Harmonic Droning Noise

NoDak

NoDak

Senior Member
i dont know if this is related to the 1700rpm vibration but i am not sure. at 70mph and above (really noticable at 75mph) the engine under load has a harmonic droning sound to it. it gets noticable at 70 mph (w/o radio) and really apparent at 75mph and higher (w/ radio). up to the mph threshold the only thing i can hear is the A pillar air rushing sound. reason i say its probably not related to the 1700 rpm vibration is due to the fact i have no steering wheel shake or feel anything with the pedal. this harmonic is really annoying since i normally dont drive to work with the radio on and just like to enjoy the quiet time while driving to work. when i let off the gas pedal, the harmonic goes away, but if maintain speed or apply gas the harmonic comes back.

is anyone else hearing this harmonic, or am i an isolated incident and have a toyota mechanic check it out.
 
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whine

Yes, I usually drive with my radio off too. I like to hear the road and my dual Borla. :)Unfortunately, about 2K miles ago while doing 70mph on the highway, I started to notice the whine that you are describing. I have 13K miles total, build date 2/03.

Some people claim it is a 'weak' front differential used in the full time V8 4x4. The front diff is whining because it is getting ready to go out, so they claim.

I bought the 5/60K extended bumper warranty. If the front diff goes out, I am covered. But the noise is inconsistent to have the dealer rip into it with a guaranteed reply of, 'could not duplicate'.

I'll drive, and put up with the annoyance, until it breaks. :(

I will request my front and rear diff oil to be changed at the 15K service. Hopefully, this will correct the whine.
 
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i would think that if it was the front diff then the harmonic noise would be there whether you where on the gas or off the gas. my noise only occus when im on the gas or maintain speed above 70 mph. if i run up to 80 mph and let off the gas the noise goes away, but if i get back on the gas hard/gentle at/above the 70 mph the noise comes back. so it only occurs when the engine is under load and above 70 mph. so i am guessing this is an engine harmonic and not a gear whine, since gear whine would occur irregardless of on/off gas pedal.
 
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update:

on the drive home today, i slide the shifter from D to 4 and the droning went away. now i dont know if this is related to rpm or if its related to being in 5/OD. the rpm jumped to 3000 rpm but no droning sound. put it back to OD and droning sound. this leads me to believe its related to the OD. will have to test this later as HDTV tech is coming tonite.

did some lite testing up to 50mph out of OD and at 2000 rpm (typically the droning started at 70mph/1700rpm while in od) there was no droning. will test after my HDTV tech leaves and will hit the highway and test up to 75mph out of OD to see if its rpm related or just OD related.
 
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did a more in depth test. with OD off and running up to 75mph. the droning noise came back but at 55mph at 2100-2200rpm and at a different higher pitch. if i moved the stick to OD, the noise went away and rpm dropped to 1700-1800rpm. did also notice that if the engine was not warmed up the noise was not there until after the engine warmed up.

so i am at a complete loss on what is causing the harmonic droning noise. is it the transmission, diffs, or ?

since the noise occurs in OD (70mph+/1700rpm) and when not in OD (55mph/2100-2200rpm) i can rule out the OD causing it.

anyone have an idea what could be causing it?
 
I think this is related to the AWD since I have only heard of this complaint from V8 owners.
Wasn't there a thread on GX470 owners with the same complaint?
 
i just went out today and tested a sr5 v8 and it has the same harmonic droning noise at 70-75mph. so i am taking it as an inherent noise of the v8 models engine. the noise is less noticeable at warmer climes, and really noticeable at below zero temps. when the temps dropped to -20F to -30F, the droning noise was really noticeable at 75mph. now that it has warmed up to 30F, its not as noticeable, but the droning cyclic noise is still there.
 
I have had the same harmonic noise between 65mph and 80mph when foot is on the gas pedal. I took it to the Toyota dealership and was told that it was a belt rubbing due to the cold weather. Technician said Toyota hasn't done a recall yet to fix it, but the noise should go away when it warms up. I live in GA, so it should stop pretty soon, but we'll see. I haven't been very happy with the service at this dealership (already replaced drive shaft), so I have my doubts.
 
Hey guys I wanted to let you know that I have that same noise too when I am cruising around and have the gas applied, but not to the point of acceleration, meaning when I am just maintaining speed and I have an 04 V6 2wd so I do not think it is the front diff as someone said, unless we have different droning harmonic noises going on.
 
there is an update thai posted about this in another thread, but the fix is for the lexus v8 models. since the lexus v8 is the same engine that the v8 4runners have, it should apply also. hopefully the fix crosses over to toyota vehicles and an official TSB comes out for the 4runners.
 
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