RAV4 V6 whining noise @ 40 - 70 km/h

[Megan]

Yikes, I've had a 2012 SX6 since new and I'm just noticing a whine in the transmission at about 50kph...

I am sorry to hear about this. I would take it into Toyota Servicing/Warranty straight away as you would still be under warranty? In Perth, I was advised they repair one of these a month! It's upsetting that Toyota knows about this issue with the V6 RAV4 but doesnt perform a recall!

Toyota Northbridge (Perth) said my vehicle was a 9 out of 10 noise wise and that I dont have to do anything!! I said to the service manager "Would you want to drive around with this noise all the time and have your stereo up full blast?". He replied with "No" but yours isnt the worse I've heard!!

I hope they fix your noise soon - Good Luck!

[Ceeber]

Hi there, I'm new on TOCA but have just bought a 2009 SX6 with 43,000kms on the clock and a transmission whine. Very disappointing and most of all totally unexpected for a Toyota I thought. I'm talking to the dealer about getting it fixed under Statutory Warranty as per Ashren's post above. Very encouraging, thanks Ashren.

I've had the noise assessed by RAA in SA and they say its a mechnical fault that needs repair. I'm just hoping that either Toyota or the Peter Davey at Werribee will do the right thing. The whining noise occurs from 40 - 70km/h irrespective of which gear you are in and is at its loudest when the engine and transmission are at full operating temperature. Here are some objective criteria to compare; With the radio on volume 15, I can easily here the whining noise mixed with the music that's playing. With the ventialtion fan on second to highest setting (and radio off), I can hear the noise quite clearly despite the fan noise in the car. With no background noise in the car the noise in tonally annoying to listen too and I want it fixed.

When the car went to Northpoint in Adelaide for assessment recently, the Dealer Master Technician (the most learned technical chap) he admitted the noise was very noticeable and said that if it was his car he would not be happy. Well, welcome to my world !!!

I'll keep you all posted on progress, but it could be a long process. I would be grateful for any members sharing their experiences on this, especially if you have had a successful repair under warranty like Ashren did.

Cheers.

[Megan]

Hi there, I'm new on TOCA but have just bought a 2009 SX6 with 43,000kms on the clock and a transmission whine. Very disappointing and most of all totally unexpected for a Toyota I thought. I'm talking to the dealer about getting it fixed under Statutory Warranty as per Ashren's post above. Very encouraging, thanks Ashren.

Hi Ceeber, I ended up getting a full refund on the purchase price from the Auction house where I purchased the car in WA.

I spoke with Department of Consumer Protection and they advised I was in my rights to provide a Notice of Intention to Reject Goods (Section 260 Australian Consumer Law). As the time to repair under stat warranty was unreasonable. As It took them 3 months to diagnose the problem and when the vehicle was stripped down, it was going to be in excess of 6 weeks to get the parts and put it all back together. In the meantime, I wouldnt have a vehicle to use. Hence, I got a full refund 3 days from when I wrote the letter to the Auction house.

Good luck with your repairs and I am glad my info on claiming under stat warranty has been benefial.

[Ceeber]

Hi Megan,

Wow what a result !! Thanks so much for sending me your post as I had not actually thought of this as a way forward.

I'm not as far advanced in the process as you were and am currently waiting to see if the dealer has a view about their liability. One thing is for sure - if they decide that the noise is 'operationally acceptable' they are going to have a fight on their hands. Like I said the RAA is firmly of the view the noise results from a mechanical fault that should be repaired.

Interesting that you report their comment that 'its not the worst they've heard'. That's exactly what I got from the service adviser at Northpoint.... quite frankly that means squat. When I asked the service adviser what OBJECTIVE criteria they have for assessing the noise, she said 'experience'. Well excuse me for being literal but 'experience' is not an objective critereon on which to base an assessment of mechanical noise. The interference with the sound system listening, the fact it can be easily heard with the fan on its second to highest setting AND that it is tonally annoying are objective criteria that all point to a major problem.

More to come on this in a few days !! Cheers.

[jutzek]

I purchased a used 2007 ZR6 and have exactly the same issue. I did purchase from a dealer so it's going back to them tomorrow for them to 'assess'.

Terry Shields did do a service on it and quoted the same price as ashren totaling $8,500 including labour! The guy at Terry Shields was very helpful and did tell me that it may be fine for 6 to 12 months before needing work.

I'm not sure how I will go with them but it may have to be submitted to Fair Trading to get an outcome.

It is a quite surprising for Toyota to have such a huge issue without a recall, particularly when it is such an expensive job.

Ceeber, how did you go?

[Ceeber]

Since my last post I have obtained Northpoint's written assessment and an opinion from Adelaide's 'SRD' Toyota dealer that has an auto trans repair workshop AND and independent opinion from Rowell and Searle - a long standing and highly respected auto repairer here in Adelaide. The consensus from these FOUR reports is unanimous saying that that the transmission noise in UNACCEPTABLE and in one report that the noise is not typical for a 'vehicle of this type and kilometres travelled'. What's more the SRD dealer has stated in writing that the fault is one for which 'Toyota has developed field fix parts for'. So...Toyota Australia knows about the fault in these transmissions and has fixed plenty of them under new car warranty in the past. Its a manufacturing defect, which I understand results in premature wear in the auto box. I have issued the selling dealer with a letter of demand to either provide an unconditional refund OR repair the transmission at their cost. I have complained to Toyota Australia who are sending someone to drive the car next week, however I am firmly of the belief that this is now an issue of consumer law, not technical assessment. Judging by the lack of response from the selling dealer, Consumer Affairs Victoria will be engaged to intervene on this matter mid next week. Rest assured that if this dealer, which operates from Victoria, does not repair the transmission, I will expose them on this site (moderators willing). It is a disgrace that their attitude to date has been to refuse to accept liability for the fault - hardly acceptable behaviour for a Toyota Dealer. If this is what you have to go through to get a statutory warranty honoured, it is indeed a disgrace. No wonder people shy away from second hand car dealers.

[Vettori]

I am currently undergoing an issue that is nearly identical to what is described here. I will fill you in on the details once i have an outcome.

[Jamesd]

I too have the same problem but every time I have taken to the dealer for a service I have mentioned it to them, when I get the car back they tell me the whining noise is normal ??? :( what do I do next ?? go to Toyota Australia and complain ??

[Ceeber]

Folks,

Well its 6 weeks on since I last posted on this and its moved forward a bit. The dealer, Peter Davey at Werribee is steadfastly refusing to accept liability saying its 'operational' noise. I have written to consumer affairs who have no power (as they are strictly a referee) and now the matter has been referred to VCAT as a formal complaint.

By the way, complaining to Toyota will get you exactly NOTHING. I did and they sent someone to drive the car, who then told the dealer it was 'operational noise' and 'inherent' to the vehicle. Interesting thing was that Toyota are unwilling to even acknowledge to me that they drove the car and are also unwilling to provide a written report. They have referred me back to the selling dealer and have stated that they cannot take any responsibility 'as all our Toyota Dealerships are independently owned franchises, we have no jurisdiction over there day to day practices'. Well once again excuse me for being obvious, but this is a cop-out. How can Toyota Australia make a blanket statement that implies a dealer can behave in any way they like and still enjoy the comfort of having the Toyota shop front. What a load of crap. I'll bet if they stepped out of line on the terms of their franchise agreement with Toyota Australia, they would be told in double quick time to pull their heads in. Pathetic Toyota Australia.................

[Vettori]

The Toyota dealership I bought the car from has identified the noise is coming from the transfer case.

Update: Toyota have ripped out the transfer case and sent it to a transmission specialist. They are replacing the pinion kit and will be covered under warranty. Am yet to pick the vehicle up yet, will see if it has actually solved the problem.

Will be collecting the car this week, will let you know how things go.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Vettori

[Ceeber]

Hi everyone,

Well I have much to report on my whining V6 Rav 4. Since my last post I engaged an expert mechanical engineer to assess the vehicle and armed with this and the other reports I mentioned previously, I took the Toyota Dealer to the Victorian Civil and Administrative tribunal and won!! VCAT's assessment was, in brief, that there was a breach of the warranty that goods be of acceptable quality as required by section 54 of the Australian Consumer Law. The dealer was ordered to fix the car, in accordance with Toyota Australia's 'Technical Newsflash' number 87/10 of 20th Dec 2010. The repair has fixed the whining noise and the car is now a pleasure to drive. In addition, the dealer was ordered to pay 75% of my cost in engaging the specialist Mechanical Engineer. This outcome now sets a precedent for the final drive whining noise in Rav 4 V6s. Toyota and other second hand car dealers can no longer claim that this is 'operational noise'. It is indicative of possible premature failure of the transmission. If you have bough one of these and it whines like a taxi that's done 500,000kms, AND you have a current warranty, either used or new, then you might want to follow up the selling dealer and ask them to fix it.

I pursued this for my own peace of mind but also because I hate being ripped off or seeing others ripped off. Consequently, I'm happy to guide anyone who has this problem with their V6 Rav4. You need to keep in mind though that this decision by VCAT is quite specific to the circumstances surrounding our vehicle, its history, low kilometres etc etc.

[stan rav]

Hi Ceeber, I read your story with great interest, i would appreciate if you could help be a bit, my problem is that 3 years ago i bought an December 2008 Rav SX6 from a private seller,...its a good car but i have grown to hate it through recent noises,..when i first bought it i noticed what i thought was a diff whine, but at the time i thought it did not sound too intrusive, so i bought the car anyway, i thought it may have just been a standard thing. bought it for $25k, it had 58,000 km on the clock, the previous owners had for a full 3 years, so no warranty left. its hard to judge noises over a period of 3 years but when i drive the car now it sounds like a piece of crap,...I am quite certain that not only the diff noise has got a lot louder, but it now sounds like wheel bearings are noisy and maybe diff bearings as well.. i am quite sure my auto transmission is quiet and working well. I hear at lease 2 or maybe 3 different noises up the front, it sounds like a piece of crap.

I think i will have to take the expensive plunge of replacing the front wheel bearings,..but can you help me with the diff side of things, Would I be correct in saying that to get the diff right you would have to do the crown wheel and pinion, and also the bearings as well. or is there another area that i may be have missing?

Appreciate yours or anyone else's comments.

PS I may as well fix it because to sell it as is, it would be worth nothing.

[MC2]

I've had an SX6 from new - 2012 and the diff noise appeared after about 10,000km. Lean and Bennett are my nearest dealer and performed most of the scheduled services on the vehicle. Its now done 39,000km. After I read about this fault on this Forum I flagged the noise at every service and at the 40K service L&B arranged for Terry Sheilds, Parramatta to rectify the problem. They did this quickly and efficiently entirely free of charge. The vehicle, already very quick and smooth is like a new model - eerily quite, responsive and smoother still. There must have been a lot of other noises being produced by the dud diff/gear box. Combined with a new set of MIchelin Latitude tyres the improvement is amazing. Half the noise levels of the original Bridgestones which must be the cheapest tyres Toyota could source... All in all a very surpising response from Lean and Bennett and Toyota. Full marks to them. Almost enough to prompt me to buy another Toyota!

[Ceeber]

MC2 - I think you have taken the right approach and you are fortunate in having the new vehicle warranty. My understanding is that under new car warranty as soon as a customer complains, the field fix parts set comprising pinion, ring gear (matching machined set) and support bearings are installed once the transmission is removed. The diff is inside the transmission housing itself. With all due respect to Lean and Bennet, I doubt they would be paying for the repairs and so its no skin off their nose. Toyota Aust would have paid the bill. In my case, all I had was a used car warranty and Toyota Aust cut me loose - they said 'we don't care, go talk to the dealer' The dealer said its not a warranty issue, but VCAT said otherwise and they were ordered to fix it. Justice done.

Stan the point you raise about not being able to sell the car cause it sounds like a piece of crap was also my greatest fear with our car before it was fixed. You can see the parts I described above re the diff, but you need to go to an SRD Toyota dealer in QLD and and ask about the field fix parts set described in Toyota's technical newsflash number 87/10 of 20 December 2010 - and have the vehicle assessed. This is not a cheap repair - I would say $4-5,000 as the trans has to come out of the car. There may be only ONE SRD dealer in QLD, as there is here in SA. The repair is technically specialised and I would only go to the SRD Toyota dealer to get it done. Having said all this, the first thing you should do is have the SRD dealer drive and listen to the car ........oh and get the minor noise repairs done first like those wheel bearings (if they are a problem). This will allow you to hear any residual noise from the trans/differential area. Stan you have not mentioned tyres either and some brands can be really noisy - need to check this too before ripping out the trans. Good luck !!

[MC2]

I presumed neither L&B or Terry Sheilds were out of pocket for this work, I mention it because the repair was described by L&B as a Toyota TNF 87/10 as mentioned also by Newbie. This should be proof that it is a workmanship problem and should make Toyota liable even out of the factory warranty period...there have been so manty examples of this model showing this fault over the last 10 years. Hope it works out okay for you.

[Ceeber]

I have seen a previous post by someone who claims to be a Toyota technician on this website. From memory, he/she said that the problem arose from incorrect pre-load on the bearing assembly when it was built in the factory. This leads to sloppy meshing (my words) which then generates the whining noise. One of the key things with making a claim under a second hand car warranty is whether this type of fault (and it is definitely a fault) would be expected for a vehicle of this type, age and kilometres travelled. In our case the Rav had done 43,000kms, was four years old and sounded like a taxi that had done 500,000kms. Toyota failed its customers by not doing a recall, probably because it would have been too expensive for them, so they fixed them on a complaint basis. The next step in this might be for someone who has the final drive whine in a vehicle that has done 100,000kms to tackle Toyota on having the repair done under the 87/10 newsflash. Unfortunately Toyota have proven themselves to be liars and in the USA this led to their recent $1.2b penalty after several people died. I don't see Toyota Australia in a different light here - their all tarred with the same brush in my experience. Some other car makers have proven to be just as bad - eg Mitsubishi and its faulty truck brakes circa 2002 - caught lying and covering up the issue.

[Megan]

I agree with you here Ceeber, Toyota has failed its customers. I was lucky that I could return the vehicle to the auction place were I purchased the vehicle as the time to repair was deemed insufficient by department of consumer protection. It was going to take upto 8 weeks with the transmission stripped down as they couldnt get the parts from Japan quickly as the repair was to be performed by non toyota mechanic. Anyways, I would never have purchased the car to begin with but purchasing at Auction I couldnt test drive.

I made sure I purchased a 4 cyclinder RAV4 the next time around. After having a service on my 4 cylinder RAV the other month, I spoke to the head of service department of City Toyota in Perth and they are aware of the issue but he never implied that these repairs were done for free. He mentioned around $4K upto to $6K. So it sounds like Toyota servicing is profiting from the repairs when its their engineering fault to beging with!

[Ceeber]

Two interesting points in your post Megan. On the cost of repair, people need to be very careful before agreeing a price. One dealer quoted me $8,000 - clearly a gouge. When I rang Lane Toyota in Melbourne, the quote was HALF this amount - so shop around folks. Re the wait for parts, when you go to the Toyota counter as a 'random walk-in', you're likely to be told the parts are ex Japan, but the truth is they now keep a stock of these matched bearing sets in Melbourne. Maybe your case made an impression Megan!! The other possibility is that this 'blurb' at the counter is used as a deterrent to discourage people from bothering. One Toyota dealer told me the parts had 'very limited' availability ex Japan. Again, more lies Toyota.

[stan rav]

Thanks Ceeber, your experience in this is valuable to me, (SRD toyota dealer)? when i get the time i will print out all these replies and take them with me to Toyota and see if i can get some honesty,... you know as ****** off as i am, i still don't mind paying if i can get it right, I just don't want them to skin me alive with price, I will carefully stick it up them, with now the bit of experience I have thanks to this forum and the people on it. The point is I have many a grinding noise's coming out from my front end its embarrassing,.. My Wife's 2002 Commodore Monaro is sooo much nicer to drive then my bloody "brand name" TOYOTA, they are supposed to be so good yet a much older Commodore is quieter to drive by far, nothing whines in the Holden, (interior is falling apart though). I dont know what a SRD dealer is but i will ask our Toyota here in Townsville and see if they are or not. By the way, my NEW tyres I bought recently are "Good Year Efficient Grip"

i dont know if these tyres are noisey or not, but my noises do sound like bearings and grinding gears i feel.

What Tyres would you recommend for less noise Ceeber ?

I keep thinking New Diff Gears and Bearings, and both Front Wheel Bearings may fix it. just got to find someone that will do the job proper without charging the earth.

[Ceeber]

Stan, I'm running exactly the same tyres as you on my SX6 and they are not noisy. Usually new tyres are quiet and only show that they are noisy once they have a few kilometres on them. Mine have done 13,000kms since new and I would still call them quiet. A friend of mine has Bridgestone Dueller H/Ts on his Nissan Dualis and the thing sounds like a helicopter at urban speeds - revolting.

How many kilometres has your Rav done now?

An SRD dealer is specialised Toyota service centre that has an automatic transmission repair workshop. Lane Toyota are an SRD dealer in Melbourne, but there could be another one there too. In Sydney, its Terry Shields etc. In SA its CMI, Christies Beach. You might be lucky to have one in Townsville. If not then the local Toyota Dealer could remove the trans and send it to where ever the SRD dealer is - maybe Brisbane? If your trans is changing gears properly and is otherwise going well, then you should only need the 87/10 field fix parts set installed. Thing is the repairer will probably cover themselves by saying 'it depends what we find when we open up the box'.

On the Monaro - yes body hardware is not Holden's strong point.

[stan rav]

Hi Ceeber, my Rav now has 126,000 k's on the clock, i have really noticed everything noisy when it hit about 100,000 k's, although the diff whine was there in a mild form when i bought the car at 58,00 k's, Sometimes on smooth bitumen it sounds like a "Jumbo 747"

it has a deep hum going through the whole car, lol

By the way i haven't mentioned this here before, but my Steering Rack sounds like a jack hammer when under brakes that's another $700 odd dollars. :( I should have bought a Nissan or a Hyundai

I'm glad my tyres should be OK as you said. :)

Edited July 11, 2014 by stan rav

[Ceeber]

Stan and others - VCAT has published the findings in our case against Peter Davey Toyota. If you go to VCAT Decisions and search for 'Brown v Davey Motor Company Pty Ltd', you will find all the details there, including the name of the consulting engineer, Robert Chapman, who assessed and wrote the report on the RAV. He did a sensational job. Good luck to any of you who have this problem with yout Rav 4 V6 - I hope what we did helps you out.

[Rover]

Hi All,

I have recently purchased a used 2011 RAV4 CV 2.4, 4 cylinder with a manual gearbox and it has a notable whine from either the gearbox or the diff. Has anyone else had this problem on the manual gearbox / drive train as well? The car is still in the statutory 3 month dealer warranty. I took it back to the dealer shortly after I purchased it and their workshop confirmed that the noise was excessive after driving it. They had a look and said the gearbox oil was of inferior quality and they replaced it.

They said I should drive it and if the noise does not go away to bring it back. The noise did not go away so it went back the the dealer. They phoned the afternoon for me to collect the car and stated they had the Toyota representative at the workshop and he said "there is nothing wrong with the car, the noise is a characteristic of the RAV4".

If there are other cases of the manual gearbox exhibiting this problem as well, I am definitely not accepting this as a characteristic of the car.

[Ceeber]

Hi Gert,

When the selling dealer says 'its a characteristic of the Rav 4' I smell a rat. You don't say how many kms the car has done and this could have a bearing on your case. Is the selling dealer a Toyota franchise? Critical question is - Is the noise what would normally be expected for a car of this age and kilometres travelled? If not, then you should follow it up. Suggest you do what I did and get a few professional opinions in writing - eg, RAA (or equivalent in WA), another Toyota dealer, transmission specialist, independent mechanical engineer (find you local Institute of Automotive Mechanical Engineers IAME, and ask for help). I did this over here in SA and they put me in touch with a sensational bloke with lots of experience who helped me immensely.

Go get 'em !!

[Rover]

Hi Chris.

The car has only done 76000 km, so not old at all. The selling dealer is not a Toyota franchise, which may make it a bit more difficult.

I have owned many other brands of older cars with higher mileage and have never experienced a whining noise like this.

I will start to get professional opinions and take it from there. Thanks for the feedback