Transmission Whine

[John.B]

I bought a Rav4 2litre 5 door 6 months ago. Its a 2006 and done 53000 miles. Ever since Ive had it there has been a whine which has got worse. As I was given a 1 year warranty I put it into the garage where I bought it and they changed some reverse gear components but this made no difference so I put it back in again, 2 weeks ago. They say they have changed some more items but they now tell me this is a common fault. Is this true ? I read on the web that it is a common problem in the USA but there is no comments on this in the UK

[Tech01]

Does it whine in all gears, or only one/some? On acceleration, or overrun, or both?

If it's a 5-speed manual box, has the fifth gear cluster ever been replaced (this can wear, with gear lever vibration and eventual jumping out of gear) ? This replacement leaves new teeth meshing in with old, and there can be some whine until everything beds in, then the whine disappears.

Exactly which model RAV do you have? (Please edit/update your personal profile.)

Chris

[John.B]

Hi Chris.

The model is XT4 and it is a 5 speed manual box.

The whine is constant in all forward gears with load on and intermittent with load off.

There is no gear stick vibration and it does not jump out of gear.

The first time I put it into the Toyota garage they reportedly changed items on the reverse gear, though Im not sure why.

The second time I took it in (its still there after 2 weeks) they say they have changed other items that looked worn but are now

saying this may be a design problem, and are trying to find a equivalent car to compare it with.

By the way this isn't a back street garage. Its a main Toyota dealership and where I bought the car 6 months ago.

I do'nt know if any work has been done on the gearbox previously but it has been regularly serviced.

[anchorman]

Don't think we had any 5 speed box whines. Have you tried swapping tyres around?

[John.B]

Cheers Don

I will ring garage tomorrow and see if they think its worth trying. See what they say.

I get the impression though that they are trying to dodge the issue by telling me its a common fault. Obviously it is'nt then.

[Tech01]

Don is quite correct - these boxes do not whine. Neither do the transfer boxes/diffs. (Check both have correct grade of oil in them!).

Chris

[John.B]

Thanks for that Chris.

[bothwell_buyer]

Generally the tranmission/drivetrain on RAVs is pretty robust. (Aside of the well known clutch probs on diesels)

I assume they have discounted wheel bearings as the front ones wear out. Perhaps the car has been used with the wrong oil in the transmission??? Difficult to know without the history and even then it wouldn't prove much.

Without casting too many nasturtiums, I have no confidence in any dealers and believe using specialists is far better.

Perhaps on a rolling road and using diagnostic equipment (long screwdriver to the left ear) they could establish where the noise is coming from???

Otherwise if not fixed I'd be going down the track of a car not fir for purpose.

[dwilson]

My wife's Jan 2007 XT4 manual petrol has a whine when driving in 5th and cruising under light acceleration - only noise it makes, can't hear the engine. I think it is a characteristic of the 4WD transmission - I doubt it is a fault. Car has only done 25000 miles and I doubt my wife hears the noise at all because she will have a CD playing. Just been serviced and MOTd with no problem. Very happy with car after one year of ownership - even the tyres still have loads of tread on them.

David

[anchorman]

There you go - you can ignore a slight whine.

[Guest]

I have a constant whine in my diesel Rav, stops when the wife gets out though.

[superstock24]

Hi i'm Andy a new member, I have an identical problem, I have an 04 rav 4 xt3 which whines constantly above 50 mph, I thought it was the rear dif or a prop shaft bearing but no idea how to find out. Really annoying

[crustyclam]

I have a 2006 T180 it has a slight whine at certain speeds in higher gears usually just before i need to change gear, a slight decrease or increase in pedal movement and it disappears.

[bothwell_buyer]

Hi i'm Andy a new member, I have an identical problem, I have an 04 rav 4 xt3 which whines constantly above 50 mph, I thought it was the rear dif or a prop shaft bearing but no idea how to find out. Really annoying

another possible is the centre propshaft bearing. I've replaced a couple of these over the years.

Another cause of whine was an alternator which was packing up.

You could nullify the problem by fitting a large bore exhaust system????

[Mistermena]

I would look at replacing the box oil with a good oil like a double ester oil to see if that helps. Forte have a product that is designed to help reduce whine. Weather or not this works, or is compatable with the box is another matter...

[John.B]

I picked the car up again Saturday and its just the same. As suggested I am probably wasting my time at the dealership.

Taking this from another angle, has anybody had a transmission whine which has been cured by the replacement of a specific part.

And I dont mean changing the wife.

[bigend]

Hi, I'm a newby to this forum after just getting a rav4, although I've lurked for a while on the site as I have a 95 celica cabrio. One thing have you tried swopping tyres round to see if the noise moves, had same on my celica which dissapeared when I got rid of the bridgestones.

Keith