Pulsing noise from rear end, 2002 RAV4

[Steve in Penrith]

Hi all. I have a 2002 RAV4 GX 5-door 2 litre petrol, 198k miles on the clock. For several month now, I've been getting what I can only describe as a rhythmic, pulsing sort of noise, seeming to be from the rear end. It increases with road speed, not engine speed, and is most noticeable at around 40-50mph, but cannot be felt via the steering or brakes etc. Tyre wear seems to be normal. I can't feel any play in the wheels. It's not loud, but it is noticeable once you know it's there. Barely noticeable when the interior of the car is fully loaded though. Seems to be slowly getting worse. I'm getting a bit too old these days for scrabbling around under cars, but if anyone can point me in the right sort of direction, I'll be better armed when I have to take it to the dealer. Any thoughts really appreciated - thanks in advance :-)

[crofter]

Could this be something  wrong with the tread where centrifugal force is causing it to lift from the carcass you at some point. Just a stab in the dark really as a little more clarification as to the actual noise may be required to pin this down. Have you tried swapping the wheel for the spare one 

A big welcome also to the club

Del

[Steve in Penrith]

That's a possibility Del, but I've given the tyres a good look over, and they seem fine. However, I haven't tried swapping them around with the spare, so maybe I'll give that a go. Because the tyres "seem" fine, I'd assumed it was something else.

BTW, just done some very rough estimates, (tapping on desk to reproduce the rate, counting, and clock watching, all at the same time), and the noise does seem to be consistent with wheel revolutions, ie approx 8 rev/sec at around 45mph, so maybe the tyres are the first thing to get checked.

MoT coming up soon, so perhaps I'll wait 'til then and get them to have a good look whilst its up on the ramps.

Re clarification of the noise, it's tough, as it's almost more "felt" than heard; you know that kind of buffetting sound you get if someone opens a rear window slightly when all the other windows are shut - well it's a bit like that; if that helps at all!  ;-)

Oh, and thanks for the welcome to the club too :-)

[Jezclax]

Had a similar issue with my Auris. Nearside rear tyre was out of round by some amount, could see it when spinning it on the car. So tyres are the first and easy thing to check. 

Jez

[71jagman]

Hi Steve 

I know exactly the noise you are talking about, unfortunately I don't know the answer. I have the same problem which I felt was temporarily cured by new tyres but now the tyres are 30K miles old the noise is back. I would describe it as "thrumming" a rhythmic sound related to wheel/drive train related.

Hope this helps.