Help: Humming noise coming from front end while driving

[kartracer8]

I have the same issues??? 2005 V8 with 131k on it. I have replaced both front wheel bearing and still have noise. Wondering if the rear is bad now. I am going to try replacing both front axles. I am thinking that they are bad only because the boots have been torn for a while now.

Any thoughts anyone?

 

[Tophersalazar13]

Found the solution!!

1. Is your taco or 4runner lifted?
If you have a taco, there is a recall on a barring and bushing, but if you have a lift it voids the warranty.
2. If you have a 4runner and it’s lifted, what is happening is your axel and the barring are used to one particular pattern, when you lift your vehicle it changes the angle ever so slightly and produces a noise and little vibration in the floor and steering wheel.

I have a 2016 4runner with 47 k miles. And I just started hearing this humming sound, exactly what everyone is describing to the T.
I took it to the Les Schwab who did my lift and tires and they had no idea what it could be. I took it to the dealership right after and they drove it, verified the noise and vibration, we were driving down the road and out of nowhere he puts it in 4wheel drive and the noise is gone, basically he said the front wheels are free motion over time the front diffs feel both of those patterns I talked about at the top of the page. He said the noise will unfortunately probably come back, it’s just something I would have to live with. There is no structural damage being done. He did suggest there is a different aftermarket needle barring that will solve this issue. The barring itself is pretty inexpensive, good for if you can DIY. Again, the foreman said there is no damage being done and personally if it was him he would live with it and the lift, even if you went back, there are still two patterns.

So try putting you car in 4wheel drive, if it goes away then you know it’s this. But again, it has to deal with your front diffs and the patterns it creates on and with the barring, not to technical so I may have said that incorrectly. And the aftermarket part that will fix it a “needle barring” the foreman said you can call any 4wheel parts store and they should know what your talking about.

 

[damnthemansam]

That's EXACTLY what happened to me. However, it was the tech that told me that it was coming from the driver's side wheel bearing.

Here's my post from Toyota120.com:


Thanks for your help fellas.

I'm a mechanic myself and have diagnosed more wheel bearings on more cars than I care to mention. I had a wheel bearing go out on the 4Runner same as you, and I replaced the wrong side first as well. I would cut them a little slack as I'm sure it was an honest mistake.

When diagnosing a bearing, the typical first test is to swerve side to side and see when the bearing is the loudest, i.e. if you swerve right - thereby loading up the left side - and it gets louder, typically that means is the outer race on the left side bearing (or the whole bearing) is bad, then to confirm, when you swerve right and the noise goes away, typically thats the nail in the coffin and you replace the left side bearing.

That wasn't the case for me (or you it sounds like). What happened is that the INNER race on the right side was bad. So when you swerve right, it loads up the left side, but ALSO puts more side load on the inner race of the right side - something I've never seen or considered before. It must have something to do with the type of bearing Toyota uses (cylinder shaped bearings - not balls). I spoke with another mechanic local to me who had it trick him as well.

THAT BEING SAID. They should have put a stethoscope on the hubs to listen for noise (most accurate way to diag), especially being that this was "such a mystery" or something that wasn't obvious and you'd clearly been around the block trying to get it fixed.

 

[Ditsura]

i just had the same problem a few weeks ago. made a humming noise and got louder when i accelerated and when i shifted into reverse or drive there was a klunk or a knock. went to autozone and got a new universal joint for 15.00, pulled the drive shaft out and replaced the front joint and it fixed it.

sounds like the same problem but could be totally different

Also have the same weird sound on my 06 T4R v8. replaced the entire rear axle after an accident late last year, and it's started the humming up just last week. When i go past 25 mph it gets louder. rotated tires thinking that was the cause, and still nothing. Changed bearings after i replaced the axle last year, so i really don't think it's the bearings at all. Taking it into the shop next week to get an opinion. Hoping it's not serious.

 

[spbrown001]

How I fixed my humming noise on 2007 4Runner Sport 4.0L v6

I thought I'd post here as I had this whine/whirring/winding noise from my 2007 4Runner Sport 4.0L v6. It started about 98K and of course my extended warranty ended at 100K. At the time it was a slight whirring, no big deal.
Over time it got much worse, so much that about 120K it was annoying and very hard to ignore on longer trips. The constant droning was getting to me.

Symptoms:
No change when turning, no idle noise. The noise grew with speed, but most noticeable was that the pitch would change with speed. More speed, more whine. And if you took your foot off the accelerator the pitch would change as well with deceleration. More high pitched when accelerating and a louder low pitch when decelerating or foot off the gas.

I thought it was tires first, then wheel bearings, then front axle. My VSC light would go off and on as well. Alignment was fine, tires rebalanced, no change.

After researching, I started to believe it was the front diff u-joint or front diff something. I had a garage change all the fluids in the front diff, transfer case and rear diff. That told the story.

The *rear* diff was the issue as the fluid came out gray (full of metal shavings). Not good. The sound actually sounded like it was coming from the front end, but it was the rear diff. After more research, I was pretty sure it was the rear diff pinion bearings making the noise. I took it to a reputable transmission shop and they listened to the drivetrain and agreed that it was the rear diff.
I had all 4 pinion bearings replaced in the rear diff (not cheap with labor).

That was the issue. The noise was gone and the ride was super quiet again. As a side benefit the VSC light issue went away after about 20-50 miles I'd say (can't remember exactly). I had tried the zero point calibration to no avail to clear the VSC off before taking it to the shop.

The sound was like this only mine was much louder than this example:
"4Runner whine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgY-E2zVb1k

I hope this helps someone. The main test was to just have the front diff, transfer case and rear diff fluids changed. This is not very expensive, is good routine maintenance anyway and it might help diagnose the issue. It also should buy you some time with the new fluids to figure out what you want to do; use your favorite garage, transmission shop or do it yourself.

I'm not a mechanic, but I would think if you let this go too long, there may be heat buildup in the rear diff and would do further damage to the rear diff gears and eventually fail the diff.

Here is a link of what the pinion bearings look like:
"2007 Toyota 4Runner rear end humming grinding noise "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_rZIH5_5C0

My mechanic showed me the failed pinion bearing and it was much worse than this video showed. 1 of 4 pinion bearings had failed, they replaced all 4 since the diff was apart anyway, might as well.

Good Luck out there.

 

[spartang]

I thought I'd post here as I had this whine/whirring/winding noise from my 2007 4Runner Sport 4.0L v6. It started about 98K and of course my extended warranty ended at 100K. At the time it was a slight whirring, no big deal.
Over time it got much worse, so much that about 120K it was annoying and very hard to ignore on longer trips. The constant droning was getting to me.

Symptoms:
No change when turning, no idle noise. The noise grew with speed, but most noticeable was that the pitch would change with speed. More speed, more whine. And if you took your foot off the accelerator the pitch would change as well with deceleration. More high pitched when accelerating and a louder low pitch when decelerating or foot off the gas.

I thought it was tires first, then wheel bearings, then front axle. My VSC light would go off and on as well. Alignment was fine, tires rebalanced, no change.

After researching, I started to believe it was the front diff u-joint or front diff something. I had a garage change all the fluids in the front diff, transfer case and rear diff. That told the story.

The *rear* diff was the issue as the fluid came out gray (full of metal shavings). Not good. The sound actually sounded like it was coming from the front end, but it was the rear diff. After more research, I was pretty sure it was the rear diff pinion bearings making the noise. I took it to a reputable transmission shop and they listened to the drivetrain and agreed that it was the rear diff.
I had all 4 pinion bearings replaced in the rear diff (not cheap with labor).

That was the issue. The noise was gone and the ride was super quiet again. As a side benefit the VSC light issue went away after about 20-50 miles I'd say (can't remember exactly). I had tried the zero point calibration to no avail to clear the VSC off before taking it to the shop.

The sound was like this only mine was much louder than this example:
"4Runner whine"
4Runner whine - YouTube

I hope this helps someone. The main test was to just have the front diff, transfer case and rear diff fluids changed. This is not very expensive, is good routine maintenance anyway and it might help diagnose the issue. It also should buy you some time with the new fluids to figure out what you want to do; use your favorite garage, transmission shop or do it yourself.

I'm not a mechanic, but I would think if you let this go too long, there may be heat buildup in the rear diff and would do further damage to the rear diff gears and eventually fail the diff.

Here is a link of what the pinion bearings look like:
"2007 Toyota 4Runner rear end humming grinding noise "
2007 Toyota 4Runner rear end humming grinding noise - YouTube

My mechanic showed me the failed pinion bearing and it was much worse than this video showed. 1 of 4 pinion bearings had failed, they replaced all 4 since the diff was apart anyway, might as well.

Good Luck out there.

Hey all

So, to sum this up, if it whines while driving, and then stops when put into neutral, it’s the pinion bearings? My sons just started (06, 160k). So will take it in soon. Def for fluid change at minimum.

 

[spartang]

06 low speed whine

I thought I'd post here as I had this whine/whirring/winding noise from my 2007 4Runner Sport 4.0L v6. It started about 98K and of course my extended warranty ended at 100K. At the time it was a slight whirring, no big deal.
Over time it got much worse, so much that about 120K it was annoying and very hard to ignore on longer trips. The constant droning was getting to me.

Symptoms:
No change when turning, no idle noise. The noise grew with speed, but most noticeable was that the pitch would change with speed. More speed, more whine. And if you took your foot off the accelerator the pitch would change as well with deceleration. More high pitched when accelerating and a louder low pitch when decelerating or foot off the gas.

I thought it was tires first, then wheel bearings, then front axle. My VSC light would go off and on as well. Alignment was fine, tires rebalanced, no change.

After researching, I started to believe it was the front diff u-joint or front diff something. I had a garage change all the fluids in the front diff, transfer case and rear diff. That told the story.

The *rear* diff was the issue as the fluid came out gray (full of metal shavings). Not good. The sound actually sounded like it was coming from the front end, but it was the rear diff. After more research, I was pretty sure it was the rear diff pinion bearings making the noise. I took it to a reputable transmission shop and they listened to the drivetrain and agreed that it was the rear diff.
I had all 4 pinion bearings replaced in the rear diff (not cheap with labor).

That was the issue. The noise was gone and the ride was super quiet again. As a side benefit the VSC light issue went away after about 20-50 miles I'd say (can't remember exactly). I had tried the zero point calibration to no avail to clear the VSC off before taking it to the shop.

The sound was like this only mine was much louder than this example:
"4Runner whine"
4Runner whine - YouTube

I hope this helps someone. The main test was to just have the front diff, transfer case and rear diff fluids changed. This is not very expensive, is good routine maintenance anyway and it might help diagnose the issue. It also should buy you some time with the new fluids to figure out what you want to do; use your favorite garage, transmission shop or do it yourself.

I'm not a mechanic, but I would think if you let this go too long, there may be heat buildup in the rear diff and would do further damage to the rear diff gears and eventually fail the diff.

Here is a link of what the pinion bearings look like:
"2007 Toyota 4Runner rear end humming grinding noise "
2007 Toyota 4Runner rear end humming grinding noise - YouTube

My mechanic showed me the failed pinion bearing and it was much worse than this video showed. 1 of 4 pinion bearings had failed, they replaced all 4 since the diff was apart anyway, might as well.

Good Luck out there.

Hey all

So, to sum this up, if it whines while driving, and then stops when put into neutral, it’s the pinion bearings? My sons just started (06, 160k). So will take it in soon. Def for fluid change at minimum.

 

[Teamtarrant1]

A few weeks ago this weird humming noise started up. It is a constant noise that gets louder at higher speeds and is nonexistent at very slow speeds (i.e., parking lots). When I swerve to the left, the noise goes away. When I swerve to the right, nothing happens. At speeds from 30-45mph it is louder when I am coasting. At speeds above 60mph, it happens when I am coasting down hills and also accelerating.

I took it to the dealership and took the tech for a ride, he said it was most likely a wheel bearing. Took it to a very reputable independent Toyota shop, took the tech for a ride and he agreed about the issue being the wheel bearing.

So, I ended up leaving it with the independent shop to get the wheel bearing replaced. I get a phone call this morning, they replaced the wheel bearing but the noise is still there. They are currently trying to diagnose the issue again, but have had no luck.

Any input?

Thanks in advance.

Following

 

[Miranthis]

Recently took my 04 into the shop to have the right front wheel bearing replaced...because that is where the noise was coming from, the right side. Turn to the right, it would go away...turn to the left, the noise was still there.

The mechanic replaced the right bearing, noise still there. After a bit of confusion, the mechanic pulled out the left wheel bearing...it was toast.
I take the blame, I told him to replace the right bearing because that what I believed was bad. Evidently it isn't always easy to pinpoint what side the issue or noise originates from.

Andy

So, did either wheel fail the manual test...the rock and tug?