05 V8 RWD SR5 feels/sounds different after dealer maint.

[43242code1]

Took my 05 V8 RWD 4runner into the dealership at the beginning of March for oil change, fluids, tire rotation, and also asked them to lube the driveshaft, inspect rust spots, and balance tires.
Got my t4r back, seemed fine, took ~500mi round trip to big bear and back. It has been over a week and i have noticed a few things;
-a new "ticking" sound.
-radiator fan seems to have a high or low spot; when spinning it doesn't appear 'flat'
-engine seems rough at idle and gets worse until 1500RPM, then seems fine at 1600RPM, and silky smooth at 2000RPM and higher. Nearly exactly at 1500RPM it is the worst. It feels like it is shuddering. I have had a spark plug ground out on the engine block through the rubber boot before and it feels kind of like this but not that bad.
-65MPH and faster the steering wheel gets a lot of road feedback and begins to shake, the travel is about 1/4 of an inch on the steering wheel. At first i thought it was all the wind we have been having. no wind now but still experience the wheel vibration.

I am not very happy with how my 4runner is running right now. Any advice? I know the 4th gen can have 'piston slap' on cold start but when revving the engine there is definitely feedback through vehicle vibration. I have tested this in Neutral and also in Park.

Thanks in advance for the help! I will try to upload a video to capture sounds and wheel feedback. If you guys want specifics please let me know and i will try to upload it within the day.

 

[MikesToy]

Take it back to the dealer and have them correct those problems.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Take it back to the dealer and have them correct those problems.

:iagree:


Did they replace plugs or do a fuel injection cleaning? It sounds like they need to rebalance the tires and use a torque wrench on the lugs, not an impact wrench.

 

[borgzman]

Is the same thing they are doing everyday, haven't they mastered it?
and they are suppose to be super careful these days to win back customer's trust.

 

[43242code1]

as far as i know they didn't do any work on the fuel system. they did recommend "air induction service" but i don't know if that means they pulled things apart on my engine or if that was just a "hey the car is at 60k lets recommend this"

i am going to set up an appointment for early next week.
the steering wheel is driving me nuts though. also during acceleration on freeway (60mph and "passing") it kind of feels like the car is chugging slightly.

my main concern is that a gasket or seal is bad in the engine. checked my oil last night and it was roughly 1/8" over the 'full' dot.

 

[MikesToy]

i am going to set up an appointment for early next week.

I wouldn't wait for next week. I'd go there first thing in the morning (before they open their doors). Bring all the receipts and start with the service manager and not with the service advisors. Also have BBB and TMC (Los Angeles, CA) phone numbers handy if things don't go your way.

 

[12guns]

take it back for sure. I wouldn't worry too much about the vibration, probably just a wheel/tire out of balance. It may have been on the back and they rotated it to the front. They'll check that I'm sure. As for the cooling and "ticking" find out specifically what they did and go from there. Could be a touch low on oil and coolant. Hope it's something simple! Not that this is what happened, but alot of times people notice things after work has been done even when it may have been there before. Is is possible there was a "ticking" before and you became used to it? Just a thought. Hope it all works out.

 

[etom]

I got a lot of unwanted feedback when I got new tires a few thousand miles back. I got the front 2 tires rebalanced and it fixed the problem. I had my tires rotated front to back last week and the vibration at highway speeds is back again. It is very annoying and totally ruins the driving experience. I am going to bring it in and get the fronts rebalanced again. I think I may need a realignment too, but am thinking I should wait because I plan on installing a daystar lift.

 

[43242code1]

Took my 4runner back to the dealership and presented these 3 issues;
1. rough idle @ 750-1600 RPM
2. steering wheel shaking left to right, especially at 65 MPH and faster
3. ticking sound, especially when the hood is open.

I picked the car up later that day and the rep said they 'could not reproduce the rough idle'.
The steering wheel quit shaking after they re-balanced my tires (which i had asked them to do when i dropped the car off originally but had to be done again which i don't understand).
Ticking sound also 'could not be reproduced'

The dealership said everything seemed fine so I took their word for it, and granted there is no more shake in the steering wheel but I started my car this morning and the rough idle feels slightly worse than before. Opened the hood to listen to the engine run and it sounds like there is a 'clacking' sound coming from both sides of the engine.

What I observed this morning;

There is still a rough idle. At 1600RPM especially, if kept at that RPM the cabin has a rhythmic 'chugging' or *wub wub wub* as if driving with the back windows down. Kind of like a helicopter. This can be felt from within the cabin. It almost feels as if one of the cylinders is not firing.
I have had a cylinder misfire in a V8 before, in my MarkVIII but it felt entirely different. In my Mark it was a violent chugging and robbed all power out of the vehicle.

Aside from these issues I had also brought to their attention small spots of rust above the driver's window and parts of the body panel by the rear passenger's window. There has developed a 1/4" chip in the paint down to the metal, and beginning to rust. I just noticed it this morning.

At this point i'm beginning to get peeved. I feel like i'm getting brushed off. Do you think i'm being too anal about my car? Maybe it's just showing it's age and i didn't notice the little things until recently.

63000 miles right now

 

[Armyguy872010]

It would seem to me, that the dealer may have ran diagnostic and not found anything wrong. They usually do not hesitate to "find" something wrong. Did you maybe purchase fuel at a not so good station? I had a bad tank a few months back and noticed a few symptoms you are talking about; once the fuel emptied I threw 90 in and it purrs lke a lion now.
Hope you find out, hey you and I have the same set up.

 

[43242code1]

I strictly buy shell octane 91