AVES4Runner

Purchased a 2003 V8 2WD about 2 weeks ago. Have had a few problems with it so far: driver's heat seater not working and seat cushion will be replaced, roof rack was loose and was tightened, lock release button for larger portion of rear seat is broken (button stays stuck or when seat is pushed back the entire piece even the plastic around it pops out of seat) and need to take it in to dealer today for this. Besides these things, it seems to drive fine. However, I decided to open the sunroof yesterday and am wondering about the amount of noise I should be hearing. I don't hear the rattling sound that I have read about in other posts but there was a loud whooshing noise (maybe low level vibration) while I was driving at street speeds (35-40mph). Sounded as if I was in a wind tunnel. I haven't tried it on the freeway yet with the sunroof opened. My previous sunroof did not slide (just tilted up) and did not have a wind deflector attached so this is very different. Would appreciate input about amount of noise that might be heard with sunroof slid opened. I am thinking about going to another dealer and taking another 4runner for a drive just to check on this.

I do hope that the minor problems I am having are not signs of things to come. I spoke with my salesperson about the seat problems and the rack and he stated that this does not speak well for Toyota quality.

FirstToy

crack a side window with the sunroof open. You are getting turbulence inside that is common with many, if not most, cars with a sunroof.
I've had the same problem in cars from Sweden, Japan and US. Cracking a window solves the problem. An aftermarket wind deflector might do it too.

This is the first I've heard of your other problems so maybe it's an isolated case. Good luck!

momo.75

Like FirstToy said, those sound like pretty isolated problems. I will have had mine for one year in November and had very few problems. The only thing I have really noticed is that when I get in and turn it on, I still here a little giggling noise.......but I have come to realize it is just me.

Hopefully, after you get those problems solved you will really enjoy it.

BT17R

Welcome to YT! Your moonroof has a motorized, road speed activated wind deflector. Above a certain speed, ~45-50mph I think, it extends to reduce wind noise. It retracts below ~35-40mph or thereabouts. You'll hear a short whirring sound as the motor works and the deflector goes up or down. Also, when you push the one-touch roof open switch, it retracts to a certain point, but not fully. That's to reduce wind noise. Press the button again to retract fully, but it will get noisy(er).

Your other glitches are new to us, but so is a 2WD V-8. Can you shut off TRAC and do a smoky burnout with pics for us?

EDGE

Seems like many of the 03 Models had a few small problems that where all fixed, yours are new ones but soon as their fixed I would not worry.

If you have a giant plastic sheild covering your moonroof, I would advise you to test drive a 4Runner without one cause I find my moonroof fully opened makes no noise at all, the plastic BS peace on the roof is causeing more noise, remove it at once.

Enjoy the V8/2WD and take it to the track

jharris2

The wind deflector in mine extends fully when first opened, then retracts a bit at about 55 mph. It goes back to the original position at ~45 mph.

As far as opening and closing, mine opens fully by pressing the switch once, and stops if you push the switch again.

Yosmany

I had a lot of work done to my sunroof.

1. Where the factory deflector is located I have foam placed between the frame headliner due to rattling. (Fixed)

2. I had the normal TSB for the Sunroof done. The one where they grease the rails because everytime you slam the door it rattles. (Fixed as well)

3. The sunshade that pulls back to expose the glass was vibrating up and down causing a rattling while open and driving. Toyo tightened the screws that hold the glass rails down and that tightened the sunshade. (Also fixed)

My roof also opens completely when I press the button once. It also closes completely when I press it once. I also get turbulence/wind noise when the sunroof is opened by itself. Not when the windows are open or the rear window is open.

As for other problems,

The seat lock on the rear right seat was also loose. The clip that hold the lock in the seat came off and it was pertruding out of teh seat. They ordered a new clip and the are putting it in on Thursday.

My biggest was the clanking from the rear right seat. Evertime the body flexed, there was a clanking coming from the the area where the seat latch locks into the the frame. You know, right below the seat belt shoulder adjustment. They said that the "U" hook that is attached to the body was loose. Then they tightened some bolts up on the sheet metal of the body. It took 5 tries and 2 different dealerships to get it right. But the dealership that did get it right had awesome customer service, so I didn't mind.

Laslty, don't clean your speedometer/ tach glass face with anything else but water and toilet paper. ( the soft quilted kind). The plastic glass will scratch for anything. But it was also replaced under warenty.


Hope this helps.

momo.75

Its funny you say take it to the track. I have an Mpeg of me on the track at Talladega, but don't know how to post it. If you post your e-mail address, I'll send it to you.

AVES4Runner

Thank you for the advice and welcome.

I am basically enjoying my 4runner except for the glitches I have mentioned. I did open up the driver's window with the sunroof opened and I didn't hear that loud vibration/turbulence sound. Took it on the freeway and the motorized wind deflector made me smile. It went down as I accelerated onto the freeway and went up again as I exited on the offramp. All I heard on the freeway was the sound of the wind. I didn't notice any plastic over the SR.

The replacement seat cushion is in and that will be taken care of this week. Will also have them fix the rear seat lock release when I bring it in for the seat cushion.

Sounds as if 2WD V8s are not all that common???? I wanted a V6 but they were limited with what was available when I went looking and I thought that I got a good deal so I purchased it. The runner had most everything I wanted on it (NV, side curtains, SR) except for running lights. I do mainly city and freeway driving and will probably go up to the mts. Didn't necessarily need 4WD. They did have some 4WD V8s on lot but I didn't want white or black. Wound up with Titanium.

By the way, I think I'll pass on the burnout demo for now.

AVES4Runner

Yosmany said, "The seat lock on the rear right seat was also loose. The clip that hold the lock in the seat came off and it was pertruding out of teh seat. They ordered a new clip and the are putting it in on Thursday. "

Sounds like what mine is doing. The button stays in and/or the whole thing pops out when the seat is pushed back. Maybe they'll have a clip in stock. I've already been to the dealer three times since getting the runner and the 4th will be this week.
:cry:

BT17R

jharris2 is right, I had it backwards. Sorry.

The plastic that EDGE wrote about is the port or dealer installed deflector mounted externally at the leading edge of the moonroof. He's right, it's more trouble than it's worth.

JGage

The sunroof is loud, but I like it... Reminds me of driving in my 300ZX w/ the windows up <G>
I have had no problems except for the squeeky seats and that was fixed.

keisur

This will sound funny but when my wife and I were out trying to pick one out for her I noticed that about 5 of the 4Runners on the lot that we looked at had one or both of the roof rack crossbars installed facing the wrong way. there is a small arrow imprinted on the ends of those things that are supposed to point forward. I noticed the ones that had them (or just one) pointing backward would make the whooo, or even a whistling sound. since then I had talked to about 10 different people who had that problem and I told them this story and their's were installed backwards, swapped them and they don't make the noise anymore. it's shaped like a wing so I can see why it would make the noise, like an airplane flying back-urdz.

BT17R

keisur, good point. Those arrows are also supposed to align with matching marks on the fixed rack rails as shown in the manual.

EDGE

very cool man, the truck looks like it's moving fast

AVES4Runner

Seat cushion got replaced and now driver's side seat heater works. Part for rear seat lock release needed to be ordered. They "MacGyvered" it as a temporary fix until part comes in. Noticed today that stripping along outside of sunroof is coming up in some areas and will have that looked at when I go back for seat lock release replacement. I'm kind of glad that the seat heater didn't work since this seat cushion looks better than the original one.

jharris2

I have an external sunroof deflector -- looks great.

But I took it off because it was causing my sliding cover inside to create a pulsing noise between 25-35 mph. Above that speed, I thought it to be quieter than the built-in deflector.

Now it's sitting in the garage unused, and my wife has been too polite to ask about it.

momo.75

Its funny you say that. I bought the hood deflector a while back and had it on my '03 for about a month, then took it off because it just looked to funky. It has a strange shape overall, but mostly because when you looked at it from the side, it just stuck out too far. Now it is sitting in it's box, in my garage unused. Hopefully my wife has just forgotten about it, because it was an issue when I bought it.....

keisur

I can agree with that, hood protector sort of sticks out too!

keisur

It looks like you do too since you captured it in your quote!