Funny rattling sound

[scotty_p]

Evening everyone

I've got a 2016 2.0l Petrol RAV4, 63,000 miles.

I've got a strange rattling, almost grinding noise that starts shortly after the car starts, often it will quieten down but then moving out of park into drive or reverse, it usually starts up again. Once the car is up to speed, the noise goes away. It also doesn't seem to happen when everything is warm.

At first I suspected a dodgy alternator / starter something like that but when I got underneath the car, I think it might be closer to the transmission / flywheel area. I've checked around for loose heat shields and can't see anything obvious.

I've done all fluid changes except CVT so that's next on my list, but wondered if anyone else has experienced similar? I really hope my transmission isn't on the way out, however I think since it does it in park and neutral, it isn't likely to be transmission / transfer case related? Clearly, I'm just a beginner DIY mechanic 😁

Thanks in advance

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

this might be challenging to find. Rattling noises are difficult to discover unless very obvious something it’s not right. For begging you can try to record a video and share here so more members can listening and suggest something. Rattling noise can be metallic or plastic like, more dampen, soften. If second could be air intake ducts, radiators surrounds , near front bumper or any lose under side plastic covers, grills. If metallic then look for water pump, alternator bearings, aux belt pulleys. AC compressor. 
Heat shields including these in the catalytic converter. 
Good luck 

[scotty_p]

Good shout on the recording @TonyHSD, here's one I made earlier!

The noise in question starts around the 10 second mark

 

[scotty_p]

Listening back to it on here, it sounds like drive belt slipping but that's really not where it appears to be coming from when I've got the bonnet up or I'm under the car

[Bernard Foy]

Timing chain ??

[scotty_p]

8 hours ago, Bernard Foy said:

Timing chain ??

Quick update, it isn't the timing chain, I've just been under the car this morning and had my wife go between park and drive etc to make it make the noise - it is coming from the transmission area

[scotty_p]

Going to check the CVT fluid level, drain and fill etc then if still happening I'll have to take it to a good indy to look at:(

[TonyHSD]

Thanks for sharing. This doesn’t sound very good, if it’s coming  from the cvt , belt or bearings it might be a big job. It does sounds grinding, like bad water pump though.. Alternator bearings too.  I am not sure though  I can’t really help. 

[scotty_p]

I went under the car again, the noise is coming from the flex plate area, maybe a bit further in. There is at least one new bolt on the flex plate (and one of the housing bolts was loose!) so someone has had a go at fixing it.

I called the garage that the previous owner used for servicing, they remembered the car and said the previous owner had brought it in with the same complaint, but they advised to take it to a transmission specialist.

I'm going to take the starter off, check to see if it looks like that might have mangled the flex plate so I know what I'm dealing with when I take it to a pro.

For anyone thinking "why haven't you taken it somewhere for a pro to look at already?", I like to know as much as possible about what's going on with the car before it goes in as I've had a lot of bad experience with several mechanics / other cars.

If anyone has a recommendation for a good indy place that deals with transmissions, let me know (I will start a new thread on the subject)

I feel so down about it, I've had the car less than a month and already given it a lot of TLC (premium tyres, brake pads, fluids etc).

Thanks again everyone who has commented so far!

[Nick72]

Could do with knowing some really good alternatives to the Toyota dealers that specialise in Toyota cars.

There's a first class garage near me that specialises in BMW. They're a third the price of BMW for most jobs and all ex BMW mechanics and technicians. I just haven't seen similar for Toyota cars? 

[Cyker]

They do seem a lot rarer - I can only assume it's because so little goes wrong  so rarely there just isn't any money in it compared to the german marques!  

[Nick72]

On 6/1/2024 at 10:35 PM, Cyker said:

They do seem a lot rarer - I can only assume it's because so little goes wrong  so rarely there just isn't any money in it compared to the german marques!  

That may well be the reality. 😂

 

If failure rate is low and cost to fix at dealer is modest then no market.

If failure rate is modest and cost to fix at dealer is very high then there's market.

[scotty_p]

I took the RAV4 to a local transmission specialist (Quantum Transmissions) - I highly recommend. As soon as I started the car up, he said "yep, that's gearbox is low on oil". I went off, filled it back up, did the level check again and problem gone.

So, it seems that it has either leaked, or someone has not filled it correctly in the past, and when I've put back in what came out and checked the levels, I've not done it correctly. Who knows.

Ultimately, all is now well and I'm back with a big smile on my face once again. I was very worried for a bit there! To add even further reassurance to everyone reading this, he did also say that it has been a long time since he had to do anything with a Toyota gearbox, I take that as a good sign!

For reference to anyone else - about 2.3L came out of the box on a cold drain, so I overfilled slightly and checked the level. However, I clearly did this wrong because when I did the drain some came out frothy which was explained to me that it has air in it, so another sign that it was too low. I added another 2L so all in all the car has had just short of 5L back in, and unsurprisingly it now appears to be happy.

Massive thanks again to Quantum Transmissions in Doncaster!

[Nick72]

4 hours ago, scotty_p said:

I took the RAV4 to a local transmission specialist (Quantum Transmissions) - I highly recommend. As soon as I started the car up, he said "yep, that's gearbox is low on oil". I went off, filled it back up, did the level check again and problem gone.

So, it seems that it has either leaked, or someone has not filled it correctly in the past, and when I've put back in what came out and checked the levels, I've not done it correctly. Who knows.

Ultimately, all is now well and I'm back with a big smile on my face once again. I was very worried for a bit there! To add even further reassurance to everyone reading this, he did also say that it has been a long time since he had to do anything with a Toyota gearbox, I take that as a good sign!

For reference to anyone else - about 2.3L came out of the box on a cold drain, so I overfilled slightly and checked the level. However, I clearly did this wrong because when I did the drain some came out frothy which was explained to me that it has air in it, so another sign that it was too low. I added another 2L so all in all the car has had just short of 5L back in, and unsurprisingly it now appears to be happy.

Massive thanks again to Quantum Transmissions in Doncaster!

I had a Cavalier SRI once. Strange rattles and scrapes turned out to be gearbox oil. Filled it up and added some special gunk for gear boxes which I can't recall the name of. Problem solved too.

[TonyHSD]

Cvt transmission has specific way how to replace oil. Only hybrids eCVT has drain and refill procedure similar to manual transmission but all other cvt’s has their own way. Car transmission lose oil when axle been off for other repairs and some mechanics never bother to top up. 
Great that all been sorted for you quickly. 

[scotty_p]

On 6/7/2024 at 2:09 PM, TonyHSD said:

Cvt transmission has specific way how to replace oil. Only hybrids eCVT has drain and refill procedure similar to manual transmission but all other cvt’s has their own way. Car transmission lose oil when axle been off for other repairs and some mechanics never bother to top up. 
Great that all been sorted for you quickly. 

Absolutely, and I read as much info (and watched a bunch of YouTube videos, of course!) before I did the job, however, if I've learned anything, many different mechanics have a different procedure, and some say a particular step is crucial and others don't even bother with it. It doesn't help that we're now told the fluid is "lifetime", which I suspect further reduces the number of people who have any experience in changing it.