2014 Tacoma whistle noise from air vent

I've got about 500 miles on my 2014 TRD Sport DC and I am getting a very irritating whistling noise between 45-75 mph. The whistle is not extremely loud, but it is just audible enough to be annoying, especially when cruising at highway speeds. It is high pitch like when you just crack a window open, but not as loud.

Some internet searching has revealed that various whistling and wind noises have been prevalent in Tacomas in recent years. The two most common sources of whistling in the last couple years' models seems to be either the rubber seal under the hood or the windshield seal. I tried the common remedy of inserting a rubber tube in the hood seal and that did not solve the problem. Based on some youtube videos of the windshield seal whistle, I do not believe that is my problem either.

I have been able to narrow down the whistle to what I think is the cabin air vent intake. The whistle noise stops when I press the re-circulate button or switch to Max A/C. Also, the noise is loudest on the driver side and seems to be coming from around where the air intake is between the hood and the windshield. This all leads me to suspect that when the cabin fan is drawing air in from the outside, either a seal isn't right or something in that ductwork is causing the whistling noise. When the re-circulation is turned on, that intake must close off and the noise goes away.

I will be calling the dealer in the morning to schedule an appointment and will post my results. I'm curious if anyone else has been experiencing anything similar.

 

If its a chirping like noise its most likely your blower motor on your AC. theres a write up on it. Mine only does it when i have the AC on low. You gotta remove the blower motor and grease it up and put it back in or just deal with the noise.

 

I've heard of wind noise coming from the fresh air outlet (behind the back seat assy) but I'd definitely bring it back to the dealer since it's only got 500 miles on it...

 

No I don't think it's a chirping noise. It definitely sounds like air whistling, and it is a function of vehicle speed. If it was the fan motor itself I would expect to hear that at all speeds.

 

its your grill gasket. Open your hood, Look down dead center of the grill there is a gasket that runs along the top. Its hollow, get a piece of 1/4 dripper pipe, or 1/4in ice maker water line and run it through the bigger of the two holes.... walla no more teakettle whistle.

 

Did you read my post?

 

Update: Problem turned out to be air passing through the door into the driver side rear view mirror. Service Manager thought air was passing over the wire and causing the whistle like blowing over a blade of grass. Pressing the recirculate button must have changed the cabin pressure just enough to change air flow over the wire. He said he has never seen this before. The adjusted the position of the wire and added insulation and problem solved.

Now that that noise is solved, I am now getting noise from the window seal, which I will post a separate thread about.

 

Interesting. I noticed some newer Toyota models have these strakes on the mirror mount. They may be there to smooth over the airflow or stop the little triangle piece from lifting away from the door at high speeds. Vehicle shown is the Lexus GX460, which shares the Prado-based platform with the Taco.

 

Can you link me to that post, because i am having that same kind of noise on mine as well, from the window. I just noticed it, and mines a 2014 DCSB, only has about 3000 miles on it.

 

Glad to know I am not the only 2014 owner out there going crazy over this stuff. Both the wife and dealer think I am crazy but I know what I am hearing and for $30,000 and that Toyota emblem on the grill I expect a quality ride, not whistle and air leak noise.

Anyway, I actually just found this thread which I think is the EXACT same thing I am hearing. I will try the tape fix this weekend and post results.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/185461-wind-noise-window-anyone-fixed.html

 

I have a 2011 and I get a small almost clicking noise when my fan is on the lowest setting

 

I get a very loud whistling noise that appears to be coming from the passenger side window or side mirror on my 2013 DCSB, when I go above 70-75mph on the highway. It is intermittent but very loud and annoying. I wonder if that's similar to what you are experiencing

 

A little off topic, but when I owned my WRX the hood scoop would wistle anytime i went above 110 mph lol

btw glad you got your first problem fixed OP!

 

TW: New insanity support group

 

I had the exact same thing - I replaced the cabin air filter which had some leaves & junk accumulated, clicking gone.

 

Thanks I will try that...you wouldn't happen to have a link on how to remove the cabin air filter?

 

I found one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9rJHLuhXJU

 

Haha thank you Sheep, FINALLY the fan doesn’t make any more clicking noises. There was a ton of leaves and junk in the filter.

 

I have an air problem as well, the dealer says it was designed that way. Larry miller Toyota in Peoria. The service guy sucks.

It happens around 75-85 mph and gets worse when the wind blows. Sounds like it's coming from the vents and not the windshield or window area. When I say noise it howls. Ideas?

 

I had two noise sources on my 2014 TRD sport. First noise was a whistling at speeds 40 mph and over. Sounded like it was coming from the vents and went away when I pushed the air recirculate button. Dealer discovered that it was air leaking around the driver side rear view mirror where the wires go out to the mirror. They resealed the mirror housing and problem solved.

Second source was the noise from the window seal. I installed the window rain guards and that helped a lot. Didn't eliminate the noise but made it very minimal.

I finally resigned myself to the fact that in this day and age everything is made as cheap as possible in the name of economy and nothing will be perfect. Shouldn't be that way but it's the times we live in. I like my truck but for a toyota I just has an altogether light and flimsy feel to it.