Opinions Needed - Clicking Noise While Driving... (1 Viewer)

[JMan5000]

Happy Friday!

02 LC w/ 160K - stock. Just had it completely baselined and had a new factory CV axle w/ flange on the passenger side put in. I picked up a new quad last night and had the window open and heard a clicking noise - sounded like a rock or nail in the tire. I checked all of the tires and the trailer tires and found nothing. The click speeds up and slows down as I speed up and slow down. Seriously, it sounds like something in the tire b/c it's one click per revolution...but there's nothing there. What could this be and how can I diagnose it w/out going to a shop? I'm really hoping it's not the driver's side CV, and I would think it's not b/c the click is constant while going straight or turning, and slow or fast.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Girv24]

Is it only during acceleration or always? I would say maybe exhaust manifold leak, but think that luckily would rule it out.

 

[JMan5000]

Is it only during acceleration or always? I would say maybe exhaust manifold leak, but think that luckily would rule it out.

It's always happening - just started yesterday (I think). It's got to be related to the front axles, wheels, tires, driveshafts...??? No idea - I spent a good amount of time under that thing with no luck.

 

[socalmtbiker]

It's always happening - just started yesterday (I think). It's got to be related to the front axles, wheels, tires, driveshafts...??? No idea - I spent a good amount of time under that thing with no luck.

Did you find the cause? I just started hearing this noise as well. Maybe a week or so. I was clicking on a squeal. I put my transfer case on neutral and manually rotated my wheels one by one and found my rear brake pads to be low. I did my rear brakes this past weekend. The squeal is gone but the clicking remains. I can't hear the clicking with the windows up. It's only when the windows down so I wonder how long it's actually been there. If you found out anything please share. I can't recreate the sound when the wheels don't contact the ground and interestingly enough it seems to be intermittent or the sound is not loud enough...

 

[JMan5000]

Did you find the cause? I just started hearing this noise as well. Maybe a week or so. I was clicking on a squeal. I put my transfer case on neutral and manually rotated my wheels one by one and found my rear brake pads to be low. I did my rear brakes this past weekend. The squeal is gone but the clicking remains. I can't hear the clicking with the windows up. It's only when the windows down so I wonder how long it's actually been there. If you found out anything please share. I can't recreate the sound when the wheels don't contact the ground and interestingly enough it seems to be intermittent or the sound is not loud enough...

Never found the problem - it just went away on its own. Mine could only be heard with the window down and rolling at a very slow speed too. Recently though, while braking at 55mph+ I noticed a bad shimmy in my steering wheel. Instantly I thought one (or both) of the rotors was warped b/c I had two instances recently where I needed to brake quickly on the highway. Well, I was irritated b/c I've spent a lot of money on my LC already in baseline maintenance and repairs, so I hammered the brakes a couple good times while going 55mph out of frustration. The shimmy went away completely...so warped rotors were ruled out - can't straighten them out using the brakes. I took it to a trusted family mechanic and he inspected the calipers b/c he thought that could be the only cause and he thinks the PS caliper is tired and eventually needs to be replaced. One of the pistons was sticking and causing the steering wheel shimmy...but it loosened up again and has been working fine for the past 1000 miles. I'm nervous b/c my LC is taking a 2500 mile round trip adventure to Wyoming in one month - totally concerned the caliper will seize or something on the way out or the way back. I'm debating hard if I should shell out another $300+ to have the calipers replaced (obviously not getting Toyota parts). Not sure if a bad front caliper could be causing the click - you'd think it would make the sound loaded or unloaded with the LC's weight then.

 

[custyota]

I'm one of those guys who when a repair needs to be made to the left I do the same on the right. Example replaced both CV axles, no need in having a brand new one and an old one. When a rear axle seal was leaking figured I'd replace both sides. I learned my lesson with ball joints, replaced the left lower then 3 weeks later the right lower went bad.

 

[JMan5000]

I'm one of those guys who when a repair needs to be made to the left I do the same on the right. Example replaced both CV axles, no need in having a brand new one and an old one. When a rear axle seal was leaking figured I'd replace both sides. I learned my lesson with ball joints, replaced the left lower then 3 weeks later the right lower went bad.

Well, you know, after dropping $3K+ in baseline maintenance and repairs right after paying $10,500 to buy it...just to make it semi-dependable...it's tough to shell out the extra money and repair/replace parts on both sides when doing a job. I totally agree with you...BUT. Soon I'll be into my LC for $15K and if I tried really hard maybe I'd be able to sell it for $11K (thinking about that pretty hard right now). Not a great investment when I'm dropping my shorts for a $4K loss. I'm not a mechanic, so jobs that are beyond my understanding go to a mechanic. Oh, and LC's like Toyota parts only (at least that's what every single person on this forum has said every time I've posted about a problem) - so no $100 aftermarket CV axles b/c they'll be destroyed in 6 months. Can't put aftermarket anything into the rig b/c it's supposedly all junk - need to buy Toyota and pay 5 times more - talk to C-Dan - he'll get you a deal. I'm not wealthy enough to own a LC - I'm finding that out real quick. I need to replace my steering rack in the spring - waiting for tax returns to do that so I can afford it - $700+ job right there. What a joke. Both front calipers are being replaced - another $400+ out the window (with aftermarket calipers!). The upper control arms and ball joints are getting replaced - anther $300+. DS CV axle needs to get done - $500 gone. The lower ball joint on the DS needs to be replaced - $100 gone. Might as well throw rotors and pads on it with the new calipers - $300+ gone. Moonroof doesn't work - heard I need to refinance the house to fix that one. As soon as you think you have all the problems covered something else comes up and you're forced to fix it - otherwise you've got a big pile of junk sitting in the garage - that's my experience so far with Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series. The Money Pit. Never buying a Salt-Belt vehicle ever again. Sorry for venting - but that's been building up for a while.

 

[lhommec13]

Well, you know, after dropping $3K+ in baseline maintenance and repairs right after paying $10,500 to buy it...just to make it semi-dependable...it's tough to shell out the extra money and repair/replace parts on both sides when doing a job. I totally agree with you...BUT. Soon I'll be into my LC for $15K and if I tried really hard maybe I'd be able to sell it for $11K (thinking about that pretty hard right now). Not a great investment when I'm dropping my shorts for a $4K loss. I'm not a mechanic, so jobs that are beyond my understanding go to a mechanic. Oh, and LC's like Toyota parts only (at least that's what every single person on this forum has said every time I've posted about a problem) - so no $100 aftermarket CV axles b/c they'll be destroyed in 6 months. Can't put aftermarket anything into the rig b/c it's supposedly all junk - need to buy Toyota and pay 5 times more - talk to C-Dan - he'll get you a deal. I'm not wealthy enough to own a LC - I'm finding that out real quick. I need to replace my steering rack in the spring - waiting for tax returns to do that so I can afford it - $700+ job right there. What a joke. Both front calipers are being replaced - another $400+ out the window (with aftermarket calipers!). The upper control arms and ball joints are getting replaced - anther $300+. DS CV axle needs to get done - $500 gone. The lower ball joint on the DS needs to be replaced - $100 gone. Might as well throw rotors and pads on it with the new calipers - $300+ gone. Moonroof doesn't work - heard I need to refinance the house to fix that one. As soon as you think you have all the problems covered something else comes up and you're forced to fix it - otherwise you've got a big pile of junk sitting in the garage - that's my experience so far with Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series. The Money Pit. Never buying a Salt-Belt vehicle ever again. Sorry for venting - but that's been building up for a while.

Welcome to MUD!

 

[reznunt]

Did you find the cause? I just started hearing this noise as well. Maybe a week or so. I was clicking on a squeal. I put my transfer case on neutral and manually rotated my wheels one by one and found my rear brake pads to be low. I did my rear brakes this past weekend. The squeal is gone but the clicking remains. I can't hear the clicking with the windows up. It's only when the windows down so I wonder how long it's actually been there. If you found out anything please share. I can't recreate the sound when the wheels don't contact the ground and interestingly enough it seems to be intermittent or the sound is not loud enough...

My truck just started clicking faintly and then it became louder so I replaced my aftermarket CV (got 2 years, 23k miles out of it) with a brand new OEM one. The click went away for the test drive. Thought I was home free! Then it started clicking again but it is very faint now. All things point to a bad OEM CV (maybe?).

Since a bad OEM CV seems unlikely to me, I checked every possible drivetrain-related thing in the driver front area. I don't think it's a header leak because the click sound is absent while idling in park and it isn't constant, BUT since I can't feel the click that makes me think it is a manifold leak. CLICK CLICK CLIIIIIIICK!!! Does it sometimes, then disappears. Engine temp, ambient temp, engine speed, turning left or right, suspension loading and unloading... none of this matters. Nothing stuck in the tires and the brakes/hardware are all normal. The sound is hard to replicate because it's completely random and sporadic when it clicks, without rhyme or reason. The only correlation I found was that the clicks speed up and slow down with wheel speed.

I bought a pair of OEM CV's and only installed the one. The other one is still on my workbench. If the sound gets worse I will swap out the recently installed OEM CV for the second OEM CV and see if that helps.

 

[reznunt]

Just reporting back. Pulled apart the hub and found the bearing preload adjusting nut on the loose side. It was nowhere near the 73 lb-ft I applied to get 12 lb of breakaway force on the scale when I did the bearing job 27k miles ago. Checked the bearings/races/snout for damage and wear but everything looked brand spanking new so I cleaned up everything and retorqued to proper spec and the click is gone. It's been a few days now and I'm still click free. Going to check the other side for good measure. Hope this helps someone.

 

[erwall]

Just reporting back. Pulled apart the hub and found the bearing preload adjusting nut on the loose side. It was nowhere near the 73 lb-ft I applied to get 12 lb of breakaway force on the scale when I did the bearing job 27k miles ago. Checked the bearings/races/snout for damage and wear but everything looked brand spanking new so I cleaned up everything and retorqued to proper spec and the click is gone. It's been a few days now and I'm still click free. Going to check the other side for good measure. Hope this helps someone.

Thinking this might be my issue as well. Mine clicks while going straight and right but goes away completely with any kind of left turn. Did yours previously quiet down while turning a certain direction?

 

[reznunt]

Thinking this might be my issue as well. Mine clicks while going straight and right but goes away completely with any kind of left turn. Did yours previously quiet down while turning a certain direction?

Yes, if I turned the opposite direction the click would disappear.

By the way, the click has returned and now it's on both sides. Again, totally random/intermittent/sporadic. I bought ChassisEars and tested on my passenger side... the loudest clicking came from the lower ball joint and brake caliper. Stoked that I eliminated the transfer case and front diff as possibilities. Both LBJ's are original and one has a torn boot from long ago. I'll swap them out and report back.

 

[Tim Battle]

Any update?

 

[reznunt]

Any update?

Click of doom

 

[shtbrwn86]

Apparently I can't figure out how to delete a comment. See below.

 

[shtbrwn86]

So this might be a long shot, but if you are using the OEM wheels with center caps try removing the center caps. My 99 LX did the same thing after getting new tires and could never figure it out....turns out the center caps were loose. As soon as I pulled them off the noise went away. But it sounded EXACTLY like what you were describing.

 

[l3n0x]

Well, you know, after dropping $3K+ in baseline maintenance and repairs right after paying $10,500 to buy it...just to make it semi-dependable...it's tough to shell out the extra money and repair/replace parts on both sides when doing a job. I totally agree with you...BUT. Soon I'll be into my LC for $15K and if I tried really hard maybe I'd be able to sell it for $11K (thinking about that pretty hard right now). Not a great investment when I'm dropping my shorts for a $4K loss. I'm not a mechanic, so jobs that are beyond my understanding go to a mechanic. Oh, and LC's like Toyota parts only (at least that's what every single person on this forum has said every time I've posted about a problem) - so no $100 aftermarket CV axles b/c they'll be destroyed in 6 months. Can't put aftermarket anything into the rig b/c it's supposedly all junk - need to buy Toyota and pay 5 times more - talk to C-Dan - he'll get you a deal. I'm not wealthy enough to own a LC - I'm finding that out real quick. I need to replace my steering rack in the spring - waiting for tax returns to do that so I can afford it - $700+ job right there. What a joke. Both front calipers are being replaced - another $400+ out the window (with aftermarket calipers!). The upper control arms and ball joints are getting replaced - anther $300+. DS CV axle needs to get done - $500 gone. The lower ball joint on the DS needs to be replaced - $100 gone. Might as well throw rotors and pads on it with the new calipers - $300+ gone. Moonroof doesn't work - heard I need to refinance the house to fix that one. As soon as you think you have all the problems covered something else comes up and you're forced to fix it - otherwise you've got a big pile of junk sitting in the garage - that's my experience so far with Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series. The Money Pit. Never buying a Salt-Belt vehicle ever again. Sorry for venting - but that's been building up for a while.

I know this is an old post, and my comment is unrelated to the topic, but I totally feel it. Eventually I just gave up throwing 0.5-1-2k/month at the truck, and it's been a year, and not a single thing (that was already clicking/grinding/rattling/clunking/leaking) got worse. So I'm not replacing anything anymore preventive. If it does break somewhere, doesn't pass the inspection (every 2 years here where I live) I'll decide if it's worth fixing or better throwing the whole truck away. At least I can know that if I replace something on it with a Toyota part, I'll never ever have to touch it again in the trucks remaining life. But I honestly feel right now, that even though it is very far from perfect, seriously, I could easily throw 5k at it, and will still have issues, it will do another 3-4 years without anything else than putting fuel and oil in it. You really have to be rich to keep a 100 in _perfect_ condition, and it sure is a very bad investment - you could really just burn the same money at the fireplace, because you're not seeing a cent back.

But I had a Defender before the 100, and that was something to talk about. Man, that truck could've been in perfect condition when I've fired it up in the morning, and 60 miles and an hour later anything could've exploded in it out of nowhere, without any warning signs. I had the alternator go once.. Morning, no noise, all was fine, afternoon the bearings exploded in it. Had a wheel almost come off because crap stud design, the core plugs kept developing pin holes randomly, the clutch pedal fell to the floor in the middle of the city because the clutch fork is made of cheese - frankly everything on those are made of cheese, and it doesn't help that the market is full with chinesium aftermarket crap & the original LR parts are in the same game as the Toyota ones (although unlike the Toyota ones, which once replaced will outlive the truck, the LR ones may last 10 years, or may last 20 minutes - the later being the better approximation). Anyway I could go on with the list for a long way. Compared to that, I at least know (or was able to develop some faith because of not having to wrench on the side of the road every single month - sometimes on the same issue, that I've thought had already been sorted the last time I changed the part for a new one 2k miles ago) that even though the LC has it's issues, it'll always still do another day, or another 5-600 miles. Yeah it clunks, and vibrates and chirps and whatnot, but I'm not paying a good young second hand Prius worth of money, that I'm never seeing back, on a 20 year old truck every year anymore. And I bet you, those guys running these trucks in central africa are not swapping their timing belts and water pumps either as frequently as mudders, or normal people their underwear.

I kid you not, I've came to a point with the far from perfect 100, that I'm sometimes even doing a couple hundred mile trips now without a toolbox

 

[shtbrwn86]

I know this is an old post, and my comment is unrelated to the topic, but I totally feel it. Eventually I just gave up throwing 0.5-1-2k/month at the truck, and it's been a year, and not a single thing (that was already clicking/grinding/rattling/clunking/leaking) got worse. So I'm not replacing anything anymore preventive. If it does break somewhere, doesn't pass the inspection (every 2 years here where I live) I'll decide if it's worth fixing or better throwing the whole truck away. At least I can know that if I replace something on it with a Toyota part, I'll never ever have to touch it again in the trucks remaining life. But I honestly feel right now, that even though it is very far from perfect, seriously, I could easily throw 5k at it, and will still have issues, it will do another 3-4 years without anything else than putting fuel and oil in it. You really have to be rich to keep a 100 in _perfect_ condition, and it sure is a very bad investment - you could really just burn the same money at the fireplace, because you're not seeing a cent back.

But I had a Defender before the 100, and that was something to talk about. Man, that truck could've been in perfect condition when I've fired it up in the morning, and 60 miles and an hour later anything could've exploded in it out of nowhere, without any warning signs. I had the alternator go once.. Morning, no noise, all was fine, afternoon the bearings exploded in it. Had a wheel almost come off because crap stud design, the core plugs kept developing pin holes randomly, the clutch pedal fell to the floor in the middle of the city because the clutch fork is made of cheese - frankly everything on those are made of cheese, and it doesn't help that the market is full with chinesium aftermarket crap & the original LR parts are in the same game as the Toyota ones (although unlike the Toyota ones, which once replaced will outlive the truck, the LR ones may last 10 years, or may last 20 minutes - the later being the better approximation). Anyway I could go on with the list for a long way. Compared to that, I at least know (or was able to develop some faith because of not having to wrench on the side of the road every single month - sometimes on the same issue, that I've thought had already been sorted the last time I changed the part for a new one 2k miles ago) that even though the LC has it's issues, it'll always still do another day, or another 5-600 miles. Yeah it clunks, and vibrates and chirps and whatnot, but I'm not paying a good young second hand Prius worth of money, that I'm never seeing back, on a 20 year old truck every year anymore. And I bet you, those guys running these trucks in central africa are not swapping their timing belts and water pumps either as frequently as mudders, or normal people their underwear.

I kid you not, I've came to a point with the far from perfect 100, that I'm sometimes even doing a couple hundred mile trips now without a toolbox

My 99 LX came with all the original records (and invoice$$$$) from the dealer. He bought it with 20k on it in 2000 I think and had spent $27,000 on it during the life of the vehicle. Granted he went to the dealer for everything, but even with all that I'm still looking at needing new AHC globes. I needed a new radiator. Need new power steering reservoir. Apparently the steering rack is leaking. Has a valve cover gasket leak.

These are definitely not cheap. But I also bought the cheapest one I could find at $6,000.

I also agree though that at some point you just need to drive the thing. I bet mine would make it to the next timing belt in 5 years without doing anything else.