Strange inconsistent clicking noise

Alright. 07 taco. When I am driving I am hearing a clicking noise somewhere from either the middle of the truck or the rear.. Problem is that it's not consistent. It happens when I am speeding up and slowing down but only in gear from what I can tell? I have been able to produce it out of gear yet. It's not a whining and doesn't happen when I turn.. On the way up to about 3 gearing 2200 rpms or about 35 mph can I hear it. After that I don't. It doesn't get louder as I go, it's the same loudness no matter what speed up to 35.. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Not sure what could make such an inconsistent noise.

 

No response within 1.5 hours? Well damn truck, I didn't want you to break Tacoma world...

 

This place is a ghost town at night, wait until tomorrow when everybody is back pretending to work and you'll get some responses.

Good luck!

 

My money is on the catalytic converter heat shield. Crawl under and find it and see if it is loose. Try and sure it up or remove it. I'm not sure which is the better idea, but it will probably fix the rattle sound.

 

So I checked that, nothing moving there. I touched everything on the back of the truck.. Nothing seems loose. Any other ideas? I guess I'll just start working my way forward. There is a chance the noise is coming from the engine bay but the noise is somehow working itself backwards.

 

Possible universal joint ?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/greasing-entire-drive-shaft-u-joints-5-zerks-total.56976/

 

I checked that a couple days ago, shook everything around but the bearings looking fine and there wasn't an unusual amount of play. I'll check it again, seems to be enough grease though.

My 01 had a problem with the clicking from the drive line, greased the joints and the problem went away. But this noise is different to me. I'll probably try regreasing anyway though. I can't imagine it would hurt

 

Our old 4runner had a plastic cover that hid the oil plug that I finally figured out was the culprit. I removed it and noise was gone.. Maybe check something like that...

 

Will do. Thanks for the help. I know it's gonna be something stupid and it's gonna take me ten hours to diagnose for a 2 minute fix.

 

yeah I put a front push bar on the front of our 4runner and it started rattling sound inside I could hear but it was inconsistent. I checked all the bolts and all were tight...I just happen to push on the oil drain cover and it clicked and I thought no way this would be so loud inside the vehicle...but it was! So I took it off. It may be something simple like that. Good luck

 

I think if it was working its way back, it seems it would be obvious. I know I had a sound that was similar to yours and only happened at certain times when on the gas.

Turns out the cat had a recall and was broken internally and making the abrupt clicking noise. Only way I found was my VIN has a recal notice attached and they replaced it for free. Problem was solved.

I've also read a bunch of folks on here having the same symptoms you described. They where exhaust related of some sort. Clutch related. Or a combination of both. The most interesting about their and my discovery was it sounded mechanical in nature but was just exhaust vibrations.

 

Just for a heads up , the proper way to check for a sticking universal joint is by removing the driveshaft and moving the joint by hand feeling for tight spots as you go . There is no possible way to visually see a stuck u-joint . All it takes is 1 of the 4 bearing caps to be stuck and you will get clicking sounds while the driveshaft spins at different rpm,s . You could try adding grease to the joints if your universal joints have the zerks . They are suppose to be greased on average at every oil change . I grease mine every 6000k

 

Well hey thanks, I'll see if I can get it done this weekend. So the noise shouldn't only happen when I hit bumps or anything? Like I hear it pretty constantly at about 2200 rpm. So if I lift my truck and drive it at 2200 rpm I should hear it? If that's the case, I would know it's at lease not wind related rattling.

 

I have checked my recalls and I only have the frame and leaf springs recall. The only reason I don't think it would be exhaust related is because it only happens when I am in gear driving. If I'm not in gear but I am coasting downhill and hitting the rpms up at all, I still don't hear it.

 

I doubt you will here any noise when you jack up the truck . I believe your rear wheels need to have a driving load .If you have the rear wheels off the ground , the driving load goes away and your rear wheels are essentially freewheeling . I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try running the truck with the wheels off the ground just to try and narrow things down . I still suggest popping that drive shaft off and feel for tight spots

 

my 2007 had a noise that I only heard when applying gas and carrying a load in the bed. It would tick, tick as I put some power to it. I looked at the catalytic converter heat shield, but it was firm. I saw no problems underneath at all.

maybe it was a u-joint, but I guess I'll never know as the truck is gone now

 

So last night I greased all 5 zerks. Unfortunately it did not help. It seems the noise only happens when going uphill or when applying the brakes and gas at the same time. Basically anytime I accelerate enough to put strain on anything. Does this sound like a U joint or a different problem

 

First I have to ask why you would apply the brakes and gas at the same time? That makes no sense.

As for clicking when under a load is one of the signs of a worn universal joint. Grease may or may not make it go away.

 

.. You don't drive with the brake on? It improves your gas mileage. I was trying to locate the source of the sound since it was so inconsistent. i will probably end up just replacing the u joint and seeing if that helps but so far I haven't been able to guarantee it is coming from there. Grease was my first option next will be removing the driveshaft to check.

 

I agree with Jimmy
Pop that driveshaft off and check the universal joints by hand for free movement