Engine squeal?

Been noticing this noise for the last couple thousand miles. It was probably there before, but I had another louder noise that was covering it up. Now that the first noise is gone, I am focused on this noise. Make sense?

It sounds kind of like a belt squeal, but not anywhere near as loud. It is not very noticeable unless I am in my garage or next to a wall or fence. I normally notice it when pulling into the garage with my windows down. I will be driving forward with the engine idle at about 500 rpm, and when I push the clutch in, the engine rpm recovers and momentarily goes to around 1100 rpm, then drops to 800 rpm. When the engine revs up, I hear a squeal/buzz. I can also hear it with the truck in neutral and reving the engine from idle to 2000 rpm. It's probably still there above 2000 rpm, but too many other sounds drowning it out. It is more noticeable during the split second that the engine is changing rpms.

Just had the throwout bearing changed, this is not related. Clutch pedal pressure, position does not change the noise. Pressure on the steering wheel, AC on or off, headlights (electrical load), make no difference. Seems to only do it once the truck is all the way warmed up too.

Could it be emissions control related? I am thinking it only makes the noise once the truck is in closed loop (warmed up). I can almost imagine a vacuum switch or diaphram vibrating somewhere.

I know noises are tough to diagnose on the internet. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

well is your belt loose? if that makes any sense..

 

Probably serp belt.. but hard to say for sure.

 

Don't think so, I sprayed it with water and didn't seem to make it any worse. I guess it could be an idler pully, but i've had that issue on other vehicles and it's nowhere near as loud, and not a chirp noise.

 

I am thinking I will pick up a can of belt dressing today for diagnostic purposes. Can't hurt anything I don't think.

 

Based on what you described, I'd guess it has something to do with the belt. Maybe not the belt itself but one of the pulleys or accessories it drives. Pop the hood and see if you can narrow down a general location under the hood.

 

So it sorta sounds like it's on the passenger side of the engine. Belt dressing didn't change anything, made a mess actually.

I notice that the passenger side idler pulley between the power steering and water pump has a noticeable wobble to it. Can't really hear any extra noise using a piece of hose with one end on the pulley bolt, one end on my ear. If you guys have a chance to go look at your 4.0 v6 and tell me if you can see that pulley wobble, I would appreciate it. It's not dramatic, but it is there.

The dealer looked at it, put a new belt on, said they checked all the pulleys and the passenger side idler is the only thing with any play in it. The tensioner and other two idlers are tighter they say. But they stopped short of guarenteeing that the noise is going to stop when that pulley is changed. I am going to have them change it anyway, but I would really like to know if anyone else has had a problem with it wobbling. I am gonna be pissed if it turns out that wobble is normal.

Thanks for your replies.

Joe

 

We had a noise in our Audi that was extremely difficult to diagnose, luckily it was under warranty and it was on the dealers dime.

They changed out many things and finally figured out it was a bearing in the water pump. They ended up replacing the water pump and the noise was gone. It sounds similar to the issue you are having so I thought I would mention it just in-case.

Good Luck

 

I had this same thing happen to me and the shop i went too had stethoscope and found its the IDLER pull the bearing were shot in it......Its on the Passenger side and its a really cheap part and really easy to swap out..... Pm if you have any more questions on it

 

Thanks! I have a month left on powertrain warranty and the water pump is the only thing on the front of the engine that is covered. If the idler does not quiet it down, I will lead the dealer towards that. I can't imagine how they are getting a stethescope in there to listen. I would go buy one myself, but it's super tight in there.

 

Thanks. Yeah, it wouldn't be bad to do myself. But I am starting to grow out of the whole do-everything-myself phase. I suppose I will have to get involved myself if that pulley does not fix it. It sounds like we are talking about the same pulley. I have my fingers crossed.

Appreciate the reply.

 

It was the idler pulley on my truck. Nothing $110 won't fix. Urgh! Stuff is pretty expensive up North.

 

Well, the dealer changed the passenger side idler pulley and replaced the serpentine belt on friday. They called me and said no more noise. I picked up the truck drove it two blocks and noted that the noise has not changed.

I could see the pulley wobbling, so I believe it needed to be changed. And the belt was needed because I killed it with belt dressing.

It's going back next week. Plan is to compare it to another truck first, then recheck all the accessories on the engine. They say that the noise goes away when the belt is removed.

Not sure if the dealer does not own a stethoscope, or can't get it into the fan area without losing someone's fingers. Kinda ticks me off that they said it was fixed and there was ZERO change.

Someone mentioned having a water pump make noise on another type of vehicle. Has anyone here had a noisy pump on a Toyota 4.0? My experience has always been that they leak instead.

 

i'm having this same problem, i'm not sure if there's more to it. I'm either thinking water pump, idler pulley bearing or idler pulleys. I know for a fact 2 of the idler pulleys are bad because i took them all off and spun them and 2 sounded like they have dirt inside. not sure what kind of sound the water pump "bearing" makes if its bad, but i'm kinda itching to replace it because hearing that noise just bugs the hell outta me.

 

I think i had the same problem you are describing. I took it to the dealer and they said that it was belt noise, which i didn't believe. I asked if it could be the idler pulley. The service rep with "4 years experience" said he had never heard of problems with the pulleys on a tacoma but that he would have the mechanic check them out. Well... the mechanic didn't find anything. (imagine that) So the next day i went out and did the ole' belt dressing strategy. That made the squeal/chirp/who knows what sound, sooo much worse. Luckily I had a spare belt, so i decided to rip off the contaminated belt, check out the pulleys myself and see if i could find anything weird. Luckily all the pulleys were moving freely and seemed to not have any wobbles or anything. What I did find was two areas of what seemed like road tar build up on two of the pulleys. I doubt the belt dressing that i previously sprayed on it helped but the build up was thick and obviously shouldn't have been there. I sprayed each pulley with brake cleaner, cleaned off all the grime and reinstalled the belt. So far problem solved.

Best of Luck!

 

Hey, not sure if I should be posting to a new thread or adding on here, but some of the above topics sound similar to what I have going on.

I just bought an 06 taco with 200k on it, and everything runs great, except for when it's warmed up it makes this weird squeal/clicking noise. I linked a video below that you can hear it in. It's almost louder under the drivers side of the engine than Under the engine itself. Any help is greatly appreciated!

http://youtu.be/dV0OJ6rSTts

 

Did you ever find a solution for that issue? Mine squeals slightly when I accelerate. Curious as to what your issue was.

 

The ticking is normal, it's just the solenoid doing its thing on the driver's side, the squealing could be the idler pulleys. That's what was wrong with mine. Man this was like 5 years ago for me! Thread revival!! But yes, there's two idler pulleys that you need to change out and possibly the belt tensioner pulley. While you're down there, change the belt out and keep the old one as a spare.

 

Oh sorry my man, draggin you back to the past, ok thats the consensus im getting this idler pulley theory. Thankie

 

Nah man it's cool. We're here to help. That's how learned when I first had my taco, there's always an answer here on the forum