2008 Limited AWD V8 - squealing/rattling sound

[DT04R]

2008 Limited AWD V8 - squealing/rattling sound (now with audio!)

Howdy Folks!

Been a _long_ time since I posted

I’ve got a couple of issues, but one thing at a time. I generally don’t keep cars this long, it’s been solid and we really like it, but I’m not used to service needs for a 70K+ vehicle

Anyway ...

Per my title, it’s a 2008 Limited AWD V8. Hasn’t had any long term services, just oil (and recently tires), and it’s showing about 74K on the odometer.

There’s a squealing sound, that’s also kind of a rattling sound. Off the top of my head is kind of sounds like bad bearings. The car is not running hot, not showing any signs of leaking any coolant/fluids.

I also pulled the serpentine belt (just removed it from the top two pulleys, so no tension on it), fired it up and the noise persisted without anything on the belt drive turning (I believe that’s the PS pump, alternator, fan and AC compressor). The noise does not seem to deviate with revs, either idling, or the best that I can, under acceleration. It’s persistent, whether the car is cold or hot, run for 10 minutes or 45 minutes.

I almost picked up a belt at NAPA, figured for $40 and ~15 minutes that would be a simple and cheap fix - probably still need to do that given the mileage on the truck - but with my belt test this afternoon, it doesn’t seem to be that anyway.

If you put your ear to the TB cover it seems “deeper” in the engine, if that makes any sense.

I also realize that at 74K miles, I should probably consider a timing belt service. I got a quote from my local dealer for $799 for the belt replacement, water pump replacement, etc., everything but the tensioners though they “inspect” them. If it was a water pump issue, that would solve it and give us another 70K miles for that kind of major service.

Thoughts?

DT

[edit]

Realized my description of the noise is pretty craptacular So I recorded a little audio, linked here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vechagwggbkjezk/4Runner Noise.m4a?dl=0

(M4A file, should play on most media players)

 

[DT04R]

Guess I’m going to need to make a dealer service appointment this week. It would still be nice to have some idea in advance of taking it in. Like I mentioned, with 74K miles, I’ll probably have them do the timing belt/water pump service just for some peace-of-mind, but no idea if that’s the actual source of the noise or not.

Found an indie shop (used by a very close friend), that said he’d just do the water pump (if that was the source of the noise) and skip the timing belt[?] His experience is that the 2UZ-FE will go easily over 100K without worrying about it.

 

[anotherrunner83]

If you are in there to do the water pump, you might as well do the timing belt. The belt service isn't due until 90,000 miles, but if you're there, take advantage of it.

 

[DT04R]

Got an appointment for tomorrow morning, early enough for them to have time to do the timing belt/water pump, but I’ll wait and see what they say.

I actually looked at it again today. I put the front on ramps, pulled off the front OEM skid plate (which is decimated/rusted, and only had two fasteners in it), I read a post where a a guy said a an oil change resulted in squeaking/rattling of the skid plate so wanted to check it (we recently had ours changed).

Anyway, pulled it off, and inspected everything really closely, can’t see anything vibrating, the main pulley looks like it’s spinning flat. I even pulled the serpentine belt again just to double check, and none of the accessories were turning for sure, still making the same noise.

From underneath, it’s almost more like a rattling sound[?]

Anyway, I might just get the timing belt done regardless of the source of the problem, to be a little proactive. We were probably a little mileage heavy for a couple of years, so that service would easily take the car to another 7 years of use (don’t think we’ll have it that long).

It also needs new shocks and the X-REAS pulled out, but I’ll save that for a new thread

 

[DT04R]

Turned out to be the water pump My plan was to get the full timing service done if that was the case, so I had them do the new belt, required gaskets, etc., and he gave me a deal on the tensioners while it was open, said one was a little loose, probably not an issue for another bunch-of-miles, but why even hassle with it, especially our family ride, so those are being replaced too.

I’m going DIY some other things: new brake pads, the serpentine belt, then get onto my next project, suspension and re-furb on the wheels, etc.

 

[awdjunkies]

Turned out to be the water pump My plan was to get the full timing service done if that was the case, so I had them do the new belt, required gaskets, etc., and he gave me a deal on the tensioners while it was open, said one was a little loose, probably not an issue for another bunch-of-miles, but why even hassle with it, especially our family ride, so those are being replaced too.

I’m going DIY some other things: new brake pads, the serpentine belt, then get onto my next project, suspension and re-furb on the wheels, etc.

Glad you found out what it was and got it taken care of... :thumb3:

 

[DT04R]

It’s back!

The tensioners were a little janky, so I went ahead and had those replaced too. Running smooth as can be, and now we don’t have to worry about the timing setup for several more years.

Now I’m going to handle a few DIY items:

Brake pads
Serpentine belt
Rear hatch handle/switch

Then finish researching the suspension and get that done as well.

arty: