1987 FJ60 - Need advice hunting down a weird noise!

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Joined
Oct 15, 2025
Threads
5
Messages
18
Location
Maine
Hello! Thanks for stopping in.

Background: This is a 4-speed manual with 217k miles on the clock. However, the motor, transmission, and transfer case were all removed and rebuilt by a Toyota dealership about 30k miles ago (7 years). It is practically rust-free and spent many years in Montana.

The problem: The truck runs great. However, when it is in gear and I am accelerating or decelerating there is an audible whining noise. It is loud enough to be quite annoying. The noise is not there (or not audible) when the truck is idling or rolling in neutral, even at highway speeds. If I am in gear, I can also get the sound to go away when I put just enough pressure on the gas pedal to be neither accelerating or decelerating.

UPDATE: As I mentioned, the whine occurs when in gear in both 2wd and 4wd drive. In an effort to isolate the issue further, I locked the hubs but put the transfer case shifter into neutral to disengage the drive shaft. I then put the truck into first gear and took my foot off the clutch, as if I were driving. No whine. To me, this suggests the problem is with the transfer case or driveshaft.

Solutions I have tried that did not help:
  • checking and topping up trans and TC fluid (I am also going to add one of shipmag's trans to tc hoses as the tc was low and the trans too high)
  • putting truck in 4wd hi and lo and then back to 2wd
  • checking and topping up power steering fluid
  • adjusting/rubberizing the dust shield on the transfer case output shaft
  • Greasing driveshaft u-joints
Solutions I have ordered parts for:
  • trans shift lever seat
  • the 3 crank belts
Solutions I have read about:
  • idler shaft in the trans (this appears to be the most common suggestion when I searched threads, but the trans was recently rebuilt so it just seems unlikely)
  • power steering pump (just seems unlikely since the sound does not occur when I am driving in neutral or with the gas pedal barely depressed)
Thanks in advance for any help! Video of sound:

 
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So I went under tonight and greased all the u joints. The rear one seems to have a little movement. Could it cause this sort of noise? I don’t notice any vibration when driving.
Best I can describe bad u joints is like some angry sparrows. Unless they are really bad, then they make a different sound. The angry sparrows I’ve heard are usually like you describe, not really on or off the throttle, but when there’s some slack in the drivetrain, if that makes sense.

Any movement isn’t good. You can take the rear driveline out and drive it in 4 high with front hubs locked in and see if the noise is gone.
 
Sounds to me like noisy gear meshing, so I would suspect a bearing somewhere in the transmission. Is it engine-speed dependent, or road speed dependent?
 
Sounds to me like noisy gear meshing, so I would suspect a bearing somewhere in the transmission. Is it engine-speed dependent, or road speed dependent?
It’s not super noticeable in the bottom of first gear or the top of fourth gear. It definitely fades away after 55mph, but that could be just road noise covering it up. Very noticeable in second and third and most of fourth ( video shows 2 to 3)
 
OK, but does it vary with engine speed or road speed. That is to say, when you change up a gear does the pitch (not volume) of the sound decrease? Or does it setadily increase with road speed?
 
If it changes pitch when you change gears but maintain a steady speed, then it is nothing in the transfer, propeller shafts or differentials. It would be limited to engine, clutch and transmission input shaft.
 
Sounds like gears or a Transmission bearing to me, but it's going to take putting all fours in the air and have someone (safely) isolate the source using an automotive stethoscope.

After many years, I isolated the annoying whine in mine to my wife. :slap:
 
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