Of course, any future warranty claim for driveline repairs will be denied. Just kidding!