Hello Everyone. I used this forum for years and it has been very helpful with my 4runner. I Have 2003 SR5 with about 120k Miles on it. Never had any problems until about 4 months ago.
About that time, after starting the car in the am, I would hear a loud racket coming from behind the steering wheel intermittently (I have an audio clip if that would help). I took the vehicle to the dealer and they couldn't replicate the problem. However they suggested it was probably the serpentine belt. I did that and the timing chain but it did not solve the problem. There was a back and forth with the dealer for several weeks of me bringing it in and them not being able to find anything. Oddly enough the problem eventually seemed to go away on its own.
Then one day the problem returned with a vengeance and the noise lasted about halfway to work when I decided to head right for the dealer. On my way to the dealer I heard a loud thud (kinda like something ground to a halt or broke) and a loud buzzing noise came on. Additionally the VSC TRAC, TRAC OFF, ABS, And BRAKE lights also came on (but not the CHECK ENGINE light).
Just as I was pulling into the dealer the lights and beeping stopped. The dealer said they ran for codes but nothing came back to them.
So I took it home and it happened the next morning. Drove it to the dealer and this time they were able to get a code out of it that indicated a faulty steering sensor of some kind. They performed an alignment of tires and some sort of steering wheel alignment that was supposed to fix the problem.
And it seemed to for a while. Fast forward about two weeks ago and some interesting things started happening again. When I would start the car in the AM, there would be a soft mechanical pumping noise again sounding like it was coming from behind the steering wheel. The closest thing I can compare it so is the sound of an artificial breathing machine. I've been meaning to take it in to the dealer to ask about it but it hasn't been a priority since it seem relatively harmless until this morning when I was driving along with that noise occurring and all of the sudden I hear that same thud noise (like something ground to a halt and broke) and the buzzing noise and the same lights on the dash as last time. I started to head to dealer and it suddenly stopped about 5 minutes later. They ran for codes and found nothing.
This has been very frustrating and I am hopeful someone on here might have some suggestions as to what this could be. any help would be appreciated.
About that time, after starting the car in the am, I would hear a loud racket coming from behind the steering wheel intermittently (I have an audio clip if that would help). I took the vehicle to the dealer and they couldn't replicate the problem. However they suggested it was probably the serpentine belt. I did that and the timing chain but it did not solve the problem. There was a back and forth with the dealer for several weeks of me bringing it in and them not being able to find anything. Oddly enough the problem eventually seemed to go away on its own.
Then one day the problem returned with a vengeance and the noise lasted about halfway to work when I decided to head right for the dealer. On my way to the dealer I heard a loud thud (kinda like something ground to a halt or broke) and a loud buzzing noise came on. Additionally the VSC TRAC, TRAC OFF, ABS, And BRAKE lights also came on (but not the CHECK ENGINE light).
Just as I was pulling into the dealer the lights and beeping stopped. The dealer said they ran for codes but nothing came back to them.
So I took it home and it happened the next morning. Drove it to the dealer and this time they were able to get a code out of it that indicated a faulty steering sensor of some kind. They performed an alignment of tires and some sort of steering wheel alignment that was supposed to fix the problem.
And it seemed to for a while. Fast forward about two weeks ago and some interesting things started happening again. When I would start the car in the AM, there would be a soft mechanical pumping noise again sounding like it was coming from behind the steering wheel. The closest thing I can compare it so is the sound of an artificial breathing machine. I've been meaning to take it in to the dealer to ask about it but it hasn't been a priority since it seem relatively harmless until this morning when I was driving along with that noise occurring and all of the sudden I hear that same thud noise (like something ground to a halt and broke) and the buzzing noise and the same lights on the dash as last time. I started to head to dealer and it suddenly stopped about 5 minutes later. They ran for codes and found nothing.
This has been very frustrating and I am hopeful someone on here might have some suggestions as to what this could be. any help would be appreciated.
