Engine Grinding (Video)

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Could it be a heat shield or something like that vibrating like hell? Sounds like the Chevy (junk) I drive at work and that's what it's doin.
 
I'm gonna check for all that stuff tomorrow. I hope it's nothing mechanical or serious as I want to take a trip to 2.5 hours from here this weekend.

It wouldn't make sense for it to be something internal in the engine just at specific rpms, would it?
 
Did you ever get around to changing those drive belts you doused with belt dressing? If not, it may sound like one of the belts is slipping at 3300 RPMs, then possibly catches itself at a higher RPM. Get a friend to jump in the seat and listen. It may even be a pulley that is dirty.
 
Maritimer said:
I'm gonna check for all that stuff tomorrow. I hope it's nothing mechanical or serious as I want to take a trip to 2.5 hours from here this weekend.

It wouldn't make sense for it to be something internal in the engine just at specific rpms, would it?
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I wouldnt worry about it being some catastrophic internal grinding. Sounds like it's belt related to me... based on a YouTube video :)
 
LittleCaesar said:
Did you ever get around to changing those drive belts you doused with belt dressing? If not, it may sound like one of the belts is slipping at 3300 RPMs, then possibly catches itself at a higher RPM. Get a friend to jump in the seat and listen. It may even be a pulley that is dirty.
Click to expand...

:uzi: :keyboard:

No... I deserve to be shot.... It sounds like an angle grinder hitting a cookie sheet, or like a muffler dragging on the road.

I'm actually planning to take a trip to my parents' place this weekend to do a spring cleaning, and I wanted to wait for this to put the new belts on (scrub the pulleys and avoid any soap). I have the new ones in back in case there's a failure.

I live in an apartment and don't have a way to use the hose off and on over a three to four hour period. Want to scrub around in the engine bay, strategically hose, etc. and scrub around underneath a bit where I got mud caked on.

Just need to know I can drive a couple of hours without my engine blowing up.
 
Socco said:
I wouldnt worry about it being some catastrophic internal grinding. Sounds like it's belt related to me... based on a YouTube video :)
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There. The jury is in. Based on solid evidence, I'm safe to redline all the way down the highway this weekend. :police:

Thanks to the help so far. My 4Runner is stressful because I love it so much but can't afford a $20,000 rebuild of it.
 
Best case scenario: heat shield. The super-tough aluminum foil they use as a heat shield is a piece of crap....

Middle Case: engine journal bearings, and the like. Or belts.

Worst case: torque converter out of alignment (sounds like the vains are grinding), or something wrong in that area. Could you tell us the general location of the noise if you can?

In any event, it sounds fine if you drive conservatively. Aka: dont floor it. You can drive pretty good, and get some decent highway speed (70+), at less than 2500. The 04 runner hits 93 before topping 3000 rpm (1GR-FE).
 
I'll try to pinpoint things tomorrow. It really sounds like it just generally radiates from the whole truck. Almost like it's more audible inside than out. Very confusing to the ear.
 
Get a long stick, piece of hose or giant screwdriver 2-3 feet long and touch it to things that might be vibrating and put your ear to the other end. You can tell real fast. Besides what was mentioned by the folks above the only other thing that popped in my head was a loose fan or fan clutch. But I'm betting its heat shields. If you can't find it with the listening stick then when you do the belt change remove one belt at a time, crank it up and see if it still does it.
 
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sounds to me like a belt pulley, water pump bushing or alternator bushing/bearing failing. i would not drive it long distances until fixed, just to be safe. i would say its def not internal or a heat shield, too screechy. it sounds to me like a water pump bushing failing and the impeller rubbing the housing (fix asap, cause it to overheat and possible engine rebuild); or a pulley bearing failing (should make it for your trip, but would leave you in pickle if it failed, and potentially cause major engine damage depending on which belt its attached to); alternator bearing (same as pulley, but not as damaging. you could probably limp it to a parts store on the battery power). again, just my guesses...

do like Tomsriv said and put a screwdriver on these parts/to your ear to locate.
 
OK, thanks guys. I learned as much from the things it wasn't as from what I discovered it to be--the cat heat shield. I just assume engine revs help sound equals engine makes sound. I'm a novice.

Plus, I pinpointed a teensy exhaust hole that was choking me while I was under there. Have to patch that today.

Gonna change out the belts, too, since they need it and it will prevent unnecessary worry. Thanks to LittleCaesar for keeping on my case!

:frog::thanks:

You'd think a guy with over 600 posts here would be more helpful than in need of help, lol.
 
lol, how hard would it have been to point the camera at the dash?

Someone mentioned having a friend rev it up while you look in the hood. Lets just hope the belt in question doesn't fly apart while you have your head in there.

I would definitely have it looked it by someone.

:spider:
 
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Maritimer said:
OK, thanks guys. I learned as much from the things it wasn't as from what I discovered it to be--the cat heat shield. I just assume engine revs help sound equals engine makes sound. I'm a novice.

Plus, I pinpointed a teensy exhaust hole that was choking me while I was under there. Have to patch that today.
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Ahh! So thats why it was hard to pinpoint, under the truck eh? I forgot the Cat has a shield over it too. Well, now you can relax on your trip, knowing that you fixed it :bigok:
 
Socco said:
Ahh! So thats why it was hard to pinpoint, under the truck eh? I forgot the Cat has a shield over it too. Well, now you can relax on your trip, knowing that you fixed it :bigok:
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Got the exhaust leak fixed today, too, and now the truck is quieter. Amazing what a tiny hole can sound like.

Decided to change out all the belts finally, too, and that was worth it. The old belts were changing to goo because I let some degreaser hit them in April by mistake.

The belt job is harder than I expected, mainly because I had trouble getting the fan off. Luckily my skid plate came off really easy despite what I thought was a stripped bolt from last summer (?) and then I managed to get the fan off, too. Unfortunately the fan housing wouldn't come out as it was too big. It seems that the previous owners had a new radiator and rear heater pipes and such put in.
 
Maritimer said:
Amazing what a tiny hole can sound like.:moon:

The belt job is harder than I expected, mainly because I had trouble getting the fan off. Luckily my skid plate came off really easy despite what I thought was a stripped bolt from last summer (?) and then I managed to get the fan off, too. Unfortunately the fan housing wouldn't come out as it was too big. It seems that the previous owners had a new radiator and rear heater pipes and such put in.
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You like making things harder for yourself heh? Ya know the belts come off over the fan right?
 
It was recommended that I remove it to give myself more room. I had a hard enough time as it is just finding the proper bolts to loosen the belts. I would call myself a complete novice at car maintenance.

Having the fan off really helped me scrub the pulleys with wire brushes, though, so it was worth it this time (I messed them up with belt dressing). Now that I know what I'm doing, I think next time I'll be fine with the fan on. I still think I'll need to get the skid plate off, though, since the A/C belt is way down there.
 
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