Engine noise help

[uabericm]

I just got back from a trip and decided to take the bride out to dinner. We took her 4runner and as we were leaving I notice a new noise. It sounds like an electric drill that speeds up with acceleration. It doesn't seem to affect the power of the engine or anything else. Still makes noise with a/c off and radio off.

Thoughts?

It sounds like it is coming from the front of the engine. I think it is louder on the passenger side, but that could be b/c of the fan.

 

[drmorbius]

I just got back from a trip and decided to take the bride out to dinner. We took her 4runner and as we were leaving I notice a new noise. It sounds like an electric drill that speeds up with acceleration. It doesn't seem to affect the power of the engine or anything else. Still makes noise with a/c off and radio off.

Thoughts?

It sounds like it is coming from the front of the engine. I think it is louder on the passenger side, but that could be b/c of the fan.

It sounds like it might be a belt tensionor. How many miles on the Limited?

 

[uabericm]

Re: Re: Engine noise help

It sounds like it might be a belt tensionor. How many miles on the Limited?

72000

 

[drmorbius]

Re: Re: Re: Engine noise help

72000

Mmmmm... could be. You might want to get it checked out, but get several opinions before you commit to anything.

 

[uabericm]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Engine noise help

Mmmmm... could be. You might want to get it checked out, but get several opinions before you commit to anything.

Is there any way that I could check it?

 

[drmorbius]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Engine noise help

Is there any way that I could check it?

You can use a piece of tubing or hose to listen to each idler or tensioner individually. Be careful as you will be working in close proximity to the fan etc.

 

[uabericm]

Is the belt tensioning pulley easy to replace...if that is the issue?

 

[blaniac22]

Alternators will sometimes make a whining noise before they fail as well - at least a couple that failed on some of my other cars did.

I don't know how common it is with Toyota...come to think of it, none of my Toyotas have had an alternator failure (knock on wood). Just a thought.

 

[uabericm]

Thanks for the help. I decided to let a shop handle it and it ended up being the idler pulley.

Thanks again.

Eric

 

[Pennywise]

Thanks for the help. I decided to let a shop handle it and it ended up being the idler pulley.

Thanks again.

Eric

Eric,

I believe that I need to also replace this, but not sure how difficult it would be. Typically the hardest part is figuring out the path of the belt and the second hardest is getting the belt back on.

Thanks,
Tom