Lately while I drive I hear a chirp or squeal which at first I thought was the brake pad wear indicator. I narrowed it down to coming from the engine. It makes the noise while driving and at idle but it stops when i push the clutch in. Any ideas, maybe a belt is weak?

 

i have had the same thing for 50k miles. My gut tells me its the throw out bearing or an input bearing, but I don't want it to be that. Its not a belt.

 

I dont like the sound of that. How expensive is it to fix. Is this normal, the 4runner has 103,000 miles on it. 2000 4runner SR5 4wd.

 

Could it have anything to do with the fluid level?

 

I'm going to say either a throw out bearing or a pilot bearing as well. Sucks, but its good that they are both in the same place and you can do them at the same time!

 

whats a ballpark figure on having a transmission shop fix this. I looked at the 4x4wire write up and it looks beyond my skills. Also what is the urgency on fixing this. Am I going to burn out the transmission if I continue to drive.

 

No, It wouldn't be a rush for me. Unless the bearing breaks (which is unlikely). Most shops will replace at least the throw out bearing anyway while they are in there. If it squeals when you push in the clutch, it is the throw out bearing.

 

Does it have a hydrolyic clutch? Check your fluid level if there is. It also could just be the clutch pedal going up and down.

 

I don't think you would burn out the transmission if its the throw out bearing. but if its the pilot bearing you might mess up your input shaft if the bearing seizes, but the possibility of that is pretty low.

If its really annoying you, then have it fixed. me and my buddy did his on his 1995 mustang cobra in about an after noon. I would say for a shop to do it it would take about the same time, My guess is if its the dealer, maybe $800 at most?

 

I think a lot of guys have actually had this. I have had it for a long time (years now). I even took it to a dealer a long time ago. they investigated and said it was a normal issue with these trucks and it cant really be fixed. I dont remember what they said causes it, but they said they could replace it and it would stop for a while, but would come back shortly. Drives me nuts, but doesnt hurt anything...so they say

 

I'm telling you... 50 k with no appreciable change in noise level or pitch. Its something I just live with. If I find an extra grand under a rock today, I might get it fixed, otherwise, I'm planning on riding it out until there is a change. Maybe not the best approach, but hey, I got this truck 60k ago for less than 7 grand. I don't really want to dump 20% of what I paid into what appears to be an annoyance issue at this point. Its your call though.