Mystery Noise! I hope its not real bad news........

[rockyMTNvagabond]

I have no idea what is making this noise.

When i pull on the transmission kick down cable it changes to a higher pitch. when i let it go the pitch gets lower. The only time that you can hear it is when the engine is at low rpm or idle. Everything drives fine and feels normal. It only happens after its been driven. When everything is cold there is no noise. If i give it any gas and bring up the RPMs the noise stops.

I have a video i just took tonight.

View My Video

 

[jgue467]

I would get a stethescope to narrow it down (harbor freight) place tip onto various locations - it'll be Much louder when you hit the part throwing most of the sound, almost sounds like rod bearings but those would get louder with rpms so hope that is wrong. Could just be a loose shield? Luck!

 

[rockyMTNvagabond]

I got the stethoscope and based off of what i am hearing the noise is coming from the transmission. It seems to only happen after the truck has been driven. Again the truck drives fine and the only thing wrong is the noise. Anyone have any suggestions? The dealer wants 150 just to take a look at it. Anyone had this happen? Could it be the Torque Converter?

 

[jgue467]

So I'm guessing you already checked the tranny basics like fluid level after a good warm up? Didn't offroad recently and get a branch to push a tranny line around enough to cause a vibration maybe? Skid pans on snug? :cowboy:

 

[rockyMTNvagabond]

Fluid level is good and color is spot on. There are no loose plates or anything. The sound changes when i pull on the kick down cable so its got to have something to do with that part of the transmission :shrug: I am fairly mechanically inclined but when it comes to automatic transmissions i am not even sure where to start. I took it to the dealer a few months back and they said the fluid was fine in it. This was before the noise started. I bypassed the stock cooler so its not pink milkshake. When is used the stethoscope it seemed to be coming from where the transmission meets the engine.

 

[rockyMTNvagabond]

Just thought i would give a quick update on this one. It turns out the Flexplate also called the flywheel had several cracks in it. I took it to a local shop and they replaced the flywheel rear main seal on the engine and front transmission seal while they were in there. it wound up costing me $1,100 to get it fixed. Hopefully this might help someone else down the road if they have the same problem.

 

[jeremyc74]

Just thought i would give a quick update on this one. It turns out the Flexplate also called the flywheel had several cracks in it. I took it to a local shop and they replaced the flywheel rear main seal on the engine and front transmission seal while they were in there. it wound up costing me $1,100 to get it fixed. Hopefully this might help someone else down the road if they have the same problem.

Damn...that's a strange one. Did they say what might have caused it to crack?

 

[jgue467]

Thanks for the update/closure! Most folks don't bother...

Did mechanics give you any reason this may have happened other than bad luck?

 

[rockyMTNvagabond]

They shop that i took it to is in Pheonix and specializes in Toyotas. Toyoworks was the name and i would recommend them. My experience was good with them and they used OEM Parts. They were 400 less than what the dealer wanted.

They said that it was not a common failure I am not sure what caused it but i am on 33's with 4.30's I do a lot of mountain driving and pull passes frequently. I have done some heavy wheeling moab etc. I also have put about 50k of highway miles on this year for work.

I try to do everything i can myself but pulling the transmission with limited space and tools was out of the realm of what I could do on my own.

They showed me the one they pulled out. I did not get a picture of mine but it looked just like this only the cracks were not all they way through. They were in the same exact spot just not this bad.