[Bunker]

New guy here. Recently purchased a 2011 Rav4 with 54k miles. Base model 4cyl engine with 4wd. Automatic transmission. I am excited about the car and before yesterday felt like we really got a good deal.

The good: The car was purchased through a dealer and came with a 60 day or 2.5k mile warranty on the engine/transmission. I checked the transmission fluid before I bought the car and it was clean and topped off. The dealer is a small shop and seemingly well liked based on the reviews I have seen. No bad gut feelings when working with them - was a pleasant process.

The bad: After checking the transmission fluid when I first saw the car I asked the mechanic if they replaced all the fluids in the car and they said they did oil and atf change (i know there is some debate about change/flush for atf on here. I am not sure which they did) on all the cars that get brought to them before a sale. Yesterday after taking the car off the lot I heard a whining noise at low speed that I didn't hear when I test drove it. The whine appears to only be happening in 2nd gear and only while accelerating. No noise while coasting, or in lower/higher gears. The car also feels like it is shifting smoothly between gears, no slipping or clunking.

The ugly: I dont know enough about this warranty to know if this kind of thing is covered. Is the dealer going to fight me about this or tell me its not a problem? I wanted to get some advice from other 4.3 owners to see if anyone is familiar with these transmissions enough to recognize this before I bring it back to them.

Any help/guidance here is greatly appreciated.

Bunker

 

[DL175]

There are a few things that make a whine and you need to check which one is it before going further. Once you you do your research tell us what it is.

 

[Blogson]

Another owner with a third generation RAV4 and the 4 cyl. engine complained about the same situation. Examples in this thread: Search results for query: Second gear transmission whine You may find more by using the Search Community function at the top of the page.
Suggest speaking with the dealer and having them note the situation on a service order form and give you a copy. If they do not find a problem and the situation becomes worse you will have a record of your having raised the issue before the warranty expired..

 

[Bunker]

DL and Blogson thanks for your replies. I will do some more research on the forum and have my dealer fill out a service order for me so I can get the problem documented - appreciate the help here. I'll keep this post updated once I have some more info.

 

[BoogyZee]

My car is doing the exact same thing. Shifts totally fine. Just the noise is a little annoying. Any updates?
2010 Rav4 with 116k miles. 4cyl engine with 4wd. Automatic transmission.

 

[Lucas123]

My '12 4 cyl fwd does it too, always has. Quite loud at low speeds, pitch gets to high to hear it much at higher speeds. From what I understand, it's the large gears in the differential that are cut a bit rough, that watery WS trans oil probably doesn't help either. From this forum, it doesn't sound like it causes any long term problems with the transmission or differential. Sounds like the gears on the International Harvester bus that use to take me to high school in the 70s!

 

[BoogyZee]

My '12 4 cyl fwd does it too, always has. Quite loud at low speeds, pitch gets to high to hear it much at higher speeds. From what I understand, it's the large gears in the differential that are cut a bit rough, that watery WS trans oil probably doesn't help either. From this forum, it doesn't sound like it causes any long term problems with the transmission or differential. Sounds like the gears on the International Harvester bus that use to take me to high school in the 70s!

Thanks Lucas123 thats very reassuring! It seems very common as theres lots of posts here about it but no follow up.

Service records on mine show the complaint about the whine and the dealer thought it was the alternator and belt, replaced it. The car was sold soon shortly after that. My guess is the previous owner was told to replace the transmission to get rid of the whine. He said "screw that new car".

Have you ever replaced the transmission fluid? After hours of lurking here I read it helped someone calm down the noise.

 

[Lucas123]

I have done some drain and fills over the years plus dropped the pan once, I use Toyota WS oil to refill. This has no effect on the noise. The only thing that seems to lesson the noise is winter weather, at least until the transmission warms up.