sdwaltz
New member
Alright guys, here’s the deal. Sorry for what might be considered a long post. I have two separate issues and I doubt they’re related.
2000 4Runner Limited, 4x4, 208,000 miles
The first, potentially more pressing issue:
On Friday, I was leaving my office and went to start the 4Runner. It did start, but it started a tad bit slowly and immediately there was a pretty nasty grinding noise that seemed to be coming from the bottom end. I took a video and sent it to my mechanically inclined friend (I don’t know jack squat about working on cars) and he said it sounded like a belt that was about to snap. Checked all visible belts, they were fine. He also said it could be a pulley. Unlike other grinding issues I found on this forum, it makes the noise no matter what – in park, in neutral, in reverse, and driving. I got it up to about 45 in the parking lot and it drove COMPLETELY normally with the exception of the noise. The noise did not get LOUDER as the speed increased, but the frequency of the noise increased under load if that makes sense - think about how supercharger whine increases w/revs - same concept. No CEL’s, no bad smells. I know it can’t be the driveshaft/driveline because it did it whether I was in gear or not. Additionally, MPG has been down a bit for the past couple tanks’ worth of gas (maybe just by 1mpg, nothing drastic) but it's probably unrelated. Just want to get all info out there.
Anyway, I decided to try and get it home – not only did I make it home, but about ¾ of the way through my 20 minute commute, the sound went away completely and hasn’t been back. The video I took is below and is fairly representative of the sound. The best representation of the sound is at the end when I put the camera under the car. It was louder and more pronounced in person, but the camera did a pretty good job of capturing it. I’m primarily concerned because I have a two hour road trip this weekend and don’t want to have to deal with a breakdown/tow/getting it fixed 2 hours from home nor to I want to cause any more damage if continuing to drive it will do so.
Any idea what this could have been, and should I do anything about it or leave well enough alone? Any suggestions will be heeded as soon as my mechanically-inclined friend becomes available. I know myself and I know I'll make it worse if I dive in myself.
Video is here: https://youtu.be/hE9gear9xoM
As mentioned above, the best representation of the noise is at the end when I'm under the car with the camera.
The next issue:
Very intermittently, it will not start the first time. Sometimes it’ll start up the second time, and sometimes it’ll take up to 5 times. When it doesn’t start, there’s no clicking…the motor just stops attempting to crank until I turn the key and try again. I know that starter contacts are a fairly common problem, and I know starters seem to go out fairly commonly on these too. Any way to tell if it’s the starter itself going bad, the contacts going bad, or both? I have a friend who owns a 2000 Solara and his did something similar - he ignored it and it eventually started a small fire in his engine bay that narrowly missed the ECU. I would obviously like to avoid that.
Thank you in advance for your input - you guys are the best on the internet when it comes to this stuff.
2000 4Runner Limited, 4x4, 208,000 miles
The first, potentially more pressing issue:
On Friday, I was leaving my office and went to start the 4Runner. It did start, but it started a tad bit slowly and immediately there was a pretty nasty grinding noise that seemed to be coming from the bottom end. I took a video and sent it to my mechanically inclined friend (I don’t know jack squat about working on cars) and he said it sounded like a belt that was about to snap. Checked all visible belts, they were fine. He also said it could be a pulley. Unlike other grinding issues I found on this forum, it makes the noise no matter what – in park, in neutral, in reverse, and driving. I got it up to about 45 in the parking lot and it drove COMPLETELY normally with the exception of the noise. The noise did not get LOUDER as the speed increased, but the frequency of the noise increased under load if that makes sense - think about how supercharger whine increases w/revs - same concept. No CEL’s, no bad smells. I know it can’t be the driveshaft/driveline because it did it whether I was in gear or not. Additionally, MPG has been down a bit for the past couple tanks’ worth of gas (maybe just by 1mpg, nothing drastic) but it's probably unrelated. Just want to get all info out there.
Anyway, I decided to try and get it home – not only did I make it home, but about ¾ of the way through my 20 minute commute, the sound went away completely and hasn’t been back. The video I took is below and is fairly representative of the sound. The best representation of the sound is at the end when I put the camera under the car. It was louder and more pronounced in person, but the camera did a pretty good job of capturing it. I’m primarily concerned because I have a two hour road trip this weekend and don’t want to have to deal with a breakdown/tow/getting it fixed 2 hours from home nor to I want to cause any more damage if continuing to drive it will do so.
Any idea what this could have been, and should I do anything about it or leave well enough alone? Any suggestions will be heeded as soon as my mechanically-inclined friend becomes available. I know myself and I know I'll make it worse if I dive in myself.
Video is here: https://youtu.be/hE9gear9xoM
As mentioned above, the best representation of the noise is at the end when I'm under the car with the camera.
The next issue:
Very intermittently, it will not start the first time. Sometimes it’ll start up the second time, and sometimes it’ll take up to 5 times. When it doesn’t start, there’s no clicking…the motor just stops attempting to crank until I turn the key and try again. I know that starter contacts are a fairly common problem, and I know starters seem to go out fairly commonly on these too. Any way to tell if it’s the starter itself going bad, the contacts going bad, or both? I have a friend who owns a 2000 Solara and his did something similar - he ignored it and it eventually started a small fire in his engine bay that narrowly missed the ECU. I would obviously like to avoid that.
Thank you in advance for your input - you guys are the best on the internet when it comes to this stuff.
