Strange squirting noise at the driver side
 

Hi all,

I have a 2004 4runner SR5 4WD with 160k miles on it. It runs great. No major repair was done. For the past 2-3 months, a strange short noise was heard in the Morning. It sounds like high power water hose squirting onto metal plate. There is no specific action to trigger the noise at will. The common pattern is below.

1. the noise comes from driver side
2. somewhere lower front, maybe close to front tire or break paddle
3. the noise only last 1-2 seconds max
4. it only happens in the Morning within first two miles driving
5. it comes randomly, and will not occurs more than 3 times each day

Two local shops have laid their eyes on it. No one has a clue. Besides the noise, the car runs normally.

Any suggestion you can give?

Thanks!

-frank

I remember this being discussed and here is one of the threads about a similar situation. Search “gurgling noise” or “rushing water noise” in the forum to see more threads. Hope this helps.

What shocks do you have? Lose nitrogen charge in one?

Did you do anything with the cooling system, like a flush/refill, replace a hose, repair a leak? I had a squirting water noise in my '89 pickup V6 after replacing the radiator. It was an air bubble in the system that needed to be bled out. It happened only first thing in the morning or the first time the car was started each day and lasted 2-3 seconds. Radiator showed full and overflow bottle was at the proper level. It was just trapped air.

Could this be the infamous waterfall noise?

The 03-05 V6s have a known flaw with the head gasket that usually leads to HG failure. It could happen in a few thousand miles, or could run 200k+ before it dies but it probably will.

Early symptoms of that HG failure tend to be consuming coolant, or pressurizing the cooling system and pushing coolant out the overflow pipe. That'll introduce air bubbles into the cooling system, which settle and cause the waterfall noise that sounds like it's coming from inside the dash on startup.


If I were you I'd start checking your cooling system very carefully for any signs of those two problems and work from there.

Thanks for the reply. However, the noise of my car only can be heard after the startup.

cooling system has not been flushed or refilled. No hose was replayed. The radiator was not replaced either. Before engine in the Morning, coolant fluid is at level of full. After running some time, it's above the full line, but not overflew.

I wish car talk show is still there, so I will have some fun with the hosts. Any who, here is the recording from this Morning. The sound byte was edited to include the noise only. The whole duration was about 4 miles first drive in Morning. m4a format File was recorded on iphone and attached to the original post.

4Runner detectives, what could be the problem of this?

Thanks a lot!