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Hey hey. New to the forum, but not so new to the GX's. I have a 2019 GX with 45k miles, and I just picked up a 2021 with 12k miles. I just wanted to see if anybody else has experienced any sort of noise on warmup like my '21 is experiencing. When it was at the dealer getting the slip yolk cleaned and regreased due to clunking, I had them look into this and they gave me the usual "we can't hear anything wrong" response. On the '21 after starting first thing in the morning, it is dead quiet for the first 30 seconds or so. Then, after idling for about 30 seconds to a minute, from sitting in the driver's seat with the radio off and the aircon off, you start to hear a rhythmic knocking is how I would describe it. Put it in gear, RPMs drop, and it definitely becomes a bit more noticeable, but completely goes away as soon as you start driving. Giving it a bit of rev does not seem to make it any louder, and it doesn't knock faster on the decel like a rod knock or something typically would. Strangely enough, it seems like you can't even hear it from the outside, only from inside the quiet cabin. Sounds like it's coming from the driver's side. I've seen a few people say that theirs does the same thing on Facebook groups, and then others say they haven't ever heard it. When the engine is hot it doesn't make a sound. perfectly silent. It only seems to make any noise on that first start-up of the day, after running for about a minute, and then completely disappears. I had to move the '19 this morning, and while I feel like it was MAYBE making somewhat of a similar noise under the same circumstances, the '21 is definitely more pronounced. I hope I'm just being really picky, but I am coming from several german cars that have put me through the wringer, so I am still a bit traumatized by vehicle problems. Is it common for these things to make noises like this while warming up? I would want to say that if there was actually something wrong, it would be even more apparent when hot and the oil is thinned out. But it sounds like a champ when it's hot. It just has this hollow knocking that really unsettles me during that brief warmup period before you start to drive.
Your post is faded for some reason, I tried 2 devices.
I added black to it.
Originally Posted by CM1992
Hey hey. New to the forum, but not so new to the GX's. I have a 2019 GX with 45k miles, and I just picked up a 2021 with 12k miles. I just wanted to see if anybody else has experienced any sort of noise on warmup like my '21 is experiencing. When it was at the dealer getting the slip yolk cleaned and regreased due to clunking, I had them look into this and they gave me the usual "we can't hear anything wrong" response. On the '21 after starting first thing in the morning, it is dead quiet for the first 30 seconds or so. Then, after idling for about 30 seconds to a minute, from sitting in the driver's seat with the radio off and the aircon off, you start to hear a rhythmic knocking is how I would describe it. Put it in gear, RPMs drop, and it definitely becomes a bit more noticeable, but completely goes away as soon as you start driving. Giving it a bit of rev does not seem to make it any louder, and it doesn't knock faster on the decel like a rod knock or something typically would. Strangely enough, it seems like you can't even hear it from the outside, only from inside the quiet cabin. Sounds like it's coming from the driver's side. I've seen a few people say that theirs does the same thing on Facebook groups, and then others say they haven't ever heard it. When the engine is hot it doesn't make a sound. perfectly silent. It only seems to make any noise on that first start-up of the day, after running for about a minute, and then completely disappears. I had to move the '19 this morning, and while I feel like it was MAYBE making somewhat of a similar noise under the same circumstances, the '21 is definitely more pronounced. I hope I'm just being really picky, but I am coming from several german cars that have put me through the wringer, so I am still a bit traumatized by vehicle problems. Is it common for these things to make noises like this while warming up? I would want to say that if there was actually something wrong, it would be even more apparent when hot and the oil is thinned out. But it sounds like a champ when it's hot. It just has this hollow knocking that really unsettles me during that brief warmup period before you start to drive.
You could try turning off the HVAC/stereo/everything so you can try and better isolate the noise to a certain area? Maybe walk around and see if it's louder outside in a certain area, try and confirm if it's an engine bay origin, etc? It could also be HVAC solenoids clicking which would go away if you killed the HVAC system on startup. I'm guessing this isn't the kind of noise that would show up in a cell phone video's audio?
You could try turning off the HVAC/stereo/everything so you can try and better isolate the noise to a certain area? Maybe walk around and see if it's louder outside in a certain area, try and confirm if it's an engine bay origin, etc? It could also be HVAC solenoids clicking which would go away if you killed the HVAC system on startup. I'm guessing this isn't the kind of noise that would show up in a cell phone video's audio?
Thank you for the response!
Yeah, it happens with the radio and aircon completely off. It's been hard to get it to show up on video but I am going to try. I have tried to see if I could hear it over the fan and door alarm screaming at me for opening the door in gear but it's hard, and it really doesn't seem noticeable from the outside. But sitting inside, with the radio and aircon off, its abundantly clear that its there. Below is the dealer's response
my diagnostic specialist, a senior tech, and I all went to start it. We took a video and there were no abnormal noises. I don't know what you have heard, so I can't tell you if it is a normal noise or if it is something wrong. We definitely do not have engine issues with these vehicles. They do have all kinds of valves, air pumps, solenoids, and other things that make noises, none of which are bad. If you can take a video perhaps we can tell by the noise what device is making the noise to alleviate your concerns. If it had a piston slap or rod knock it would do it all the time so I am confident it is a normal noise from a pump or something. keep us updated.
You could try turning off the HVAC/stereo/everything so you can try and better isolate the noise to a certain area? Maybe walk around and see if it's louder outside in a certain area, try and confirm if it's an engine bay origin, etc? It could also be HVAC solenoids clicking which would go away if you killed the HVAC system on startup. I'm guessing this isn't the kind of noise that would show up in a cell phone video's audio?
Thank you for the response!
It definitely happens with the radio and aircon fully off. I have tried to get it to come up on video but I will try again. It doesn't sound like I can really hear it from outside, especially in gear due to the car yelling at me for having the door open in gear, but inside, in the quiet cabin, it is abundantly obvious. Below is what the dealer told me.
"my diagnostic specialist, a senior tech and I all went to start it. We took a video and there were no abnormal noises. I don't know what you have heard, so I can't tell you if it is a normal noise or if it is something wrong. We definitely do not have engine issues with these vehicles. They do have all kinds of valves, air pumps, solenoids and other things that make noises, none of which are bad. If you can take a video perhaps we can tell by the noise what device is making the noise to alleviate your concerns. If it had a piston slap or rod knock it would do it all the time so I am confident it is a normal noise from a pump or something. keep us updated."
I have experienced what you are describing. I have a little over 5k on my GX so it's been in for service once, but I actually forgot to mention it and have it looked at. Since then, in my own internet research I've run across several people describing this noise, including a recording or two, and lots of other people saying theirs is totally silent. But since this seems to be a cold weather phenomena, and it's just quiet enough that if you have the HVAC blower on, or the stereo, or are talking to someone, you might never hear it, I wonder if this isn't "normal" for a GX and most people happen not to have heard it. I think I might just be able to barely hear this noise even after warm up... but I would have never noticed it if I hadn't heard it when it was louder when cold.
What I have not heard of is anyone ever actually getting a diagnosis for this in a GX, nor having any kind of resulting failure. In other words, I can find several posts, including on this forum, where people seem to be identifying the noise I think you are talking about, and that I can hear, but no one ever saying they got it sorted out or fixed in any way. If I am ever able to have it fixed, or have a tech admit to hearing it but tell me why it makes the noise and what it is, I will post on here.
One "lead" I came across is that on 4Runners, particularly the older ones with the V8, some owners report a similar noise that is sometimes fixed by replacing the fuel pressure pulsation damper. This device is basically just a diaphragm on a spring that absorbs pressure spikes as the fuel pump runs and the fuel injectors pulse fuel.
The fact that the GX would still use a relatively antiquated fuel delivery system (no direct injection, etc.) makes me think this could be what the noise is. As the rubber diaphragm warms up from being near the engine, the noise diminishes. As the engine speeds up and any fuel pressure variations are minimized, or at least happen closer together, the noise diminishes. I suspect the noise can't be heard outside the car because it is actually being transmitted through the firewall or a fuel line somewhere acting as a kind of stethoscope. The noise is much harder to hear on the passenger side possibly because of differences in what's in the dash over there (HVAC blower, glove compartment) and different openings through the firewall (steering column for example).
I have experienced what you are describing. I have a little over 5k on my GX so it's been in for service once, but I actually forgot to mention it and have it looked at. Since then, in my own internet research I've run across several people describing this noise, including a recording or two, and lots of other people saying theirs is totally silent. But since this seems to be a cold weather phenomena, and it's just quiet enough that if you have the HVAC blower on, or the stereo, or are talking to someone, you might never hear it, I wonder if this isn't "normal" for a GX and most people happen not to have heard it. I think I might just be able to barely hear this noise even after warm up... but I would have never noticed it if I hadn't heard it when it was louder when cold.
What I have not heard of is anyone ever actually getting a diagnosis for this in a GX, nor having any kind of resulting failure. In other words, I can find several posts, including on this forum, where people seem to be identifying the noise I think you are talking about, and that I can hear, but no one ever saying they got it sorted out or fixed in any way. If I am ever able to have it fixed, or have a tech admit to hearing it but tell me why it makes the noise and what it is, I will post on here.
One "lead" I came across is that on 4Runners, particularly the older ones with the V8, some owners report a similar noise that is sometimes fixed by replacing the fuel pressure pulsation damper. This device is basically just a diaphragm on a spring that absorbs pressure spikes as the fuel pump runs and the fuel injectors pulse fuel.
The fact that the GX would still use a relatively antiquated fuel delivery system (no direct injection, etc.) makes me think this could be what the noise is. As the rubber diaphragm warms up from being near the engine, the noise diminishes. As the engine speeds up and any fuel pressure variations are minimized, or at least happen closer together, the noise diminishes. I suspect the noise can't be heard outside the car because it is actually being transmitted through the firewall or a fuel line somewhere acting as a kind of stethoscope. The noise is much harder to hear on the passenger side possibly because of differences in what's in the dash over there (HVAC blower, glove compartment) and different openings through the firewall (steering column for example).
thank you for the response! I have officially written this off as something I won’t waste my time worrying about anymore lol. Like you said, I think that I, and maybe you too, are just being a bit critical and hearing something that may just be a bit louder on some then others, but doesn’t indicate an actual problem. The fact that the engine sounds silent when up to temp, coupled with the fact that I’ve get to come across a single engine related failure on these, has convinced me to shut up, and just turn the aircon on so I don’t hear it during warmup haha. It really is that mild that the air conditioning or radio on even a very low volume completely drowns it out, and I’ve yet to be able to hear it from outside of the truck. I think I’m just being a bit too hard on the thing in terms of nit picking.
thank you for the response! I have officially written this off as something I won’t waste my time worrying about anymore lol. Like you said, I think that I, and maybe you too, are just being a bit critical and hearing something that may just be a bit louder on some then others, but doesn’t indicate an actual problem. The fact that the engine sounds silent when up to temp, coupled with the fact that I’ve get to come across a single engine related failure on these, has convinced me to shut up, and just turn the aircon on so I don’t hear it during warmup haha. It really is that mild that the air conditioning or radio on even a very low volume completely drowns it out, and I’ve yet to be able to hear it from outside of the truck. I think I’m just being a bit too hard on the thing in terms of nit picking.
Things like this will drive me crazy if I let them. I think the GX is a fantastic vehicle - the size, the power, the off-road and dirt-road capabilities, the highway cruising, are all right on point. I am planning on 10 years with this vehicle at a minimum so I am trying not to nitpick also!
Things like this will drive me crazy if I let them. I think the GX is a fantastic vehicle - the size, the power, the off-road and dirt-road capabilities, the highway cruising, are all right on point. I am planning on 10 years with this vehicle at a minimum so I am trying not to nitpick also!
Trust me, I am the exact same way lol I will obsess over the littlest thing and let it consume me if I don't think it's how it "should be". It gets old quickly
01-05-23 | 10:50 AM
2021 GX Noisy Warmup?
