EineZweiDreiVier

I recently purchased a 95 4runner 3.0 V6 which is in great shape, other than a myriad of noises coming from various parts of the car.

1. A sound that vaguely resembles a cricket comes from behind the radiator... I thought it was a belt, but all the belts are new (the previous owner kept all the maintenance reciepts). regardless, I had my dad spray some belt dressing on them, but the sound persisted.

2. When accelerating there's a hissing (?) sound coming from the engine... or something like hissing... its hard to describe but my dad says it sounds like air is escaping somewhere?

3. when decelerating from speeds above 50 mph the whole truck kind of vibrates and makes a lot of noise. I think it's the muffler... the seam looks like it is coming apart... Is it this or something else?

If anyone can help me out with what might be causing these sounds i'd be eternally grateful. (Also, the entire motor was pretty much replaced because of the whole head gasket issue - even though there was a recall fixed, the dealership milked the previous owner and replaced everything BUT the head gasket, then when they finally did replace the head gasket they tried to charge him for it, even though the parts they repaired were probably still good. wtf mate?)

keithguts

As far as the air noice you here, I belibe it must be an air hose some where. this rig has aolt of hoses. They might look like they are all connected, but one might have crack in it. do your tracing if them. Look very close to the ends where they connect and you might find a break or 2 as thet tend to dry out at the ends of connection. As far as the noise behind the radiator, this might be a small leak starting.I had this problem as well, and that is what it was. As far as the rig making alot of noise when slowing up , I think you are on to something when you say it might be the muffler. good luck with all.

EineZweiDreiVier

jeez I hope it's not the radiator, I think they just had a new one put in less than 3 years ago? I'll have to check. But I was looking at it last night and in the upper left corner it looks damaged, like something poked it. When I get home from work tonight I'll take a picture of it and post it. I'd never seen anything like it before. But nothing is leaking (yet) so I guess that's good.

Tragic Drive

Mine did this when the Ujoints went out. Roll under that Runner grab the driveshaft and give it a few good yanks it should not have any play in it.

TNRabbit

Muffler sound could be muffler or might be u-joint; they sound similar.

The hissing is most likely a vacuum leak. Use an UNLIT propane or MAPP gas torch; run open around all the hoses. if the idle increases, you have a leak there. There are TONS of vacuum hoses! Not all have vacuum on them when cold or when below a certain RPM, so experiment around a little. The cricket sounds like it could possibly be the timing belt idler pulley. It's behind the plastic timing belt cover and a PITA to remove. I'd check this LAST due to the trouble of removing it. Could also be your fan bearing going out. I have the cricket chirp & I'm pretty certain it's the upper timing belt idler going bad. If it gets significantly worse, you need to fix it before it freezes up & mucks up the timing belt, etc.

HAVOC

1: fan clutch (take the belt off and spin each acc. by hand)
3: u-joint (possible pinion or carrier bearings)
2: ? try and spray throttle body cleaner around see if you hear the idle change

keithguts

To check the ujoints, it would be best to get the rig off of the ground. this is the best way to see if there is play in the drive shaft. Also, push up and down as well , not just side to side. I had bad u joints and it had no play in them untill I got the wheels off the ground