Weird Noise '12 TE

J

jazzyfunkykool

New member
Greetings!

I'm a first time poster and first time owner of a 4runner or any other truck.

I have a '12 Black TE that I've really enjoyed owning for the last 2 weeks. The hydraulic brake noise took some time getting used to, but other than that, the truck has been great.

Couple of issues I would love some help with:

1. When starting the car and making left turns, I hear a weird clicking sound. It appears to come from the front left suspension or thereabouts. This happens regardless of whether the car is cold or warm. It occasionally happens even when driving straight, without any turns. Could this be something to do with the KDSS?

2. Today it was raining mildly in Houston but most of the water had evaporated. I was making a left turn underneath a freeway when the car appeared to literally lose traction and control. I was not going excessively fast, possibly 35-40mph. No warning lights or other traction settings appeared on the dash and I was able to correct the slide. It felt eerily like really bad understeer.

What could this be and is this also related to the KDSS? My understanding of the system is that it not only works for uneven terrain/pavement, but also to reduce body roll in turns.

While this is my first truck to own, I did use my family's '04 GX for quite some time with none of these issues and I frequently track a Porsche GT3, so I'm fairly confident my speed/turn in angle were not the culprit of the lack of control today.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
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Can't help since I do not have KDSS, but this sounds very scary. Are you still running the OEM really sucky tires? Nothing to do with the clicking noise, but maybe the control issue. Not that I am saying that is/was the problem, but may have contributed......be safe.
 
I have a 12 TE with KDSS with 14k miles on it, (all mine) I have never noticed any clicking sound on turns.

You probably should take it to a dealer and have them check it out, clicking sounds on turns usually indicate a bad CV joint.

Believe it or not I have not driven in rain yet with mine, ( only had it since April ) so I have not taken any corners on wet, but that issue does not sound right either.

Get it checked out.
 
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jazzyfunkykool said:
It felt eerily like really bad understeer.
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Don't know what the clicking was, but this sounds like the VSC kicking in.

After an accident, mine would kick in way, way too early on right turns. I could go twice as fast through the same turn going left with no problems. Had to do the calibration mentioned here.
 
I don't think it's the KDSS. I would check the alignment, that can cause loss of traction. An good alignment shop will also do an inspection that might find the clicking sound.
 
Sounds like the VSC is kicking in.

Take it to the dealer and tell them you want it recalibrated. I believe it's called zero point calibration.
 
If your truck stepped out of line and you had no warning beep or VSC kick in, then there's a problem.
If you race a Porsche GT3 I would think you are well aware of what understeer feels like.
 
1000MPH said:
If your truck stepped out of line and you had no warning beep or VSC kick in, then there's a problem.
If you race a Porsche GT3 I would think you are well aware of what understeer feels like.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right. I've never owned nor really driven any car with a lot of nanny features--I guess I'm a proud Luddite.

Regardless, this was most definitely understeer, but given it's a TRUCK with RWD, I had no warning signs of exactly when the VSC or other gizmos would kick in.

To put it bluntly, it's ****ing scary, and the fact that no gauges, warning lights, etc went off is even more alarming.

Alignment is fine, "clicking" noise that I was describing earlier now appears to be more of some sort of mechanism engaging or turning on. It sounds like something from the steering area or other device that engages. It's pretty predicable now that I've had the car for more than a few days. It still doesn't sound right.

I will take it to the dealer, I'm just delaying the hell that is dealing with a Toyota dealership.
 
jazzyfunkykool said:
You're absolutely right. I've never owned nor really driven any car with a lot of nanny features--I guess I'm a proud Luddite.

Regardless, this was most definitely understeer, but given it's a TRUCK with RWD, I had no warning signs of exactly when the VSC or other gizmos would kick in.

To put it bluntly, it's ****ing scary, and the fact that no gauges, warning lights, etc went off is even more alarming.

Alignment is fine, "clicking" noise that I was describing earlier now appears to be more of some sort of mechanism engaging or turning on. It sounds like something from the steering area or other device that engages. It's pretty predicable now that I've had the car for more than a few days. It still doesn't sound right.

I will take it to the dealer, I'm just delaying the hell that is dealing with a Toyota dealership.
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Clicking noise under the dash is normal. But it should only occur one time (sounds like 3 really quick clicks) soon after you crank up the car and begin movement. Actually sometimes it does not happen at all for me. Its some solonoid resetting if i recall. There was a post about it some time ago.

The other situation sounds odd. Id go to a Lexus dealer and have them glance over the kdss setup real quick. Apparently a lot of toyota service departments have no idea how kdss works.
 
Sounds like VSC kicked in.

I had it happen for the first time on my 12 TE Sunday going up some mountain switchbacks. There is a light for it but it only stays illuminated while the system is working. It felt like ABS is kicking in when it happened to me. I might have to look at getting mine calibrated as I didn't feel like I was pushing that hard but it might have been enough to overwhelm the stock rubber.
 
Personally, I'd ditch the notorious, underperforming OEM tires. Sounds like a simple case of hydro-planing to me.

I've drove through heavy rains with Firestones on my '12 TE, even while pulling a camper, and traction/steering has not been an issue.

No clicking sound observed so far with 3,500 miles on my truck.

Good luck and stay safe, brother!
 
For reasons of clarity I should probably be more specific with regard to the "Firestone Tires" I mentioned in my preceding post. To be more clear I have Firestone Destination A/Ts on my '12 TE with KDSS. These tires have been rated #1 on the Tirerack site for quite some time now. I agree with this assessment and would definitely recommend these tires to a friend.
 
FERAL 4R said:
Sounds like the VSC is kicking in.

Take it to the dealer and tell them you want it recalibrated. I believe it's called zero point calibration.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^this^^^^^^

"clicking" noise that I was describing earlier now appears to be more of some sort of mechanism engaging or turning on. It sounds like something from the steering area or other device that engages
Click to expand...

Are you sure it's not the clutch for the AC as it kicks on and off as needed.
 
Harper, what does the clutch for the AC sound like? I'm convinced this noise is an engagement of sorts. Initially, I thought activation of the cylinder for KDSS, but I thought that would've been hydraulic, not electric.

The sound I'm hearing really seems to be electric sounding, coming from somewhere in the driver's cavity.
 
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