Bumblebee noises coming from under hood

[AKAndy]

So my old 96 SR5 3.4L that got wrecked a couple of weeks ago used to make this funny sound after I'd park and shut off the motor. It sounded like a bee going "Bzzzt" for a half second or less, and would repeat about every 5 seconds. As it would sit there cooling down, the noises would continue, but the time between sounds would increase progressively. I noticed a few times when I would get in to go to work in the morning, that the sound was still going, but there was about 60 seconds between sounds. It did this for the entire 11 months that I owned the truck, but never seemed to be a problem. I bought a 96 Limited on Saturday to replace the wreck, and I just noticed a couple of days ago that my new truck makes the same noise sometimes, although it's not quite as loud as the old truck. It sounds like it's coming from somewhere behind the battery on the driver side. Has anyone else heard this? It doesn't seem to be a problem, but it's sort of driving me nuts not knowing what it is.

Andy

 

[quicksilvr]

So my old 96 SR5 3.4L that got wrecked a couple of weeks ago used to make this funny sound after I'd park and shut off the motor. It sounded like a bee going "Bzzzt" for a half second or less, and would repeat about every 5 seconds. As it would sit there cooling down, the noises would continue, but the time between sounds would increase progressively. I noticed a few times when I would get in to go to work in the morning, that the sound was still going, but there was about 60 seconds between sounds. It did this for the entire 11 months that I owned the truck, but never seemed to be a problem. I bought a 96 Limited on Saturday to replace the wreck, and I just noticed a couple of days ago that my new truck makes the same noise sometimes, although it's not quite as loud as the old truck. It sounds like it's coming from somewhere behind the battery on the driver side. Has anyone else heard this? It doesn't seem to be a problem, but it's sort of driving me nuts not knowing what it is.

Andy

It's the EVAP charcoal canister making that sound. I bought my first 4runner (96 limited) a couple months ago and noticed it right away. I asked the same question you did to figure out what it was. lol

At this point, there is no way to fix it. Toyota used to offer a "fix-it" part that I suppose went inline with a vacuum line or something, but it's not available anymore. I've checked.

The only way to make it stop buzzing is to loosen your gas filler cap after you're done driving and release the pressure. Even then, if you just quickly unscrew the cap and then screw the cap back on.....it'll eventually start buzzing again. Only if you leave the cap off will it not buzz at all. Hope this helps!

 

[LINY4Runner]

It's just the EVAP system doing it's normal tests, nothing to worry about. Carry on as normal. :lookout:

 

[AKAndy]

Thanks guys, figured it was nothing to worry about, but thanks for the info. Okay, time to break in my new truck this weekend! :hungry:

 

[Justin727]

Thanks guys, figured it was nothing to worry about, but thanks for the info. Okay, time to break in my new truck this weekend! :hungry:

It IS something to worry about. Quickly get brake parts cleaner, throw on jeans and a long sleave shirt, slowly open the hood, and then spray brake parts cleaner all over everything.
The bee's should be dead after a minute or two. Brake parts cleaner kills wasps, spiders, ants, and many other bugs too along with these BEE's you speak of..
Good luck

 

[AKAndy]

It IS something to worry about. Quickly get brake parts cleaner, throw on jeans and a long sleave shirt, slowly open the hood, and then spray brake parts cleaner all over everything.
The bee's should be dead after a minute or two. Brake parts cleaner kills wasps, spiders, ants, and many other bugs too along with these BEE's you speak of..
Good luck

ROFL... Justin thank you for your informative post... And to think I was about to make the mistake of using RAID, which clearly would not have been sufficient to get the job done.

 

[Justin727]

ROFL... Justin thank you for your informative post... And to think I was about to make the mistake of using RAID, which clearly would not have been sufficient to get the job done.

Anytime. I've actually used the cleaner a good bit outside. Sometimes brown and black widows like to make homes out of my car sometimes. Get them on the ground soak em, if they still move make a trail of brake cleaner to said insect. Quickly light the start of the trail and the insect will be set a blaze.
Works much better then raid lol. But like the other post, I'd say its the evap system and its normal.

 

[SilverBullet01]

well if you hear bee's.... then just walk away. no one should walk up to an engine and say "hey is that bees?"

 

[AKAndy]

LOL, I love this forum... I get information on my truck, and information on how to torture insects all in one place

 

[GottaBeTRD]

It IS something to worry about. Quickly get brake parts cleaner, throw on jeans and a long sleave shirt, slowly open the hood, and then spray brake parts cleaner all over everything.
The bee's should be dead after a minute or two. Brake parts cleaner kills wasps, spiders, ants, and many other bugs too along with these BEE's you speak of..
Good luck

you almost got me there! I was about to go spray some brake cleaner on my engine cause i get that buzzing too! hahahaha :lmao:

 

[topdown4runner]

Yea, it's a '96 thing.
My old '96 did the same thing. Even took it to the stealership for diagnosis. They said everything checks out fine.
Wife's '97 does not do it at all.

And....brake parts cleaner is the BOMB for killing bees!
and it does not leave that oily residue running down the side of your house that regular wasp spray does.

 

[brian2sun]

FYI, I got the discontinued part to shut the buzzing up from the EVAP canister a few months ago from TRDparts4U on yotatech (I think his name was Jacque). He still had some in stock then and I paid like $25 for it. No more buzzing! Mine is a '97 and I had the problem so it's not just a '96 thing.