Humming/Drone noise at 55 plus 2010 Plat

[gwnorth]

I tried some searches but came up with nothing on the year we have. We recently purchased a pre-owned 2010 Platinum 4wd with about 50k miles on it. Everything is great with the car except for one complaint. Where we drive 75% in town driving most times it drives/runs like a champ. I have noticed though that when I am driving with windows up and can hear over radio/kids etc that there is a humming/drone noise when I hit about 55. Don't feel anything in steering but the noise is there. The tires looked to be fairly new (Michelin's) and I would guess a few thousand miles on them when we purchased it. I am going to try an alignment and see if that does anything but just curious if anyone had experienced something similar with this particular year/model.

My ecducated guess is size of car/tire combo/lack of aerodynamics etc as it shifts well, accelerates like mad and drives very well.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Mark

[cheapskate]

Any chance the muffler is not stock? You used the word drone. That is usually synonomous with an aftermarket muffler. Have a look and see if it is stock.

[gwnorth]

Any chance the muffler is not stock? You used the word drone. That is usually synonomous with an aftermarket muffler. Have a look and see if it is stock.

Would it say on the muffler what it is? Looking underneath it has a machined/turned look to it where it narrows down to the tailpipe........

[cheapskate]

Not sure what you mean. Aftermarket is usually stamped with a name like Magnaflow or Flowmaster. Plus a lot of them use clamps. Either band clamps or U clamps and are not bolted directly to oem locations. A picture might help. If it is aftermarket someone on here might be able to identify it. I could be totally wrong and your muffler could be stock so dont take my word for it. Just using the word drone usually means something in the exhaust since that is where that type of harmonic noise comes from a lot of the time. Wheel bearings and other items can make humming noise as well.
If you can not identify the location of the noise you might want to take it back to the dealer as soon as possible just for warranty reasons. Especially if you can duplicate the noise the same way each time.

[Crzr45]

I have the same 2010 Sequoia Platinum 4WD with 63K Miles and am having the same issue. I took it to the dealer yesterday and the tech. hooked up chasis ears and went for a drive. He heard the noise and said it is comming from the rear end. They called warranty and they said the sound is normal... I call BS and they are now going to set up an appointment with the Toyota field rep. to see if he thinks the noise is normal. I know its not and hopfully he will agree. I will post up what they say or do...

[buff1]

I had a humming at highway speed. Sounded like it was drivetrain related. Changed front and rear diff fluid to full synthetic and humming went away.

[gwnorth]

I took it in to a dealer and they told me it was tire related or feathering. I bought the car pre-owned at 50k miles, now has 54k, and the tires appeared to be fairly new. They are michelins and two are stamped with an 11 manufacture date and the other two have no date so I assume they are older. Tread is great but when you run your hand backwards on the tire towards the outer edge there is a ridge that sticks up ever so slightly. Would feathering cause all that noise? Hate the thought of trying to replace the tires when they are still in good shape for a grand to find out it isn't tire related. I am not sure what, if anything, I will do right now about it. It runs/drives like a tank so I am just hoping it is all tire related......

[Crzr45]

The dealer hooked up some chasis ears and found it comming from the rear diff...... Extended warranty said it was normal but I know its not.... The head Toyota Warranty guy is comming thru my area on the 15 and he will drive it with me... Hopfully he will agree and rebuild the diff.... I will let you know. By the way I changed all fluids with amsoil synthetic 1k ago and no change in noise...

[kyoo]

subbed for updates

[tundra3400]

Tread is great but when you run your hand backwards on the tire towards the outer edge there is a ridge that sticks up ever so slightly.

that sounds like cupping. and that would be caused by problems with the camber and/or toe. is it happening on the front tires, rear tires or both sets?

[gwnorth]

I had a full balance/rotation and alignment about a month back. It is only on two of the tires, the front two. On the outer edge of the tire. They may be the two older tires on the car as well. They all look fairly new two me but two of them have a 2011 manufacture date while the other two I am unable to determine when they were made. Maybe the factory tires wouldn't have the same stamp as the replacements? Thanks for all the responses and it is still making the sound so I am still not 100% sure of the origin. I am due for oil change/rotation so I will see what my regular mechanic has to say on it......M

[tundra3400]

since the cupping is only happening to the front tires on the outer edge that means it has to much positive camber.

[2010sequoia]

I had this same problem with my 2010 and 2011 Platinum sequoia's. I really only noticed it during acceleration, when coasting no matter what speed the noise stopped. I was rather annoying and I took it to the dealer who said they heard it too, but did not know how to resolve. Fortunately because of the great trade-in value I upgraded for the 3rd year in a row to a 2012 and that fixed it. I can tell you the only difference that I know of is the 2012 have Michelin LTX MS tires vs Bridgestone and Dunlops on the first 10 and 11 models.

[DK3_Sequoia]

Is the humming noise constant or intermittent? I purchased a used 08 SR5 that had a similar issue at highway speed during my test drive. If the truck hadn't been in such good condition I would have walked away as even the dealer told me it had a lot of road noise at highway speed. I pulled over three times during a 20 minute test drive in an effort to ID the issue, but couldn't find anything, but I knew it wasn't a factory issue given the lack of complaints on the various forums, so I bought it anyway hoping I could ID the issue. It turned out to be the front wheel well skirt blowing against the tire at certain highway speeds.

As I was driving home from the dealer I stopped to fill with gas and the noise became very pronounced and it sounded like the tires rubbing lightly on something. I got out and looked again but couldn't see anything until I noticed a slight rub mark on the wheel skirt. I reached in and pulled on it and sure enough it was missing 2 plastic rivets. When you'd let go the skirt would snap back into place and you couldn't tell anything was missing or wrong. I temporarily fixed it with a $2 bungee cord for the trip home. I kind of felt bad because the ford dealer had sat on the thing for 5 months due to the road noise. They knocked $4K off their asking price and gave me close to retail for trade on my F-150 just to get it off the lot. I got over the guilt quickly.

[mumbojumbo22]

Crz45,
Did you ever hear from the Field Rep and if so what did they have to say on this issue? I have a 2008 SR5 and it's doing the same thing. Took it to the dealer for a water pump replacement and also mentioned it. They took it for a spin but couldn't tell because it was very rainy that day. I would like to take it back but am curious as to what your rep said.

Thanks

I have the same 2010 Sequoia Platinum 4WD with 63K Miles and am having the same issue. I took it to the dealer yesterday and the tech. hooked up chasis ears and went for a drive. He heard the noise and said it is comming from the rear end. They called warranty and they said the sound is normal... I call BS and they are now going to set up an appointment with the Toyota field rep. to see if he thinks the noise is normal. I know its not and hopfully he will agree. I will post up what they say or do...