HELP!! ticking from near seatbelt holder

There is a ticking noise that is coming form somewhere just behind the drivers left ear. It appears to be coming from the B pillar, not from the sunroof or engine. It generally ticks at the same speed independent of how fast the cars moving (or stopped). I have noticed that it will do it for a few weeks then stop for a while.

Anyone else experience this or have any clue what it could be? Im out of ideas but it is driving me crazy

You may not be crazy. There's a TSB for the Lexus GX (not the 4Runner) about the fancy piece of trim on the outside of the door vibrating and making noise. I don't know if the GX has the exact same piece of trim as the 4Runner, so this may not be it. The first part of the TSB explains how to test and see if it's the trim making the noise, so you might want to try it.

Thank you for the response. I checked the exterior trim pieces but it doesnt seem to fix the problem. I'm going to keep playing around to see if I can find exactly where it's coming from. Ill post when I find something.

I think there's a thread on this forum about the cables/wires inside the door panel...hitting against the panel or door frame causing some noise...also, I believe there is a thread about some wires behind the headliner by the driver's head causing noise as well. You should be able to search for those.

As for me...I had a very slight ticking noise that seem to come from the upper door panel near the b-pillar. I had actually removed the entire door panel and wrapped all the cables and wires in foam...but that didn't help.

Try this...find a section of road where you know the ticking noise always occurs. Make sure it is safe...when the noise starts...take your right hand...and press your fingers inbetween the upper door frame (about midway up the window) and the rubber weather stripping. If the noise goes away (repeat several times to make sure)...then you door needs to be adjusted inward.

If you look at your latching mechanism...you have the latch on the door and striker 'U' bolt on the b-pillar frame...if you feel comfortable with it, you can adjust the stricker bolt inward so the door closes tigher to the body. The ticking noise on my 4runner was actually caused by the latch moving around the striker bolt.

Now, I actually did not adjust the striker bolt...what I did...for some reason, I had some old rubber door stops laying around...I found two that were slightly taller than the door stops on the 4runner...so, I just replace the stock door stops with these I had laying around...the noise went away...except when I take sharp turns...

The rubber door stops (not sure of technical name) are located outter edges of the door frame...one about halfway up and another at the lower corner...be careful removing those...its a pain and you could scratch the door frame.

An alternative that might work is to get some rubber self-adhesive pads and stick those to the body frame where it meets those rubber door stops.

good luck...

hi all, now i am having this annoying issue. its a ticking coming from the seatbelt adjuster. I am reading through some of the threads but havent found an answer or solution yet, anyone know of one? It appears as if its coming from right where the latch is, if I try to hold the latch while im driving it still occurs but if I push my finger around there really hard between the pieces of plastic I can get it stop. Any solutions out there?

ticking noise from drivers seat belt retractor area B pillar

Ok, so my response is about 6 years late but you never know who will read this with a problem they are trying to resolve.

My son's 86 4Runner with 280,000 miles occasionally would make a ticking noise from the lower part of the B Pillar area. Near where the drivers seal belt re tractor would be. It sounded like an old English car electric fuel pump ticking away. And when this would intermittently happen his battery would go dead if it continued overnight. Turns out it was pulling about 10 AMPS. That noise is coming from the Rear Window Relay.

And the answer is: The rear tailgate lock assembly is worn and loose. You can take the key out not only when the key is vertical but it can also come out when the lock assembly is turned right or left which would be used to raise or lower the rear window. If the key was removed before the key cylinder was perfectly vertical the rear window would still be energized and click away pulling current from the battery at the same time. Tighten all the parts the best possible around the rear window lock cylinder and remember to remove the key when in the perfectly vertical position should resolve the problem.

All the Best,
Frank