Engine Noise

[Nick21]

Hi All

I am new to this forum and thought to post an issue I have got with a Toyota Rav4 D-4D 2003 3dr I have just bought from the London's "cargiant" dealership.

practically I have noticed that when I turn on the car in the morning I can hear a whisteling noise coming out of the engine or more precisely from the rotating parts that disappears after 3-5 miniutes.it is a sporadic noise and not present each time I turn on the car from cold. The second issue I have got is a noise that I have noticed in changing to the first and second gears only when the car is warm say after 1-2 hours of driving. this noise comes off in the exact moment of releasing the clutch to engage in the first or the second gear but not with other gears. It is not a metallic hard noise it is like a friction sound that I can describe as an aspirated "k" sound. I have seen some similar discussions on this forum but thay do not seem to be describing the same exact issues I have got, I would appreciate if anyone could give me any advice or share his experience of similar issues.

Many thanks

Nick

[chatman]

Welcome to the forum Nick21......

The whistling sound I would say is the serpentine belt... this is the main belt that drives all your ac pump and water pump (look at the engine look at the left hand side by the washer bottle)

The gear box noise i'm unsure about...but other members may be on soon to advise...

Did you get a warranty with the RAV....

[anchorman]

Hi Nick

Welcome to the club.

I think Chatman is right about the serpentine belt from what you describe. If you lift the bonnet when it is doing it an get some water and just dribble it on the rotating belt while it is making the noise it will go silent and then reappear when the belt dries out some seconds later. It isn't necessarily a big problem but you can ask the supplier to change it while the car is still new to you.

The other problem is difficult without being able to hear it but it sounds like the clutch thrust bearing. This is not an expensive part but there is a huge amount of labour involved (possibly £1000 worth) so I would advise that again you go back to the supplier.

You are entitled to a warranty of some sort and they should put it right for you. If they start any nonsense at least get a second opinion from a good "local" garage, a Toyota dealer or the AA/RAC. Then you can go back again and demand your rights.

Keep us informed mate.

Cheers

[Hoovie]

A lot of these car supermarkets point to signs on the walls with various disclaimers when it comes to faults which are meaningless.

Have a look at this leaflet to check what you are entitled to as a minimum (hopefully you won't need this!)

Welcome to the forum.

[Nick21]

Hi All And thanks for your expert advice. I am just back from the TOYOTA dealership in Edgware Road. they prodived me with a mecahnic who drove around in the car with me trying to simulate the noises I sometimes get, but typical Murphy's Law, we could not produce any of the noises!!! the engine belt noise was expected as the car was warm and I never get the noise when the engine is warm, the Mechanic was telling me that the whisteling noise from the belts in the morning is something normal and expected, even if I change all the belts now I would keep getting them due to weather temperature etc (??). and as said we could not reproduce the Clutch noise either which I suppose was because the engine was not warm enough, in fact as said previouisly I get that noise after a couple of hours of driving, again here the Toyota mechanic was saying that this little noise is expected too as the Clutch (Gearbox?) might get some dust in it which could cause such noises (??). so back to the starting point, when I was parking the car in the box now, I started to get the Clutch noise thing again which I am not sure now what to think of, maybe I am a bit paranoic about noises or maybe Toyota rav is a noisy car anyway (well at least compared to Alfa).

Another thing that I got some info about was the extended warranty, I talked to the Warrany expert there who was comparing the AA, RAC and Toyota extended warranties for me, and it seems that the Toyota one is much more comprehensive and covers practically everything, it is a bit pricy though, for cars which are 3-7 years old it costs a bit over 500 per one year or 700 something for two years, before which they need to test your car, it sounds a bit expensive to me at this point but I amight have no other choice then going for it.

cheers

Nick

[anchorman]

Nick

If the noise is the clutch and you can definitely get it when the engine is hot then take it for a good run and go back as you do not want to pay that bill. It will be expensive.

[Nick21]

I have arranged with the dealer to have a through check next week, will let you know how it goes.

cheers

Nick