I just bought my first Toyota 2 days ago. It is a '94 4runner SR5. Love it so far but there are a few little things I would like to take care of. It runs fine but as soon as I turn on the engine I hear a small groaning noise coming from the front of the car. I can hear it when I'm parked and when I'm driving. It is a constant sound and doesnt fluctuate when I accelerate or slow down. It is not loud but noticeable. I'm not sure but I feel like I can hear it coming from underneath the passenger-seat dashboard area. Any ideas on what this might be? THANK YOU.

by the way..It's an Automatic V6 4X4

 

Well that just eliminated all things mechanically running enginewise...

Is the heater/AC fan off?

 

It still makes the sound whether the heater/AC is on or off..

I can still hear it vaguely coming from under the hood even when I'm outside the car while it's running.

 

How about making a video or at least an audio recording and post it in the forum with a link to it?

 

I'll try that tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

 

I tried. I do not know right off the top of my head. Maybe somebody else will, just try back later

 

powersteering? mine had a groan when there was air in the system. plus it was just low on fluid in the first place

 

Please do us all a favor and don't call your 4-Runner a car. It has a tailgate there for it's a TRUCK

Do you have the rear heater? Maybe it's that.

 

Pop the hood and listen. When my head gasket went, I heard a sound that sounded like a low pitch horn (could also have been a groan....) and couldn't figure out what it was. I came to a red light and it stalled on me. Cranked it back up and noticed it was almost red lined on temp gauge. Popped the hood and it was the coolant overflow blowing air out instead of coolant.

 

OK, I took a closer listen today and I noticed that the AC being on actually did affect it. When I turn the AC on, the sound noticeabley gets quiter, when it's off, it returns back to its normal pitch. Also I noticed that when pressing the gas the noise does seem to raise in pitch, foot off the gas, it winds down to a steady groan (which i could also describe as a "low pitch horn").

Thanks for everyones help with my new TRUCK