Hey everyone,

I am (maybe) having a diff/something else issue here on my '06 V6 with just 70k miles. It happens between 65-75mph with throttle applied, it's a "whirring" noise, and it's very faint. I can hear it in the included video around 7 seconds until the end of the clip, but that's about it. It goes away above 75mph and under 65mph. Diff fluid has been changed every ~30k, and was done last around 65k with just 80w90 Durablend Valvoline GL5 at the recommendation of some of the guys on BITOG forum.


I could be hearing things, you can't even hear it when the radio is on, and the diff doesn't appear to be too hot as I can rest my hand on there for about 5-10 seconds even after a long freeway cruise of over 1 hour at 70+. I should note that it doesn't matter if it's in drive or 4th gear, the pitch stays the same in either gear, so hopefully that eliminates any kind of AT issue.

Thanks

Need more info;
Lift, no lift
Tires, how tall, what make model ect
Gearing; have you changes your gears to a lower gear
Do you feel any vibrations when that sound comes on?
Can you put the rig in neutral at that speed and does the sound stay there
Can you make the sound at will

Thats about what my rear end sounded like before it went out. Toyota drained the fluid and knew something was wrong right away. I ended up replacing the entire differential. Gears and all.

It's all stock, tires aren't even aggressive, just Goodyear Assurance Fuel-Max "crossover" tires, basically car tires.

I don't feel any vibration, I also haven't tried the neutral thing as it only happens at highway speeds. As far as making at will, yes I can do it every time I am driving between 65-75mph.

Hmm well I do have a warranty on it until 6/2015, but I was hoping it wouldn't come to that since we all know how warranties can be. I've had issues in the past with other cars and get nonsense from "can't hear it" or "well these things aren't really designed to run over 65mph for a long period of time, that's why it's doing that."

I made a warranty claim on mine. They let me know up front that it would be a $115 diagnostic fee if it turned out to be something not covered by my warranty.

In the end, I paid a $100 deductible and the other $2500 was totally covered.

Yeah I probably will try and get it in to Toyota this week and see, I was/am hoping it's not an issue. I have had other cars, mostly Mercedes, that ALL made a slight whirring noise at times, none ever suffered as a result. I know my 3rd gen doesn't do it, so I wasn't sure if it was common on the 4ths or not.

Mine started off as a slightly noticeable whine, but it eventually got to the point where you couldn't hear people talking inside the car.

The thing that's tripping me up on this is how specific the conditions have to be for it to act up. Was yours always making noise, or did it start out like this? I had a diff blow in a 4runner before and it started out by making a much louder whining noise at ALL speeds and throttle conditions, basically any time I was moving it was whining, whereas this is completely silent except for 65-75, I would have thought it would either be constant or get exponentially worse as speed increase, but I went up to 85mph today and it was quiet as can be.

Mine was very loud up until 55-60 mph. At that point you couldnt hear it over the road noise. At the end, right before it actually went out, it was very loud all the time.