2012 Whistling sound indentified

read through this entire thread.

i JUST bought a 2013 v6 auto DCSB 4x4 TRD off road... and have a very FAINT whistling noise... like a tea kettle starting to sound on the other end of the house. at 40+ mph

is the rod / dowl / tube through the front grill seal going to fix this?

it sounds nothing as loud as this... like stated is a faint tea kettle whistle.... almost as if you were blowing softly through a dog whistle.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7WRw6ebvgs

 

It will, assuming the seal on top of the grill is the suspect. I just got some irrigation drip line, cut it, and inserted it. It talks a little spit to lube it up, but it's well worth it!

 

I'm just going to repeat what a gross level of incompetence it shows on the part of Toyota that well after 1 year that I bought my car with this issue that they are STILL SELLING IT WITHOUT resolving this issue.

The fix is SO simple and yet they can't seem to exit a resolution from their complicated butts to get it done!

I look forward to seeing people here complaining about their 2014 models doing THE EXACT same thing.

There really is no "excuse" when I think about it. Why should the CEO care when he's probably playing golf somewhere?

 

They dont care because people who are buyinh them wont find out till after they buy it and people who own them know how to fix it. so its cheaper for them to just leave it be. I agree tho, its stupid.

 

Assuming that is where the whistling noise is coming from, yes it will absoloutly fix the problem. My 2013 Tacoma was making a faint whistling noise coming from the front somewhere. I bought the drip tube from home depot, used a little WD-40 and had the tubing installed in the front grill seal all while on my lunch break from work.

Hasn't made a sound since putting it in. Best 2 bucks I ever spent! Good luck!

 

Yeah i ran a piece of 1/4in dripper pipe line through the grill gasket, no more whistling.... THANK GOD.... it was driving me nutz.

 

My 2013 Tacoma had a loud whistle. Toyota tried seven times to fix it, and failed. I took it to mediation, a process and staff that is 100% owned by the auto industry, and laughed when the panel determined that Toyota met a legal standard that doesn't exist. The thing howls, goes Whooooooo, and hums around 40-45 mph, especially in the rain. It drives me crazy.
Toyota knows all about this and figures that its fan club is stupid enough to keep buying defective products. Some of you have found easy fixes. Great. I'm happy for you. For those of us who have seen everything tried unsuccessfully, and feel like we got rooked by Toyota, taken for a ride by Toyota, ripped off by Toyota, happiness or even just satisfaction is an elusive thing. Toyota should deliver better quality and better quality customer service.

 

Fixex my grill whistle with above drip line method. It used to whistle at 47 mph and get too high pitched to hear at 58. No annoying sound!

 

Hi, new to this forum and I joined specifically to ask this. Awesome forum and you guys already had an answer for my first question!
Just bought a 2014 4x4 the other night and the whistling is driving me nucking futs

 

They can create such a great machine, and yet they've know about this problem for quite a long time and they wind up releasing a 2014 model without having resolved it.

I bought my 2013 a year ago and I know that they've known about this issue well prior to my purchase.

I will never understand the incompetence and why they can't seem to get a fix implemented for such an obvious problem.

Customer service at Toyota is not the best. Customer service is what I would aggressively dive into if I were the CEO.

 

I find your story infuriating. It shows a level of unfairness and incompetence that is disgusting.

Since those suit dingbats would rather screw over the customer than obviously create a simple fix to deal with their incompetence, I agree that they need to suffer a strong backlash of bad publicity.

A class action lawsuit might be funded reasonably with many owners on board, and in such an instance, Toyota might quickly relent to undo the damage done. Everyone purchasing a Tacoma should know that it whistles.

Boy, I can't tell you how I'm going to huff and puff if they pull that "voided warranty" crap.

Saying that this problem is "normal" is utterly inexcusable. I noticed it when I first drove my car home from the dealership.

I don't trust them not to screw the customer and I don't trust them to stand behind the product.

They're not "owning" the problem and to me that's disgraceful the way that they're running business. I and many other owners have a problem with a "top of the line" radio also and they've been embarrassingly incompetent and dishonorable with that as well. They bend over backwards not to do anything about it.

Honestly, they deserve to get bitten by both a bit of bad publicity and a class action lawsuit.

Oh, it's "not a safety" matter, they say? Well, it boils down to a very slight problem that really diminishes the "overall" experience of the vehicle to a point where a reasonable buyer wouldn't and shouldn't want it.

IF THEY DIDN'T FIX THE ISSUE FOR THE 2014 MODEL, THERE MUST BE SOME REASON THAT IT WOULD COST THEM MORE TO REDESIGN A BUNCH OF PARTS ALREADY MANUFACTURED. I can only imagine the greedy corporate politics to put out a new car with the same defect that THEY'VE LONG KNOWN ABOUT! In essence, the cost to Toyota to take ownership and deal with the problem is more than letting the customer be disappointed in it!

I want to know how others would feel about going in on a class action lawsuit against them(especially if they pull this voiding of warranty crap).

You can thank corporate lawyers for the voiding of warranty crap.

Stand behind your product, TOYOTA!

Furthermore, I will say that they suggested to me that I do the drip line to fix the issue, which is something they should not be suggesting if it voids any warranty, but hey, if you're a rich corporation and get to skip out on your obligations to your customer that might cost you money, "YAY!!!!!!"

Calling it "normal" is really preposterous, and in retail they look at you shrugging their shoulders like, "it's not my problem."

I really hope that this doesn't become an issue with some warrantied item.

I mean I find it unbelievable how they're seemingly unwilling to fix this problem.

Call me cynical, and I am, maybe they want a huge percentage of Tacoma owners to void their warranty so they don't have to pay for any issues?

CALL ME CYNICAL, maybe it would cost more to deal with a small redesign and fix these issues than to let people screw themselves out of their warranty.

Oh yeah, it's not a safety issue. Sure. Great excuse to let a minor defect really ruin the experience of one of their most popular selling vehicles.

They say it's "normal," but what is "normal" to me is a giant corporation not standing behind their product and making it right for what must be tens of thousands of customers annoyed by this defect!

"Hey, if you don't like this annoying whistle! Too bad! That's normal! And if you personally do anything about it, you void your warranty! Ha!"

 

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. Toyota did release a TSB for the whistle which was to replace the grill or the windshield. They have not turned a blind eye to the problem as some wish to think. Compared to how many they sell this is a very very small complaint that the dealers hear about with the wind noise. We are a very focused group here, the average normal Joe has no clue about this. You would be amazed at how obtuse the majority of drivers are out there on the road.
I'm not sticking up for Toyota, but sometimes we have to see it from the other side. We complain about wind noise. Drive the competition for a few weeks and you will be amazed at how big the problems they have.

 

Did the drip tubing trick, worked like a charm! Thanks OP!!!!
When I take it to the dealer, I'll strip it off so they won't give me any shit for it.

 

I hear you.

Even though there's that acknowledged fix with the grill, it didn't stop the dealership I went to from acting clueless about the problem. I also know other users in this thread have experienced a similar aspect of denial and cluelessness from service departments at dealerships.

I suppose that I will ask them about replacing my grill and see if they try to skirt the issue.

The whistle is hugely idiosyncratic. It's unbelievable to me that the 2014 model has been released and it is reported by some to have the same issue.

My dad told me last night how his experience with Lexus is that they always have given him the benefit of the doubt. Assuming that it's the same overall company, I would appreciate if they take it more seriously instead of shrugging their shoulders and pretending to be clueless.

You say there is a fix and yet they keep selling the same model car and even the newest year model with the same defect. The highly idiosyncratic nature of the whistle is worthy of criticism. I can hear it when there's classical music on.

I know the difference between standard wind noise and a defect like this.

In any case, I do hear your point. I know they're bogged down but we have all paid a fortune for these cars because we think they are the best and we deserve them not to have this annoying whistle, or the threat of having our drive train warranty voided when we do our own fix because they refuse to deal with the issue properly.

 

Sadly I think the noise you are hearing is a different noise. I unfortunately have both the whisteling noise as well as the high pitch squeel that you are hearing.

 

Did this to my 2013 DCLB and it worked! Make sure you run it all the way through the front strip. It's kind of a snug fit but it's a 2 dollar fix that my toyota dealership couldn't even diagnose. They kept saying it was the windshield or grill. Thanks for the post! Saved the day!

 

Curious if anyone with the grill noise had a deflector shield on the hood and whether there was a difference in the noise with the shield in place? The shield takes up some of that dead space between grill and hood.

BTW, I have a loud "wind" noise which I thought was coming from the access door area. Maybe it's the grill issue??

 

Yes, my 2012 has the Toyota branded bug deflector and the wind noise. They gave me the TSB grill and it appeared to make my wind noise worse as it seemed to push the deflector in an odd position. Between that and the new TSB grill being scratched, I made them put my old grill back on. I did not run the new grill without the deflector to see what happens. Also note, I currently have the plastic tubing in my weatherstripping as suggested in this thread and I still have the same whistle. The dealership did confirm it was from my grill area, but cannot fix it.

 

Ok, thanks.

 

One thing they told me at the dealership was that the tsb grill was only for up to the 2012 model not 2013 so they couldn't just replace the grill they had to try and test it with tape. Oddly enough they never put tape all the way across the front only on the sides so they said they weren't sure what it was. I just slipped the tubing in and it was gone. However if I could have gotten the tsb I would have. I'm sure after they get enough complaints for the 2013 they will put one out.