2005 XLE Limited AWD: I have noticed that the road noise has gotten significantly worse in the last 6 months. I don't think it's the tires as they have been well inflated and still have about half their tread left. The noise gets very noticeable starting at 30 mph and gets louder with speed, and you can even feel the "grinding" vibration in the accelerator pedal and steering wheel. It's as though the bearings in the front wheels have lost their lubrication or something. I had an oil change and chassis lube done recently, no change. Any ideas what to look for or how to troubleshoot? I have the extended warranty, but my fear is that the dealer will say "that's just how it was made."
Loud road noise- bad wheel bearing?
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That's a good start on troubleshooting from tbalon. For an actual mechanical inspection, a basic check of bearings is relatively easy, requiring only jacking up the wheel off the ground then grabbing it to see if it has free play to tilt in and out (it should have almost no play, and the rear wheels can be used for comparison if the potential problem is only in the front).
I find it disturbing that reasonable people have become this cynical about dealership service, and I suppose I must take some of the blame with my comments regarding my experience with dealerships.jlee1060 said:
An honest independent mechanical shop - even just a tire shop - should be able to give a reasonable assessment of bearing condition (by the check I mentioned above) in very little time, and thus very little cost, regardless of warranty. I'm talking about minutes, not hours, of labour.
I have a 2006 XLE Limited AWD: having the same problem. Took to local shop they say the transaxel and transfer case need to be replaced at a cost of over 6,000. They also said front right wheel bearing needs to be replaced. Took it to my local tire shop had the tires rotated and had them check the front bearings and they say they are fine. will now take to dealer. By the way i have 89,000 miles on it.
hope it's not the case but will let you know. Leon
hope it's not the case but will let you know. Leon
mayor, how did the wheel shop test the bearing? We had another vehicle with a wheel bearing problem, and the bearings didn't have any "play" when they were wiggled (which I suspect is how this tire shop tested them), but still gave a grinding roar at highway speeds. Replacing the wheel bearing got rid of the noise.
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had a roar coming from my wheels or tires on 2008 Sienna LE...turns it out had bad bearings in rear driver side wheel. Have to replace and comes as part of an overall wheel hub assembly.
Our 2005 XLE w/65k miles on it just went in this morning to the local Firestone for the same symptoms (growling noise starting at 25MPH), and they diagnosed a bad wheel bearing on one side, with the other side on its way out as well. I'm replacing both at the same time.
My 2006 Limited AWD, with 47K miles on it, is in the shop right now to have the front left wheel bearing replaced. Awful grinding noise that the tech described as the typical "helicopter" sound of a bad wheel bearing. When they lifted the van and turned the wheel there was a grinding sound resonating to the spring.
I actually brought the van in to Toyota in November because of a noise present on the AWD (my wife´s DD) that I did not have on my 2006 Limited FWD. The Toyota shop tested it then but could not find anything wrong. When I then drove my wife´s AWD again a couple of weeks ago, I was stunned to find that the noise I heard back in November had increased. I found it to increase further putting the van into right hand turns (adding weight to the left front wheel), thus indicating a bad wheel bearing.
PS: Just picked it up. Drives like new and no noise!;D
I actually brought the van in to Toyota in November because of a noise present on the AWD (my wife´s DD) that I did not have on my 2006 Limited FWD. The Toyota shop tested it then but could not find anything wrong. When I then drove my wife´s AWD again a couple of weeks ago, I was stunned to find that the noise I heard back in November had increased. I found it to increase further putting the van into right hand turns (adding weight to the left front wheel), thus indicating a bad wheel bearing.
PS: Just picked it up. Drives like new and no noise!;D
Same issue, thought it was tires. Replacement them and still loud noise. The front driver side wheel bearing was bad. 2004 Sienna 109k miles. Had Toyota replace them and hub $640. So quiet and smooth that you can hear your own heart beating. So surprised that it made that much noise. So no, Sienna sealed, pressed on bearings, are NOT life to of vehicle.
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I have replaced my sienna front left bearing 4 times now over 200k miles. Only mistake was using duralast bearings, only got 25k out of them.
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