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TundraGeneral discussion forum for the 2007 and later Toyota Tundra.
This is a discussion thread titled "Humming sound - UPDATE - need your thoughts!", within the Tundra forum, part of the Truck Forums category.
I am hoping to run a scenario by you and see what your thoughts are regarding a minor but rather annoying problem. Sorry if this is a bit long, but perhaps someone that is also experiencing this may be able to do the same tests I did.
A while ago, I posted about a humming sound/buzzing sensation at certain speeds. At 40 KPH, I can hear a "wu wu wu wu" sound and feel it in the steering wheel and floor. At highway speed, it feels like a constant buzz (similar to holding an electric shaver). The problem started back in around August, 4 months into owning the truck.
I took it for a test drive with a tech and he was able to feel a bit of what I was talking about, but for some reason, that day it wasn't as noticeable. They rotated my tires front to back and it made no difference. The next thing they want to do is swap my wheels/tires with another Tundra to see if that works (next Saturday).
I've suspected however that the tires are not the problem since it doesn't seem to matter what kind of road I'm driving on etc.
So, today I found a nice long stretch of a paved, deserted road and did some more testing on my own. Here's what I discovered:
- at 40 KPH, "wu wu wu wu" sound and buzzing felt in steering wheel and floor
- engaged 4WD and the sound/buzzing stopped!
- went back to 2WD, and the sound/buzz came back
- 4WD again, and it stopped
- 2WD again and it was gone!
I went back in and out of 4WD a few times and discovered that the sound only occurs in 2WD and is hit and miss after coming out of 4WD.
So, I thought the front drive shaft may be resting in a certain spot that causes vibration. I got it in 2WD where the vibration was gone and I manually turned the driveshaft a quarter of a turn and drove at 40 KPH. I did this several times and the sound did not come back. I then engaged 4WD for a minute and went back to 2WD and the sound was there again. I rotated the front driveshaft again by hand and drove, the sound was still there. So the position of the driveshaft has nothing to do with it.
SO...
It would appear that the sound is a vibration from a rotating "part" that comes to rest in 2WD. The vibration depends on the position of said "part" when it comes out of 4WD. When the sound is present, the "wu wu wu wu" is tied to the rate the wheels are turning.
I hope this makes sense and would really appreciate anyone's thoughts on what it might be. I don't know a lot about the guts of the 4WD system, but I do think it has something to do with it. At this point, I highly doubt the tires or alignment would be the cause.
I'm still going to have the dealer swap the wheels to see what happens. I want to give them as much info as possible, but I have a bad feeling this may be a hard one to pin down.
I am hoping to run a scenario by you and see what your thoughts are regarding a minor but rather annoying problem. Sorry if this is a bit long, but perhaps someone that is also experiencing this may be able to do the same tests I did.
A while ago, I posted about a humming sound/buzzing sensation at certain speeds. At 40 KPH, I can hear a "wu wu wu wu" sound and feel it in the steering wheel and floor. At highway speed, it feels like a constant buzz (similar to holding an electric shaver). The problem started back in around August, 4 months into owning the truck.
I took it for a test drive with a tech and he was able to feel a bit of what I was talking about, but for some reason, that day it wasn't as noticeable. They rotated my tires front to back and it made no difference. The next thing they want to do is swap my wheels/tires with another Tundra to see if that works (next Saturday).
I've suspected however that the tires are not the problem since it doesn't seem to matter what kind of road I'm driving on etc.
So, today I found a nice long stretch of a paved, deserted road and did some more testing on my own. Here's what I discovered:
- at 40 KPH, "wu wu wu wu" sound and buzzing felt in steering wheel and floor
- engaged 4WD and the sound/buzzing stopped!
- went back to 2WD, and the sound/buzz came back
- 4WD again, and it stopped
- 2WD again and it was gone!
I went back in and out of 4WD a few times and discovered that the sound only occurs in 2WD and is hit and miss after coming out of 4WD.
So, I thought the front drive shaft may be resting in a certain spot that causes vibration. I got it in 2WD where the vibration was gone and I manually turned the driveshaft a quarter of a turn and drove at 40 KPH. I did this several times and the sound did not come back. I then engaged 4WD for a minute and went back to 2WD and the sound was there again. I rotated the front driveshaft again by hand and drove, the sound was still there. So the position of the driveshaft has nothing to do with it.
SO...
It would appear that the sound is a vibration from a rotating "part" that comes to rest in 2WD. The vibration depends on the position of said "part" when it comes out of 4WD. When the sound is present, the "wu wu wu wu" is tied to the rate the wheels are turning.
I hope this makes sense and would really appreciate anyone's thoughts on what it might be. I don't know a lot about the guts of the 4WD system, but I do think it has something to do with it. At this point, I highly doubt the tires or alignment would be the cause.
I'm still going to have the dealer swap the wheels to see what happens. I want to give them as much info as possible, but I have a bad feeling this may be a hard one to pin down.
Thanks for reading! Does this make any sense?
If I was you I would ask Toyota to look at the 4wd system. It sound like you have been running around in part 4wd mode even when the switch is in 2wd mode. Maybe there is a crossed wire to the switch. Just my thoughts.
If I was you I would ask Toyota to look at the 4wd system. It sound like you have been running around in part 4wd mode even when the switch is in 2wd mode. Maybe there is a crossed wire to the switch. Just my thoughts.
Thanks for your reply. I can confirm that I've been in 2WD with normal driving. I would notice significant binding if I was running around in 4WD. The only time I've used 4WD so far is about once a month I take it down a dirt road and run 4WD just to keep things lubed. I did go off roading once with it, but it was just a flat field, nothing crazy.
Thanks so much for your diligent testing, sea I am going to put it in 4WD myself tonight and see what happens! It definitely sounds like we have the same issue. I have a couple of friends with Tundras, and I meant to swap wheels this weekend to see if it makes a difference, but didn't get around to it
Dinged or dented rear driveshaft or a related problem with the center coupler bearing?...
these kinds of issues can manifest itself as both a sound harmonic and a vibe. go 70 mph and put it in neutral..if it is still there, it is likely from the trans output shaft rearward.
There might be a stuck valve, module, solenoid, something in the engine computer. After going from 4wheel drive back to 2wheel drive, disconnect battery for five minutes. See if something resets in the computer. I run my trudk in 4wheel drive once a month for a couple of straight miles, I have never noticed any sounds after doing so.
Good luck with it, I am sure Toyota will help you out.
Thanks so much for your diligent testing, sea I am going to put it in 4WD myself tonight and see what happens! It definitely sounds like we have the same issue. I have a couple of friends with Tundras, and I meant to swap wheels this weekend to see if it makes a difference, but didn't get around to it
That's great. I will be very interested to see how you make out with your testing. I was trying to explain this to someone at work today and the best analogy is when you throw keys, blackberry or something into your cup holder. Sometimes, it will start to vibrate, so you move it around and it stops. Its the same principle at work here I believe. Something under the truck is just resonating.
There might be a stuck valve, module, solenoid, something in the engine computer. After going from 4wheel drive back to 2wheel drive, disconnect battery for five minutes. See if something resets in the computer. I run my trudk in 4wheel drive once a month for a couple of straight miles, I have never noticed any sounds after doing so.
Good luck with it, I am sure Toyota will help you out.
Hmmm... that is interesting. I will try this too. do know that the truck is truly in 2WD since it feels very different when in 4WD. I'm going to go ahead with my appointment this weekend to get the wheels swapped temporarily to rule out the tires for sure. I was kinda hoping it was tires, because the fix is straight forward. This may be hard to diagnose.
Dinged or dented rear driveshaft or a related problem with the center coupler bearing?...
these kinds of issues can manifest itself as both a sound harmonic and a vibe. go 70 mph and put it in neutral..if it is still there, it is likely from the trans output shaft rearward.
Thanks Mike. The only thing is that in 4WD, the sound is not there. So if it was the rear driveshaft, I would think that it would occur in both 2 and 4WD modes.
I had the same problem with my 05 Tundra 4x4. In my case I only noticed the vibration when it was cold outside, 40 degrees or lower. I had the dealer look at it a number of times, but they could not figure it out. You might check the 06 and older forum because the problem is also discussed there. The last discussion indicated that the problem was that in
2-wheel drive the front drive shaft would still rotate when colder. Supposedly this is a known Toyota problem. I have not noticed the problem on my CM, but it has not been very cold here yet.
I tried putting it in 4WD on a rainy road tonight at 45 mph. Did it, took it out, put it back in again, and it hummed the entire time I didn't even get a minute of relief!!! Boooo!
I tried putting it in 4WD on a rainy road tonight at 45 mph. Did it, took it out, put it back in again, and it hummed the entire time I didn't even get a minute of relief!!! Boooo!
Dang! I'm sorry to hear it made no difference. Thanks for trying the test though.
You can really feel it in the floor and steering wheel. I'm beginning to think that its just something thats resonating against the underside of the truck. Maybe its not a defective part per se, just something that's mounted in such a way that its resonating at certain speeds. Might even be something as simple as a heat shield. Then again, it could be something with the front hub assembly perhaps.
Well, I'll be sure to let you know how my wheel swap test goes this Saturday.
I don't know if this is your problem, but I know on my truck there are 2 things that cause a vibration in the wheel and the floor. It is the exhaust and the the clutch fan. Don't know if this will help but I hope.
Just a quick update for you. I took the truck into the service department today and they swapped my wheels for 20" Bridgestones from a '08 Limited Tundra. Took it for a test drive and it made no difference. Same noise and vibration.
So the wheels and tires are officially ruled out of the equation.
The tech that was with me thinks it might be a bad bearing. They're going to order up a bearing to get it in stock. Then I will drop my truck off for the day with them and they will do further testing. If a bearing is indeed bad, they will have the replacement ready to go.
But, the fact that the noise is very subdued in 4WD has me concerned in that I believe a bad bearing would cause noise all the time.
In the end, my dealer is doing a good job and I'm confident they will find the problem. It's taking time, but I'm a very patient guy as long as I know they will work on it until its fixed. It appears that is what they intend to do.
Humming sound - UPDATE - need your thoughts!
I am going to put it in 4WD myself tonight and see what happens! It definitely sounds like we have the same issue. I have a couple of friends with Tundras, and I meant to swap wheels this weekend to see if it makes a difference, but didn't get around to it 
2007 CrewMax Limited
Linear Mode
