Worrying Noises From Gen7 190...

[Big_Sid]

My 2001 VVTL-i 190 has been making a weird noise since about April. At first I thought nothing of it, but recently its been getting quite bad and I'm planning on taking it into Toyota soon, but I want to have a clue first... hate taking the car into the garage and just blindly asking them to fix something that could be anything for all I know.

Literally right after I had it MOT'd in April I noticed when making a fairly long sharp left that I could hear a kind of "chu, chu, chu" noise coming from the drivers side. You could only hear it with the window down and the noise which seems to be coming from the wheels was bouncing back off a closeby object (in this case a crash barrier along the side of the road).

It was very faint and I didn't really think much of it. I heard it occasionally on and off for a while but still very faint. However recently its got a lot louder and now incorpotes some nasty squeaks into the usual "chu, chu, chu" noise too. These are the symptoms as far as I can tell...

Seems to happen all the time... (but more noticable at low speed when passing an object that reflects the sound back e.g. a wall)

Coming from drivers side (rear I think).

Gets faster and slower as I speed up and slow down.

Doesn't change when breaking or applying the handbrake.

Still occurs when coasting with the clutch depressed.

Gets louder when turning left and quieter when turning right.

My mate at work who is the owner of a Gen 5 Celica and a Supra reckons its the calipers sticking and the pads rubbing against the disc, but I would have thought that if that was the case the noise would change under braking. I am assuming it's the wheel bearing, but I want to be more sure before I take it in and ask them to diagnose it.

Does anyone have any ideas? Cheers - Sid

[Vince W]

C/V joint? Could be a split gaiter causing water ingress washing out the grease.

Although saying that, C/V joints make a 'clicking' noise if worn.

I would check all the drive shaft components anyway.

[monkeynuts]

rusty warped discs would make the noise you talk of and if your rear brakes are low the tell tail warning tag will squeek

id check your discs are not rusty first, esp on the insides (as i found out) as thay are very pron to rusting and corrosion(you will need the wheel off) and then take the rear wheels off and see if the telltail tag is touching the discs

good luck

[Big_Sid]

Thanks for the replies so far... I don't imagine it's the brakes as I had all four discs and pad sets replaced about 10,000 miles ago (to the tune of £900 courtesy of Toyota World). I'm gonna get it up on the jack on Sunday and check the dust guards weren't bent by the muppets at Tyre Sales who did my MOT (as suggested by the guy at Toyota I spoke to today) failing that and any obvious signs it's going in to Toyota next week some time.

[Jock Fran]

Might be a stupid question but you don't have something stuck in your tyre do you?

[Big_Sid]

OK, I got the car jacked up today and had a good rummage around to see whats what. I did actually find a stone stuck between the brake dust guard and the disc, but after removing this it was still squeaking when I turned the disc by hand. I checked for play in all of the components but found everything to be quite solid. The discs themselves are in good condition including on the insides which to be honest I would expect seeing as they were replaced all round last April. The pads are still very thick too, probably around 10mm on both the inside and outside.

I removed the fluid reservoir cap and forced the calipers apart a little so there was about 0.5mm clearance between the pads and discs. Squeaking then went away when rotating the disc. Applied and released the brakes a few times and then tried again and the squeaking was back. I initially thought the problem was a wheel bearing, but now I'm more inclined to think that the caliper either requires adjusting in some way to give more clearance (if this is possible) or that the caliper is sticking which I'm guessing will mean a new caliper!

If that's the case, does anyone know how much I should be looking at from a Toyota main dealer?

Thanks - Sid

[Big_Sid]

Oh, one other thing... I'd noticed on occassion a kind of "boing" rattly, vibraty noise when idling in traffic or when pulling away and sometimes when leaving the car and shutting the drivers door. This turned out to be one of the exhaust heat shields that had a clip missing from it. Easily fixed with a spare Platerboard fixing thing I had in my toolbox (you know the sort that as you tighten up the screw a metal bit on the other side compresses and widens out) and a large washer.

[Vince W]

OK, I got the car jacked up today and had a good rummage around to see whats what. I did actually find a stone stuck between the brake dust guard and the disc, but after removing this it was still squeaking when I turned the disc by hand. I checked for play in all of the components but found everything to be quite solid. The discs themselves are in good condition including on the insides which to be honest I would expect seeing as they were replaced all round last April. The pads are still very thick too, probably around 10mm on both the inside and outside.

I removed the fluid reservoir cap and forced the calipers apart a little so there was about 0.5mm clearance between the pads and discs. Squeaking then went away when rotating the disc. Applied and released the brakes a few times and then tried again and the squeaking was back. I initially thought the problem was a wheel bearing, but now I'm more inclined to think that the caliper either requires adjusting in some way to give more clearance (if this is possible) or that the caliper is sticking which I'm guessing will mean a new caliper!

If that's the case, does anyone know how much I should be looking at from a Toyota main dealer?

Thanks - Sid

Did you remove the pads and checked the sliders in the calipers and the pins that hold the pads are able to slide freely?

Replaced the rear discs on my VVTLi yesterday and the sliders were OK but not working as smoothly as they should and the pins were badly rusted and the pads were rubbing the discs slightly.

I Put the pins in the chuck of a cordless drill and cleaned them up with some emery cloth them a smearing of grease before re-fitting.

[dawesy]

could possibly be the auxiliary belt tensioner (drives alternator/ air con etc). quite common on the 190. to test spray the belt with wd 40 or similar if it goes away then youve found the problem. a new tensioner is about £90 from toyota though.

[Big_Sid]

Weirdly... the noise has now stopped

Something obviously fell off LOL

[swissheavy]

Weirdly... the noise has now stopped

Something obviously fell off LOL

Might have been slightly seized calipers or pads? One never knows...