Why: Reverberation in Cabin at Idle, in Gear

indy084rnr · Apr 5, 2018

Hello all,

I've done quite a bit of research on this and have tried to pull together all the info in to figuring out what the dealio is with my Runner.

I've got an '08 4th Gen that has started making a low reverberation (A low putter) only heard in the cabin, while in gear, and either stopped or just starting to move. Typically cant hear it after acceleration.

I've read that it may be a torque converter, transmission mount, or engine mounts. I haven't seen any movement from any of the mounts. And I'm slowly trying to rule out the torque converter in the cheapest way possible. It honestly had been getting sluggish on the acceleration as well.

I then thought it might just be a clog in the air filters so I changed them. Reverberation continued. I have now shifted to thinking it could be the engine not running at 100%. It is a vehicle with 150,000 miles on it so I added some fuel system cleaner (Liqui Moly 2007 Jectron Gasoline fuel injector cleaner) and I'm doing a spark plug change this weekend.

Do you folks have any idea what this could be? Any experiences that could point me in the right direction? Anything helps and I appreciate everyones time.

easyeatlanta · Apr 5, 2018

Spark plugs sound like a good place to start, I just changed mine and it got rid of a stutter at idle in drive and a hesitation when pulling off the line.

blackoutt · Apr 5, 2018

V6 or V8 may help us troubleshoot with you.

My v8 can have a very low idle sometimes when in gear at a stoplight and no accessories running - just above 500 rpm. So it does feel too low sometimes but never bothered me enough to go after fixing it.

rumfoord · Apr 5, 2018

Same as above with my V6, have always been curious if an issue or just normal. But ya, never bothered me enough as well to look into further.

dropspace · Apr 5, 2018

I had a vibration like that that ended up being the exhaust heat shield vibrating against the exhaust. i just bent it back and it went away.

Folsom4Rnr · Apr 5, 2018

blackoutt said:
V6 or V8 may help us troubleshoot with you.

My v8 can have a very low idle sometimes when in gear at a stoplight and no accessories running - just above 500 rpm. So it does feel too low sometimes but never bothered me enough to go after fixing it.

rumfoord said:
Same as above with my V6, have always been curious if an issue or just normal. But ya, never bothered me enough as well to look into further.

Same with my V8... I idle about 500rpm at a stop and without accessories. Thought I read on some thread that was normal / common - at least for the V8 ...

dropspace said:
I had a vibration like that that ended up being the exhaust heat shield vibrating against the exhaust. i just bent it back and it went away.

I had a similar issue. I had a vibration / rattle sound start a while back and finally figured out it was the exhaust rattling against a skid plate ... seems the rubber mount for the exhaust finally sagged enough for the 2 to make contact. Not sure if you have skids on, but about $5 in washers and a couple zip ties seems to have fixed the issue for me.

Best of luck trouble shooting.

AuSeeker · Apr 6, 2018

You say you may suspect the torque converter, there's a common issue of conventer shudder in our 4th Gens, there's an additive that we use and does wonders for the shudder, it's called Shudder-Fixx, I would recommend adding it to your transmission, if it doesn't fix the issue you're having it still a good thing to do for the transmission as a preventative measure.

Most good auto parts stores stock it.

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...vtargid=kwd-38252595124&ref=pd_sl_bt9psdcny_e

indy084rnr · Apr 9, 2018

blackoutt said:
V6 or V8 may help us troubleshoot with you.

My v8 can have a very low idle sometimes when in gear at a stoplight and no accessories running - just above 500 rpm. So it does feel too low sometimes but never bothered me enough to go after fixing it.

Its a V6

dropspace said:
I had a vibration like that that ended up being the exhaust heat shield vibrating against the exhaust. i just bent it back and it went away.

I'll look in to this. Thanks for the heads up.

AuSeeker said:
You say you may suspect the torque converter, there's a common issue of conventer shudder in our 4th Gens, there's an additive that we use and does wonders for the shudder, it's called Shudder-Fixx, I would recommend adding it to your transmission, if it doesn't fix the issue you're having it still a good thing to do for the transmission as a preventative measure.

Most good auto parts stores stock it.

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...vtargid=kwd-38252595124&ref=pd_sl_bt9psdcny_e

After wrapping up the spark plug change I'm noticing a slight improvement. Adding the shudder fixx is going to be my next step. Any links you may have on how to add it to the transmission fluid would be helpful. Also for tips and tricks to look out for while performing the task would help.

Thank you everybody for your imput. I'm having a pretty good time ruling things out as I go along and learning a lot about the car.

AuSeeker · Apr 9, 2018

The Shudder-Fixx would have to be added via the transmission fill hole located on the passenger's side of the transmission, remove the plug, open the tube of Shudder-Fixx and squeeze the contents into the transmission and replace the plug.

Pretty easy to do other than having to crawl under the vehicle.

Why: Reverberation in Cabin at Idle, in Gear

indy084rnr

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