Toyota RAV4 Forums banner

just a couple of questions.....

2K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  hd72m 
#1 ·
first off, the car. 1997 rav4, 4door, 4wd, automatic, 145,000 odd miles

to start off with, I daily drive my rav4 about 25-30 miles a day, going to college and back, plus a little bit of running around. i have had the car about a month, and recently noticed a noise coming from what seems to be my right front wheel, kinda like a whooshing/thrumming noise. it only happens above 45 mph, and never any other time. could this be the wheel bearing or what? haven't yet bought jack stands to test wheels and suspension parts, but it is coming soon. also possibly related, i noticed my car tends to pull slightly to the right under hard acceleration. nothing too horrible, but i have had the alignment checked, and was told it was "perfect".

also when going above about 45 mph, AND around 2500 rpm or while cruising at freeway speed, i noticed what sounds like a squeal, about as loud as road noise, but noticeable, and it seems to also be coming from the right front, making me think it is the timing belt, but when i tried to pull off the cover, the timing belt still seemed in great condition, despite having last been changed at 72k miles. i also have yet to see anything leak from under the engine bay, no matter what conditions, and it all seems tidy in there, no noticeable oil buildup on anything. the previous owner however did include a small bottle of oil, because he thought it was burning a little bit of oil, but not enough to top off between oil changes (coming up in just over a week), and the oil still seems extremely clean despite nearing 3 months in there. also, before i got it, it also had a major service to change all the fluids, and all those are still extremely clean.

finally, with the weather starting to get colder, and my rav being parked outside, when i go to start it up in about 50-55 degree weather, it tends to immediately jump up to 2000 rpm, which from what i was reading on here is normal, however as soon as i put it into reverse or neutral, it immediately drops to around 1k, which it did. however, it has only started to do this after i cleaned the throttle body and iac. before the cleaning, it would only idle around 12-1500 rpm no matter what temperature (got to around 45 i think it was, and it was idling around 1200 when i started it). i understand the high idle when it is cold, but what i understood from previous posts is that it should only be that high in extreme cold?

thanks in advance for your help, i am still trying to learn more and more about the car, and i try to research before posting.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Hi, regarding the front wheel noise. I have had several front wheel bearings go on my me on different cars over the years. The noise I have heard is like a low rumbling noise that increases in frequency as the the road speed increases. Also it has usually been possible to make the noise louder by turning left or turning right to load the front wheels. The pulling to the right under acceleration does sound like an alignment issue though, but to state the obvious - you have checked the front tyre condition and their pressures, yes?

My idle starts at around 1800 when cold an the incrementally drops to around 900 as the engine warms up. Yours sounds a little high when warm but I'm not sure what sensor controls this.
 
#3 ·
The first thing I'd do is move the right front tire to another position, say the front left, and see if the noise moves with it.

As for the high idle my only concern would be if while cleaning you created an air leak.
 
#4 ·
Ooh lemme clarify about the idle, realizing now it could be misconstrued. It is only idling high when cold, it used to drop to 600 before i cleaned the throttle, now it idles around 800 or so. And thank you both for your responses, i need to buy jack stands today, i have been meaning to do a tire rotation for a few days, and seeing if that helps. In doing that, yes i am probably going to take another look at them, and see if they are part of the problem being 8 years old.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top