FJ62 noise at freeway speed 60-70 mph SOLVED (1 Viewer)

[EscapeWagon62]

I am experiencing a deep bass waa waa noise while traveling 60-70 mph. The rig has 225k miles. I’m a recently new owner and I’m not sure how long this has existed.
It’s a resonance type sound...no sound for 1.5-2 seconds, waaa for a half second to 3/4 second, no sound.
Bearings are fresh
Changed my tires
Thought about checking balance on drive shaft but there is a strange feature of the noise that leads me to believe that the shaft is not the cause.
If I shift, at 60 mph, from overdrive to drive....the sound changes...it’s lower volume, and elongates the waa waaa sound. No sound for half second or so, waaaaaaaa for 1.5 seconds, no sound.

Anybody experience anything similar? Any advice appreciated.

 

[vipergrhd]

Drop off wife and kids at the mall then drive again. J/K
Post a video of the noise hard to guess you know.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

I’ll try to get an audio.
It’ll take a few days.
Thx

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, Change oil in differentials and transfer case . Also check transmission fluid level when hot . See if that helps. Mike

 

[SteveH]

You say 'bearings are fresh' - but I'm not sure which ones.

On a many Toyotas (3rd gen 4Runners and early Tundras, this is a bad rear wheel bearing. To diagnose, chock the front wheels, and jack up one rear corner of the truck, and set it the truck safely on a jack stand. Leave the wheels on. Climb in, start the truck, and put it in 1st gear at idle. The rear wheel will turn slowly around and around, and the bearing should be quiet. Then do the other side. If you have a bad rear wheel bearing, it will be very obvious by the noise you hear from one side or the other. Be super careful doing this, be sure you're in 2WD with unlocked hubs, and clear out any people standing near the truck.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

You got wheel bearings up front, axle bearings in back, along with the diff and pinion bearings, then you got outpu shaft bearings front and rear in the tcase, plus the idler bearings and tail shaft bearing.... and don’t discount a collapsed muffler of cats. Youre gunna hafta do some crawling and shaking and see what’s what. Crap, could also be ujoints. Ujoints and pinion and output bearings easiest and most accurately checked with driveshaft out of truck... check your fluids for level, color, and shavings. Hth

 

[lcolon]

You can check driveshaft U-Joints by feel. Normally you will feel a "clunk" when you get on or off the gas if U joints need to be replaced. When you move the driveshaft back and forth with your hand you can feel whether it is loose or not. Try repacking the UJoints if not already done to eliminate that as a possibility. If it is out of balance, you get vibrations at a particular speed.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Thanks for all of the feedback. Changed diff and double checked trans fluid at hot. Didn’t solve it.
I’ll chace down the other suggestions and check back in.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Took a while to chance this down. Thanks LAMBCRUSHER for suggesting fluid levels. My tranny was overfilled by roughly 5 ounces. took it back to spec and the noise has almost disappeared.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Was your t-case underfilled? Sounds like you have the transfer to transmission uphill migration that 99% of original FJ60s have. I'd install a bypass hose until you have a chance to get it apart and replace the seal. Also make sure the t-case breather is clear. If clogged, it can pressurize the case and help drive the oil uphill to the transmission.

In any case, watch the transfer case fluid carefully. You don't want to run it low.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Thank you Cruiserdrew.
Checked and TC level is good, I’ll chalk this up 100% to operator error. I just overfilled the tranny.
Cheers.

 

[MDH33]

Glad you got it figured out.

On a funny/embarrassing but related note; a few years ago, I too had a strange, super loud hummm sound right at 55-60 that I was certain was the rear bearings. I did a full service and it was still there... Then one day I realized it was gone.??? what changed? I had taken the yakima rack off my roof. Apparently the hummm was the wind noise at 55-60mph. Doh!

 

[esh]

Was your t-case underfilled? Sounds like you have the transfer to transmission uphill migration that 99% of original FJ60s have. I'd install a bypass hose until you have a chance to get it apart and replace the seal. Also make sure the t-case breather is clear. If clogged, it can pressurize the case and help drive the oil uphill to the transmission.

In any case, watch the transfer case fluid carefully. You don't want to run it low.

Just for clarity (to Escape, Drew knows this), this issue is only for manual transmissions. FJ62s have the A440F auto and you don't want to do anything to connect the two fluids.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Ok, I finally eradicated the noise.
When I set the pre-load on my front left bearings I set them to the spec in the FSM. WHAT I DID NOT DO was add the value of the free wheel friction (with no torque on the nut) to the value in the FSM as the FSM clearly says to do. Net result is that my bearing was slightly loose in pre-load.
It was the first job I did whe. I bought the cruiser so I’ll excuse my own sloppiness.

Driving 60-70 with no low bass waa waa now.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Well as it turns out the noise wasn't gone. Maybe I was just so hopeful that I'll fixed it.....
Anyway NOW IT'S SOLVED.
Brought the truck to a 30 year veteran mechanic named John at Balise Toyota in West Springfield MA (just relocated near there)
He balanced both the front and rear drive shafts and found one wheel rim out of true.
Not sure which fixed it but in case anyone chases and issue like this in the future.

 

[RyanTomorrow]

Slightly off topic but how was Balise? I need a reputable shop for some 5 banana work on my 80 near Springfield.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

They have a great reputation and I’ve had great experiences there.
I haven’t needed to back for a while so I’m not sure if the same mechanic is there but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.