Last Chance Before My Wife Sells Our 4R

[Dryheat]

Good thought, but tires are new Michelins with about 5000 miles on them, and a special on-the-truck balance. The rattle has been around for over 30,000 miles. (Wife drives about 65 miles a day!) Also, the truck is actually very smooth. No vibration to be felt. Just the rattle. :mad2:

Been working the last week or so. Tomorrow I'm taking all these ideas and going back under the truck! Wish me luck.

:fishing:

 

[mattleegee]

i have a rattle that is only pronounced when i am turning and hit any small bumps in the road
anyone?
straight line its quiet

 

[FrontRange4Runner]

i have a rattle that is only pronounced when i am turning and hit any small bumps in the road
anyone?
straight line its quiet

Does it feel like it's coming through the steering wheel?

 

[Cheers!]

does any part of the 5th gen exhaust system have baffles in it? In other cars the baffles break loose. Because of rust (moisture in mufflers/pipes) over time they weaken. Or the spot welding was no good to begin with (baffles that is).

Bad engine mounts? Bad transmission mounts?

 

[mattleegee]

Does it feel like it's coming through the steering wheel?

i dont get much feedback if any from steering wheel, just mostly clunking noises

maybe overtime i will get some steering wheel shake? what would that lead to then?

 

[ben550]

I had two instances with rattles...

1) 04 4runner, had a flapping rattle noise over 35mph... sounded like a mud flap or something. Sounded like it was coming from the drivers side rear wheel. I tore off every panel, mud flap, running board, duct taped every moveable part, added silicone between joints of body panels, etc... spent lots of time. Finally one day when washing the car I noticed the roof rack cross bars were a little loose. Tightened them up and no more rattle... that was it. The noise location from inside the cab was completely off.

2) 07 Tacoma, had a whirl sound when first started moving from park. Thought it came from center console near shifter. Thought it was transmission torque converter, wasted tons of money on diagnostics, mechanics, etc... finally found that it was the ABS system doing a diagnostic test after startup... :crybaby: I wish I hadnt wasted so much time and money on a non issue... haha oh well

Best of luck to you. I actually ended up trading in the 07 Taco cause I felt I'd always be finding an issue with it... Sometimes that's what it takes to have peace of mind. Some cars are not lemons but will always be just that to their current owner... if you know what I mean.

 

[PatrickBateman]

I have the same rattle you're talking about with my 14 LE awd. Since day 1 it's been like that under slight acceleration. I've driven many other 14's just like mine since I'm a service advisor at Toyota and every one I've driven do not have the ticking that yours and mine have. It gets pretty annoying when you're not listening to music. The shop foreman says it's nothing and to just turn the radio up but I'm beginning to hate the noise. I'll update if he finds anything else with the noise. It is damn annoying though!

 

[gm350reratliff]

I would put it on a lift with all 4 tires off the ground. Lock it in 4x4, disable traction control, using 1st and 2nd gears, have somebody inside keeping the vehicle just off idle around the 20 mph mark while you pinpoint the rattle. Should be fairly easy to locate if you can get it to make the rattle while on the lift.

 

[LandCruiser]

I bought a new TE in feb 13.

There are at least 4 distinct rattles.

-wiggity wiggity wiggity somewhere from the front
-popping and cracking from cargo tray
-squeaks and rattles from sunroof
-back seats squeak when they're up

Every Toyota I've had has squeaked and rattled.

 

[sandcrawler]

-wiggity wiggity wiggity somewhere from the front

check your splashguards in the driver side wheel-well. the plastic fasteners had loosened up on mine and made a maddening squeaky/wiggity noise that took forever to track down. a little double-sided tape made the noise disappear completely.

just a thought.

 

[Nolarola]

turn on the stereo

 

[Dryheat]

Okay boys and girls...are ya ready? I found it!!!arty:

Unbolting Spare Parts - Round II - I removed three exhaust system body-mounted heat shields, a very small skid plate protecting a U-joint, and another metal part...the specifics of which escape me as I write this. This was my second round of taking stuff off. I was determined to take this truck apart until the noise stopped. Test drive - rattle alive and well. Fudge.

It was rattling to beat the band as I came back to the house so I tried something I hadn't done yet (because I didn't have a proper rack or lift.) I ran it up on the ramps, set the parking brake, put my son in the cockpit, had him step on the brake, put the truck in drive, and run the rpm's up to 1400. Seeking my raw courage merit badge, I crawled underneath. Rattle rattle rattle. It seemed to be in the vicinity of the rear, driver-side cat. I pushed on the heat shield with the wooden handle of a rubber mallet. The sound did not stop but did change significantly.

Despite it being solidly mounted, I removed the heat shield. The evil rattle is dead.

I remain mystified. The shield was rock solid when in place. I've examined it thoroughly. There is nothing missing, bent or deformed. The fasteners and the pieces are rock solid. None of the pieces come in contact with each other except where they are securely fastened together. I can't for the life of me figure out how the sound was being generated. Given that there's nothing "wrong" I haven't decided what I would modify if I decide to re-install it.

I have learned that just because something is solidly mounted, seemingly immovable and in good repair does NOT mean that it cannot rattle or generate a sound that sounds like a rattle. Obviously. But that can make it damned hard to locate. Four visits to a dealership, two to an independent shop, as well as three drive-way sessions, and I think all of us were looking for something loose, missing, bent, or broken.

I really appreciate everyone's ideas and all the moral support. I hope you had fun too, because I've got another mystery noise to tackle! Woohoo! :eyebrows: I'll put it in a separate post.

 

[Danimal]

So I had it in post #5.

In all of my years as an auto tech, descriptions like you gave were always exhaust heat shield related.

Glad you found it! What does the wife say?

And by the way, accidents have happened from holding vehicles in gear while someone was under it. Normal people like you and I have been killed that way. Not cool.

Dan

 

[dekeman]

Is that mystery noise a compliment from the Missus?

 

[Dryheat]

[QUOTE} And by the way, accidents have happened from holding vehicles in gear while someone was under it. Normal people like you and I have been killed that way. Not cool.

Dan[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I know it. And being safety-conscious to an extreme degree, this was a last resort for me. That's why I hadn't done it previously. But I was between a rock and a hard place. (Like say, concrete and a truck frame?) The sound ONLY occurred under the load of being in gear at 1400 rpm. Previously experimentation demonstrated this wasn't remotely sufficient to drive through the brakes. And I told my son if he messed up, no more allowance, so I had that going for me.

 

[Dryheat]

Is that mystery noise a compliment from the Missus?

Compliment from the wife? Yeah, she was pretty happy. But no, unfortunately there is actually another noise. Want to drive it some more so I can make sure I'm able to describe the circumstances, but it's a single "pop" heard part way through gentle, low-speed turns, like in a parking lot. Single pop, does not repeat, and no, the steering is not at lock (dry stops.)

 

[gm350reratliff]

Glad you found it. The heat shield you removed, does it appear to be one solid piece or two pieces put together (double-walled)? If double-walled, you could bolt it together in a couple spots so the metal won't rattle on itself.

 

[Dryheat]

Pictures would be worth an awful lot of words right now...

It's two single-walled halves. On one end they squeeze down to the diameter of the exhaust pipe ahead of the cat and are held together on the pipe with a clamp. The other end only extends as far as the cat itself, with it's larger diameter. To hold the two halves in place there, there is a two-piece ring of metal that clamps around the the cat body, held in place by a bolt and captive nut on each side that both attach the shield halves to the ring and hold the ring halves in place on the cat. The ring pieces are lined with a copper mesh band where they contact the cat. I assume this material functions as a "pad" or "cushion" of sorts and is heat resistant. Don't know if that makes any sense or paints a useful picture, but I don't have pics handy.

It's so simple there's really not much to go wrong. I have a theory, but unless I decide to put the heat shield back on I doubt I'll ever care enough to test it. I'm guessing that the band of copper mesh has become compressed. So that when everything heats up it is no longer thick enough to maintain solid contact with the body of the cat. At that point the entire heat shield is being held in place by the clamp on the pipe upstream and is floating around the cat and free to vibrate like a bell. The clearance is paper-thin, but at just the right resonant frequency, it's enough. The resulting sound volume is still amazing to me, but I guess there's a lot of echo under there.

 

[Matt fe2o3]

Compliment from the wife? Yeah, she was pretty happy. But no, unfortunately there is actually another noise. Want to drive it some more so I can make sure I'm able to describe the circumstances, but it's a single "pop" heard part way through gentle, low-speed turns, like in a parking lot. Single pop, does not repeat, and no, the steering is not at lock (dry stops.)

I know that pop from my 4th Gen. Irritating as all hell. Ball joint or bushing release pop.

 

[Dryheat]

Yeah, some more investigating to do, but pretty obviously front suspension or steering. Gentle low speed turns. Like in a parking lot. Left or right. Not at full lock. Just a single mild but audible "pop" heard. Not every turn, but frequently. Never felt through the truck or the steering wheel. Just heard. Here we go again... :eyebrows: